Smoothie recipes designed to support your fitness goals

Lisa Money, RDN

Apex Athletic Performance

Fitness in general, and athletic performance specifically, is based on far more than how much you can lift, how fast you can run or your level of flexibility. Athletes know that reaching peak performance isn’t just about what happens on the outside with your training, but also what you’re taking into your body through nutrition.

Sports dietitians can look over an athlete’s eating habits to help them build a plan that provides nutritional support for their performance goals, helping them become faster and stronger from the inside out.

Whether you’re looking for a convenient but still health-focused way to start your day, you’re interested in fueling a workout or preventing those post-workout muscle aches and pains and improving muscle recovery, our Sports Dietician Lisa Money, RDN, with Apex Athletic Performance has smoothie recipes to help.

The recipes below are structured to help you meet your fitness goals while providing a variety of health benefits to keep you feeling strong and satisfied.

Goal: Avoid skipping breakfast with something simple and easy

The smoothie recipe below has just a few ingredients and is a great way to make sure you get some nutrition in without having to slow down your busy morning routine. Plus, it’s just as easy to customize to suit your personal tastes and health needs.

Banana Smoothie

Prep time: 5 minutes (or less!)

• 1 cup low fat or soy milk
• ½ cup low fat vanilla yogurt
• 2 cups sliced frozen bananas
• 1 teaspoon ground flax seed

Place ingredients in a blender in the order above and blend on high speed for 1 minute or until smooth.

Enjoy on the way to work or workouts. The low fat and low protein content helps speed up absorption, while the omega three fats from flax seed keeps you full during your workout. You can also toss in some spinach or kale leaves to get in some greens or add blueberries or another favorite fruit to switch up the taste and add variety.

Goal: Fuel your workouts for improved performance

Pre-workout smoothies ideally should be consumed about 30 to 45 minutes prior to your workout. Money based this smoothie recipe on providing support for 2-hour athletic workouts or for a game.

Basic Whey Protein Smoothie

Prep time: 10 minutes

• 4 ounces cold water
• 4 ounces fruit punch or fruit juice of your choice
• 1.5 scoops vanilla whey protein (NSF certified)
• 1 teaspoon ground flax seed
• 1 cup frozen berry blends fruit

Load blender in order listed above. Blend until smooth and enjoy as a breakfast, a pre-workout snack, or pre-game fuel.

Goal: Post-workout recovery to prevent sore muscles

Get Your Greens Smoothie

Prep time: 10 minutes

• 1 cup coconut water
• ½ banana
• ¾ cup frozen strawberries
• 1 cup baby spinach or kale
• 1 teaspoon flax seed
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (NSF certified)

Load blender with ingredients in order listed above. Blend until smooth. You may need to blanch the spinach or kale ahead of time if you don’t have a high-powered blender. To blanch, add the greens to boiling water and leave for one minute, then immediately drain and rinse.

The vitamin C from the strawberries provides an antioxidant to help reduce inflammation from training. Potassium from coconut water replaces lost electrolytes in sweat and the spinach, protein powder and flax seed provide the environment needed to start the recovery process.

Find more tips on improving your athletic performance or information on healthy nutrition right here on Flourish.