Coffee, chocolate, and alcohol are probably three of the most studied nutritional substances. There is substantial research that shows light alcohol consumption has several health benefits. But what about those of us who take our fitness serious or those of us who consider ourselves athletes? Is a little alcohol okay? Or should we abstain from alcohol completely? The question is, does alcohol effect our workouts?
The simple answer is: YES. Alcohol CAN impair our workouts and limit what we work so hard to achieve.
If you take your training seriously, chances are you know a little about pre- and post-workout nutrition - protein for muscle recovery and carbohydrates for glycogen replenishing.
It’s important to remember that your body treats alcohol as poison and when you drink alcohol your body goes through all means necessary to purge it from your body. What this means is that any other nutrient sources that you take in on top of the alcohol won’t be properly utilized by the body for recovering. In fact, because the body is working so hard to get rid of alcohol, it increases the chances that other fuels such as carbohydrates while be stored as body fat.
Our muscles are an important source of fuel for the workouts that we do. The source of fuel is known as glycogen – the stored source of glucose in our muscles. As free sugar in our blood gets used up during our workout our muscles need more energy so our body triggers our muscles to release the sugar stored up in our muscle. Immediately after a workout our body goes into a state of replenishment where our body is searching for sources of food to replenish the glycogen lost in our muscles. This is achieved by eating carbohydrates after a workout.
But what happens if alcohol enters the mix? Alcohol not only inhibits protein metabolism inside of our bodies, but affect carbohydrate absorption too. The bottom line is that alcohol keeps nutrients from being absorbed and being used by your body.
What about sleep? Alcohol is frequently used as an aid to help people fall asleep. Unfortunately, it’s only about the first half of our sleep that really benefits from alcohol. What alcohol does to the last half of our sleep cycle messes with how we would otherwise be rebuilding after a hard workout. Alcohol impairs the most important cycle of sleep, the rapid eye movement, or REM cycle. Disrupting the REM cycle can cause day time drowsiness, poor concentration, and reduce the ability of the body to heal itself overnight.
So, remember:
• Alcohol will limit your gains and progress.
• Alcohol keeps your muscles from reaching their true capability of repair after a workout by preventing protein from getting to your muscles.
• Alcohol impacts your fuel for future workouts as the ability to properly store carbohydrates is limited by alcohol consumption.
• Your sleep will be impaired leading to less muscle recovery during the night as well as reduced energy levels for your next workout.
We are not recommending everyone immediately gives up alcohol, we thoroughly enjoy a good glass of red wine or a beer or two every so often, but the biggest key is to remember, everything in moderation.
As you know, you can’t out train a bad diet.
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