Alcohol consumption whist training (Part 2)

A few servings of alcohol can have some great health and mental benefits believe it or not.

Alcohol in small doses has been proven to enhance relaxation and have some benefits to the heart by thinning the blood. Even with 2-3 cups (beer=cups / liquor=shots) of alcohol, though, there are usually more than 150 calories, and the adverse affects such as dehydration and minimized recovery start to set in.

Drinking really is not necessary to your health, and there are more negative effects than positive ones.

This suggests the truth - that not drinking has many benefits to progress in the gym. If you were to drink alcohol, it would cause a direct negative impact for a day or two afterward. A lot of these unwanted results would linger in the body for longer, though, as the body scrambles to get back to normal, and by then you may have already had a few drinks again. By not drinking, you improve the quality of everything you do for the next couple of days. WHAT YOU MISS OUT ON BY DRINKING When you decide to take a few cups (beer=cups / liquor=shots) of alcohol one night, you may not realize it, but you are severely diminishing possible performance for the next day. The following will compare your body's performance after a night of drinking with your body's performance after a night without alcohol - you might be surprised by these facts! HYDRATION 1-2 DAYS AFTER DRINKING Since alcohol consumption is very hard on the kidneys, drinking will have a negative impact on your body's hydration. Your body's water will go to the kidneys to metabolize the alcohol when it should be used to help process other substances! Hydration is key to performance because water is needed in all energy-creating reactions. It can take the body awhile to become re-hydrated, so I suggest if you are out drinking, have a glass of water as well, to maintain proper hydration. 1-2 DAYS AFTER NOT DRINKING Since you have not consumed alcohol for the past 1-2 days, you are not seeing any of the negative effects of dehydration. Processing all of the substances in your body is easy, because alcohol is not limiting this at all. Your performance routine is steadily improving because you are not hitting any roadblocks due to dehydration. MIND FUNCTION 1-2 DAYS AFTER DRINKING Alcohol diminishes the function of the mind through various processes. It affects many of the hormone functions in the brain within 1-2 minutes of consumption. Besides that, alcohol intake slows glycogen metabolism. This means the brain receives less glycogen, so it doesn't have much energy. Since the mind plays a large role in any exercise to aid in motivation and focus, decreased mind function due to alcohol should be avoided! 1-2 DAYS AFTER NOT DRINKING Since you have not had any alcohol in your system in the past day or two, your mind function is at its normal level. Your workouts will probably feel much better than they did coming a day or two after drinking! PROTEIN SYNTHESIS Anabolism, or protein synthesis, is negatively affected by alcohol. Alcohol hurts the absorption of protein in the body, just like it hurts the absorption of any other substance. Because less protein is being turned into muscle tissue, you are not growing to the fullest! This decrease in protein synthesis doesn't just slow down growth, it also hurts recovery, because less protein is going to repair muscle tissue. 1-2 DAYS AFTER NOT DRINKING With improved recovery and protein synthesis, you might not see a sudden change, but in time the increased growth and recovery will really make a difference! CARDIOVASCULAR Alcohol's blood thinning effects might help the heart somewhat, but don't be mislead - alcohol's negative effects on the heart are more numerous than its positive effects. Decreased cardiovascular activity can make recovery more difficult in between sets or drills. 1-2 DAYS AFTER NOT DRINKING Since you have not been drinking in the past day or two, you should feel like you're in better shape. This is because the heart is functioning better! STRENGTH PERFORMANCE Because of many of the aforementioned processes that alcohol can have a negative impact on, strength performance takes a hit as well. When you are not properly hydrated and recovered, how can you expect to perform at optimal strength levels? Diminished mind function can also be a very bad thing when it comes to strength performance- you might not have the same level of mental focus, as you did while not on alcohol. 1-2 DAYS AFTER NOT DRINKING Since you haven't had any alcohol in your system for the past few days, all of these effects can be avoided. You can finally realize your full potential since alcohol is not hiding it. ENERGY LEVELS Alcohol tends to limit the metabolism of other substances in the body. One of these substances is the carbohydrate. By limiting carbohydrate metabolism, muscle glycogen levels are limited. This means that fatigue sets in earlier and endurance, strength and speed are compromised. As I mentioned before, the negative impacts on cardiovascular function also have a negative impact on the body. 1-2 DAYS AFTER NOT DRINKING Without having consumed alcohol over the past 1-2 days, you should notice an improvement in energy levels. Those long sports practices or workouts will probably seem shorter, and of better quality! THE CALORIES IN ALCOHOL DO COUNT! The large number of calories in alcohol is not good at all for weight loss. For those of you with a faster metabolism, you might try to rationalize it that you need the calories to gain weight, but then you also get the negative effects of alcohol. Alcohol isn't really all that nutrient-dense anyway. I have compiled a list of common alcoholic dribks, and their calorie contents.

CALORIES BURNED BY AN AVERAGE EXERCISE SESSION

Your Weight Running, 15 Min at 8mph Stationary, Biking 15 Min Running, 30 Min at 8mph Intense, Weight Lifting 45 Min

100-125 lbs 161-201 cal 149-186 cal 321-402 cal 214-268 cal 125-150 lbs 201-241 cal 186-223 cal 402-482 cal 268-321 cal 150-175 lbs 241-281 cal 223-260 cal 482-563 cal 321-375 cal 175-200 lbs 281-321 cal 260-298 cal 563-643 cal 375-429 cal 200-225 lbs 321-361 cal 298-335 cal 642-723 cal 429-482 cal 225-250 lbs 361-401 cal 335-372 cal 723-804 cal 482-536 cal 250-275 lbs 401-441 cal 372-409 cal 804-884 cal 536-589 cal 275-300 lbs 441-481 cal 409-447 cal 884-964 cal 589-643 cal

This may vary quite a bit, since different activities may burn more or less calories based on what muscle is trained, rep ranges and rest periods. The numbers here are an average amount of calorie burning that can take place.