ITHACA, N.Y. — Throughout the school year, ’s strength and conditioning center is filled with a chorus of clanging weights and thumping rock music.
Posters in the entrance to the center instruct athletes — from nearly 300-pound offensive linemen to 5-foot-tall field hockey players — to refuel their bodies after sweat-inducing workouts.
But the suggested products are not jugs of protein powder or sports energy drinks commonly found around gyms; instead, they use locally produced eight-ounce bottles of 1 percent low-fat chocolate milk, similar to what is found in standard school lunches.
At Cornell, the benefits of having an on-campus dairy extend beyond a diverse dining hall menu with pumpkin cheesecake and Bavarian raspberry fudge ice cream flavors. Since January 2014, Cornell’s athletic department has teamed with the college of agriculture and life sciences in an effort to systematically change workout recovery habits.
“The composition of low-fat chocolate milk is probably the gold standard for a recovery beverage,” said Clint Wattenberg, Cornell’s coordinator of sports nutrition. “We don’t have to second-guess where this supplement is coming from.”
As a two-time all-American wrestler for the Big Red from 1998 to 2003 and a former coach and dietitian, Wattenberg had witnessed athletes under-fueling their bodies during the day, then completing rigorous training sessions and overeating at night.
When Wattenberg was hired by Cornell in July 2013, most athletes did not have post-workout recovery plans.
“Bridging the fueling gaps throughout the day is really a critical component to an effective performance nutrition plan that student-athletes aren’t very well-suited to manage, especially their first year on campus,” he said.
One of the first people Wattenberg contacted upon his return to Cornell was the former dairy plant manager Jason Huck, who proved to be an ideal partner.
Huck’s master’s project while he was a Cornell graduate student was centered on methods to make milk taste better and last longer, and he studied organisms that cause spoilage.
Wattenberg started by emphasizing replenishment 30 minutes after workouts. That made it difficult for some athletes like the Cornell field hockey player Marisa Siergiej, who often has to shower and attend classes after sessions. In previous years, she and her teammates would run to the dining hall and overeat to refuel.
“It gives us something we can use right away,” Siergiej said of the milk.
Most of the athletes savor the taste (the sugar from chocolate milk also stimulates muscle and glycogen repair). Cornell’s boathouse has its own dispenser and storage cooler stocked with bottles of the product for the rowing teams.
The next step in the collaboration between Cornell’s athletes and the dairy program is a protein drink, Big Red Refuel, which is expected to be released in the coming months.
Huck began the process by using a software program to develop a conceptual formula, employing ingredients already on hand and nutrition specifications provided by the athletic department.
Creating the ideal chocolate milk recipe was akin to harvesting the ingredients for a fine wine. At one point, Huck wanted to fortify the drink with Omega 3, but that would have boosted the fat content significantly. If the sugar content were too high, that could cause gastric distress.
There were also N.C.A.A. specifications to follow — athletes cannot consume supplement products with more than 30 percent protein to avoid any potential effects from protein toxicity.
In the end, Huck and Wattenberg created a smooth-tasting drink with 16 grams of protein and 230 calories per eight-ounce serving. In contrast, a similar serving of low-fat chocolate milk has 8 grams of protein and 160 calories.
Through research, Wattenberg estimated that 20 grams of protein is optimal for muscle recovery for an athlete weighing 150 to 160 pounds; after that there are diminishing returns, because excess protein is stored as body fat. A 300-pound lineman with greater muscle mass might need around 30 to 35 grams of protein.
For athletes who need more protein than what Big Red Refuel or chocolate milk supplies, Wattenberg educates them on what supplements they can take, like a bar or another drink, and how to properly measure proportions.
Cornell’s coaches have been quick to praise the collaboration. While the Big Red do not widely advertise their recovery beverage of choice, other university dairies and creameries are also forming relationships with athletes.
North Carolina State students and faculty dedicated to protein research developed a similar drink called Power Pack. Brigham Young’s creamery previously provided athletes with a concoction of yogurt, powdered milk, fruit juice and fresh fruit. Wisconsin’s dairy is working on a protein drink called “Bucky Fuel” for its football team, while its Big Ten rival Penn State has a protein drink for its football players called Aclr8, which was named with the help of the Hall of Fame fullback Franco Harris.
For years, Cornell and Penn State students have had fun with the notion of an ice cream rivalry. Thomas Palchak, manager of Penn State’s Berkey Creamery, said the university creameries are fraternal and communicate regularly.
In June, the managers will convene at the University Creamery Managers Association’s 12th annual meeting at the University of Delaware.
Palchak was excited with the advancements and the dairies’ growing influence on college sports, and was intrigued to see what other universities may have in the works.
“The general idea is we’ve avoided any outlandish claims or competitiveness,” Palchak said. “We share papers and documents. I know all of them personally, and they’re a great group.”
Once released, Big Red Refuel, which has an 18-day shelf life, will also be accessible to Cornell’s student body. The Cornell dairy plant manager Tim Barnard said he was already hearing requests from other universities. Cornell’s coaches also frequently ask Barnard when the latest drink will be bottled. Barnard said the relationship with athletics has made campus dairy workers feel “part of the team.”
Dairy production has been a vital element at Cornell and other land-grant universities for more than a century. Food company managers from across the nation train at Cornell’s dairy facilities, working alongside students preparing for careers in food science, safety and other fields.
One mile from campus, the veterinary school operates a farm with about 85 cows that produces the milk for Big Red athletes, as well as cheeses, yogurt and 18 ice cream flavors available at the Cornell Dairy Bar, which has been a social institution on campus for generations.
Wattenberg and Huck also have plans for more products and have discussed creating a yogurt and fruit yogurt smoothie.
“The insight and awareness around recovery and nutrition has adapted and really become part of the training plan,” Wattenberg said. “Fueling recovery is as important as the work you put in. This is part of our tool kit we can use to optimize our performance.”