Muscle Recovery

Muscle Recovery

A growing number of elite athletes and weekend warriors are turning to Montmorency tart cherry juice as a post-exercise recovery drink.

Keeping up with your exercise regimen is a lot easier when you recover quickly after a workout. Montmorency tart cherry juice is rapidly gaining a following among elite athletes and weekend warriors as a drink that helps speed the recovery process.

Long known for its anti-inflammatory properties (which have been highly valued by sufferers of arthritis and gout), Montmorency tart cherry juice is now relied on for easing muscle soreness after exercise.

Why? The pain associated with exercise involves muscle damage, inflammation and oxidative stress. Tart cherries seem to help with all three due to the concentrated amounts of anthocyanins inside. Studies suggest Montmorency tart cherry juice has the ability to reduce muscle pain and weakness after bouts of intense strength training, as well as after long-distance running.

A new study demonstrates the impact of Montmorency tart cherries on inflammation and oxidative stress after high-intensity cycling. Cyclists who drank Montmorency tart cherry juice concentrate before a three-day simulated race experienced less inflammation and oxidative stress compared to those who drank another beverage, according to a new U.K. study published in the journal Nutrients.

A look at the evidence.

  • Faster recovery: Marathon runners who drank Montmorency tart cherry juice five days before, the day of and two days after running experienced a faster recovery of strength compared to those who drank a different beverage. 

    • Similarly, in another study Montmorency tart cherry juice helped improve the recovery time after intensive exercise compared to the placebo beverage that was used. 

  • Decreases muscle pain: Runners in an annual 196-mile relay race in Oregon reported significantly less muscle pain after the race if they drank Montmorency tart cherry juice twice a day the week before and on the day of the long-distance race. 

  • Less muscle damage: Montmorency tart cherry juice decreased some of the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage following strength training. Strength loss after exercise averaged over four days was only 4 percent, compared to 22 percent among those who drank another beverage. 

Tart Cherry Recovery Recipe Booklet

The Cherry Marketing Institute along with Competitor Group, Inc (CGI) have partnered with world-class endurance athlete Matt Fitzgerald and created a Montmorency tart cherry recovery recipe booklet to encourage runners, cyclists and triathletes to make Montmorency tart cherries a part of their training routine.

Download the Tart Cherry Recovery Recipes booklet and add Montmorency tart cherries to your training routine now!

What you can do:

  • Drink a 10-ounce glass of Montmorency tart cherry juice before workouts. Most of the exercise recovery studies have provided participants with two 8- or 12-ounce bottles of Montmorency tart cherry juice per day, the equivalent of close to 100 Montmorency cherries a day.

  • Drink an additional glass within 30 minutes after workouts, or carry some dried Montmorency tart cherries in your bag. Also try a Montmorency tart cherry smoothie – blending Montmorency tart cherry juice and Greek yogurt with frozen Montmorency tart cherries.

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