Those who train a muscle group to glycogen depletion, and then must compete with those same glycogen - depleted muscles within the same day (or more specifically, within ~ 8 hrs or less) can indeed benefit from consuming high - GI carbs in order to
expedite glycogen resynthesis for maximizing endurance performance in the subsequent bout.
To optimize and
expedite the recovery process, athletes need to rehydrate and replenish lost stores, with a goal of repleting 100 - 150 % of body mass losses within one hour of exercise cessation (side note: repleting 150 % may be hard on the stomach for heavy sweaters).1 Endurance athletes especially should replenish with water, sodium, and carbohydrate within the first hour after exercise to ensure the highest rates of
glycogen (our stored energy)
resynthesis.15 Recovery drinks with protein have been reported to maximize protein synthesis rates, consisting of approximately 0.2 — 0.4 g / kg / h protein and 0.8 g / kg / h of carbohydrates.16 Chocolate milk has a nice carbohydrate to protein ratio of 4:1 and is an inexpensive, but still palatable, recovery option.17