When it comes to seeing results from your workouts — that is, building muscle, losing weight or running longer and stronger — the nutrients you eat before and after exercise make up a big part of the puzzle. And with so much confusing science and countless supplements out there, it becomes difficult to put the right pieces together.
A new subscription-based supplement company, Revere, has set out to change all that. And, unlike most lines of supplements, it starts with whole ingredients.
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Revere: Simplifying Pre- and Post-Workout Sports Nutrition
Revere co-founder (and founder of Cyc Fitness), Alexandra Blodgett created the company as a way to help people get more results from all that hard work in the gym. Rather than grabbing sugar-laden green juices, she wanted people to reach for the perfect carb-protein combo. “What’s confusing is knowing the exact ratios of protein to carbohydrates your individual body needs, and understanding how crucial timing is,” she says. “We created Revere to remove the guesswork.”
But first, to create a personalized package, the company needs to get to know you. Through an online questionnaire, you’ll answer how often you exercise, what you hope to achieve through fitness, how hard you work during your sweat sessions, whether you do more strength versus cardio workouts and if you need an extra energy boost before your start moving. Then, based on your responses, you’ll get a curated package filled with pre- and post-workout powders to last you the entire month. (You can cancel or change up your preferences any time, otherwise the same box will arrive every four weeks.)
The idea of personalized, monthly subscription supplement boxes isn’t necessarily new — companies like Ritual and Vitamin Packs have a similar approach with customized vitamin and mineral subscriptions. But this is the first to focus specifically on sports nutrition, with fuel tailored to the type of workout you’re doing.
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The Science Behind the Box
Each box includes only whole, plant-based ingredients, hand-picked by fitness and nutrition experts, including Jennifer Sacheck, PhD, associate professor of nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. The energy formula, for instance, contains green tea and B vitamins, along with beetroot, pomegranate and sweet potato. (Plus, a sweet peach tea taste.)
Protein powders make up the heart of the company, with cardio and strength packets that include different carb-to-protein ratios. Sipping the chai-flavored cardio mix gives you a 4:3 ratio, offering up sweet potatoes and pea protein, among other plants. Grabbing the chocolate strength mix means you get a 2:1 carb-to-protein count. It blends pea and rice protein, as well as tart cherry and sweet potato.
“High protein content in the post-strength [powder] helps with rapid muscle recovery…a small dose of carbs enhances and accelerates these processes beyond what consuming protein alone can do,” explains Blodgett, who worked with New York Mets senior advisor of strength and condition and Miami Dolphins strength and conditioning consultant, Mike Barwis, to perfect the ratios. On the other hand, hardcore cardio workouts deplete muscle energy stores, Blodgett says, and your body calls on carbs to help replenish that energy.
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Whole Foods, But Not Meal Replacements
Keep in mind, the experts behind Revere don’t suggest you take the supplements in lieu of complete, healthy meals. The powders are meant as an on-the-go way to get the nutrients you need to enhance fitness gains. And they allow you to do so within that 30- to 60-minute window before and after a workout, says Sacheck. So if you’re hurrying right from the weight room to a meeting, you can benefit your body with a quick shake of strength powder in water.
“Navigating the sports nutrition supplement industry is tricky,” says Sacheck. “If you choose to fuel your workout with a supplement instead of food, make sure you purchase your products from a reputable manufacturer with an ingredient list you’re comfortable with.” Look for products with limited ingredients, she adds, which come from whole foods (and you recognize the list!), plus have a scientific-backing for why they’re included. The bottom line: Just keep it simple, people.
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