Alcohol and training - questions about the relationship between them are often asked by people who want their exercises to bring the best results, but also do not want to completely give up drinking alcohol. What is the effect of drinking alcohol before training on the body and how much harm to ourselves by drinking beer after training? Can active people afford a stronger drink from time to time? Read about the relationship between alcohol and training.
Howalcoholaffectstraining?Does the consumption of high-percentage drinks reduce exercise capacity and reduce regeneration after exercise? And what about drinking alcohol after the gym - can one beer disturb the growth of muscle mass?
In this article, you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions about the effects of alcohol on aerobic and strength training.
Alcohol before training - how does it affect the body?
Are you coming home after work, having a beer or two and going to the gym? This may not be the best idea for a number of reasons. The first is obvious - exercising under the influence of alcohol has more problems with coordination than when sober. Thus, the risk of injury increases, and we ourselves are not as fast and effective as we would like. It is harder for us to concentrate and our visual perception worsens, we also have a longer reaction time - all these symptoms are due to the negative influence of alcohol on the central nervous system.
Dehydration during exercise is very dangerous - it increases the risk of injuries, strains and muscle cramps, and can also lead to fainting and total exhaustion.
Moreover, alcohol is a diuretic, i.e. a dehydrating substance. It is not without reason that the need to replenish fluids is emphasized not only during and after training, but also before - while alcohol increases the amount of water and electrolytes excreted with sweat. It is also a diuretic, and visits to the toilet before and during training are another step towards dehydration.
Another negative effect of drinking before training is that it disrupts the synthesis of glucose or lactate - gluconeogenesis in the liver. If the exerciser is additionally following a low-carbohydrate diet, it can lead to hypoglycaemia in a simple way whenblood glucose is below 55 mg - the risk of hypoglycaemia is greatest with prolonged exercise. If we drink alcohol before training, we will reduce the rate of glycogen recovery after exercise.
Alcohol after training - how does it work?
Going to a heavily drunk party after training is also not advisable. Primarily because alcohol impairs muscle regeneration. During exercise, we produce the stress hormone cortisol, which causes protein degradation. Drinking alcohol after a workout helps to maintain a high level of cortisol in the body, extending muscle catabolism, i.e. the breakdown of muscle tissue. Thus, the regeneration of damaged structures is slower.
We should also remember that after training, the level of glycogen in the body is lower, and if we additionally drink it, its rebuilding will be more labor-intensive, what is more - we will lead to further losses. Likewise, the dehydrating properties of alcohol do not disappear after training.
Alcohol and strength training
Alcohol before the gym
Alcohol drunk before training increases the heart rate and raises blood pressure during exercise.
Does alcohol interfere with muscle gain? There is much talk about its effect on reducing testosterone levels in the body, and testosterone, in turn, is used in the process of building muscles. It turns out to be true, but the declines are not significant. Dutch scientists conducted a study1on a group of men who drank the equivalent of 2 beers every day for 21 days. The drop in testosterone levels was 6.8 percent, which is not as much as for the amount of drinks drunk.
In turn, Swiss scientists divided the participants of their study2into two groups: people from the first group consumed as many as 5 drinks every day before training, people from the second one drank non-alcoholic beverages. There were no differences in creatine kinase, i.e. muscle breakdown, muscle tone and strength. The level of pain felt after exercise was also the same.
It is worth noting, however, that dehydration caused by alcohol consumption before the gym affects the body's ability to produce energy from the breakdown of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Alcohol after the gym - does it interfere with the growth of muscle mass?
There is no doubt that the data on alcohol consumption before the gym is varied, but what about drinking after the gym? There are definitely more arguments against - one of them is the relationship between alcohol and creatine. Creatine increasesmuscle hydration, and alcohol - as mentioned - dehydrates the body and slows down protein synthesis. Therefore, alcohol and creatine act antagonistically - the former neutralizes the activity of the latter. So when it comes to the effects of keratin on muscle development, it will most likely be brought to zero by alcohol.
It's not hard to see that most alcoholics are thin because alcohol slows down protein synthesis. Of course, alcoholics are an extreme example, but even if we were partying the night before training, we would reduce the body's ability to bind protein by up to 20 percent. And the amount of muscle tissue is greater, the greater the ability to synthesize this component. Alcohol increases the expression of catabolic myostatin, while lowering the level of insulin and insulin-like growth factor, which stimulate the development of muscle mass.
Since alcohol hinders protein synthesis, it also breaks down muscle tissue. Why? Muscle fibers torn during training during regeneration are to be rebuilt, and the building or restoration of fibers is based on protein synthesis.
Worth knowingBeer after training - is it harmful or not?
Drinking a beer on the same day of training (both before and after exercise) is definitely a bad idea. But alcohol in small amounts between training days should not compromise your training results. What dosages are allowed? You can drinka maximum of one half-liter strong light beer or a glass (250 ml) of wine or a small glass of vodka daily .
It is assumed that a person burns 20-30 g of ethanol, i.e. pure alcohol, for 3 hours. One half-liter beer contains 25 g of ethanol. It is often said that alcohol also has its advantages: it contains antioxidants, has anti-inflammatory properties, but it is better not to try to explain your passion for alcohol drinks in this way. Broccoli and Brussels sprouts have the same properties, as well as many other fruits and vegetables - and that's what you should bet on.
The effect of alcohol on weight loss
Alcohol is undoubtedly not an ally of weight loss. After each meal, our body temperature rises slightly, and then the body starts to burn the nutrients that were provided to it with food. Alcohol, however, primarily provides the so-called empty calories with which the body also wants to do something - it's best to get rid of them as soon as possible. It gets to work quickly, first by dealing with calories from alcohol, but thus slowing down thermogenesis, and only thenfurther work dealing with calories from food. The body converts alcohol warm - unlike the calories from meals waiting in line, which are stored as body fat.
There is also a belief that alcohol stimulates the appetite - after all, Italians drink an aperitif before meals not for nothing. It turns out, however, that the effects of alcohol in this regard are different. Two hormones are responsible for the fact that we feel hungry: cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS). The more we have in our body, the more we feel hungry. Dr. Anna Kokavec from La Trobe University conducted a study3on the relationship between the levels of the above-mentioned hormones and alcohol consumption. It turned out that in the group of test subjects and those consuming high-percentage drinks, the level of cortisol did not increase at all compared to what they had before the study. However, the case with DHEAS was different - it all depended on the type of drink. Beer and red wine increased the appetite, but white wine - by no means.
Not without significance is the fact that the more we drink, the less we control ourselves and the more tempting we eat. With alcohol, we are more likely to reach for sticks, chips or kebabs, and this promotes the accumulation of body fat.
The caloric content of each type of alcohol varies - the most popular beverages are presented in the table below.
Alcohol - calories table
| Alcohol | Unit | Number of calories |
| Gin | A glass of 25 ml | 46 kcal |
| Vodka | A glass of 25 ml | 55 kcal |
| Dry white wine | 150 ml glass | 99 kcal |
| Dry red wine | 150 ml glass | 102 kcal |
| Whiskey | Portion 50 g | 110 kcal |
| Semi-sweet white wine | 150 ml glass | 123 kcal |
| Red semi-sweet wine | 150 ml glass | 144 kcal |
| Light beer | Beer mug 500 ml | 245 kcal |
| Dark beer | Beer mug 500 ml | 340 kcal |
Training and non-alcoholic beer
It is better to avoid alcohol before and after training, but nothing prevents you from reaching for a tasty non-alcoholic beer. Ba! It is even advisable. Why? This drink does not contain fat and cholesterol, but it contains phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sodium, electrolytes (so it hydrates us) and vitamin B.Non-alcoholic beer also has half the calories of its high-percentage beer. In Germany, runners even treat the non-alcoholic Erdinger wheat beer as an isotonic drink. No wonder - their choice is confirmed by the results of the conducted research. One of them was held in Munich and 277 marathon runners took part in it - one half of the runners consumed 1.5 liters of beer every day, the other half - Erdinger. After the marathon, it was found that those in the non-alcoholic group had reduced levels of inflammation in their blood and 20 percent higher leukocytes than members of the other group.
Sources:
1. Access to research at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15166654
2. Access to research at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2299844
3. Access to research at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna_Kokavec/publication/264517526_Decreased_Appetite_for_Food_in_Alcoholism/links/57aead4a08ae15c76cb3a988.pdf?origin=publication_list