Alcohol

  • Alcohol, Inflammation, Performance, Recovery, Wellness

    Alcohol can hurt your recovery after a tough workout

    Alcohol is a popular beverage enjoyed by a lot of people in particular at sporting events. Whether it be celebrations or social gatherings in general alcohol tends to be present. However, for athletes, alcohol consumption can have major negative effects on recovery from exercise.

    In a recent study published in the Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, researchers conducted a systematic review of the literature to investigate the effects of alcohol consumption on recovery following resistance exercise specifically. What they learned shouldn’t come as too much of a shock. The researchers found that alcohol consumption can impair muscle protein synthesis, increase cortisol levels, and decrease testosterone levels. These changes can lead to slower muscle growth and strength gains, as well as increased muscle soreness. None of which are on anyone’s top three wish list I would imagine.

    Alcohol is a common addition to celebrations and social outings but be careful when having it as it will negatively impact your recovery.

    In addition to the negative effects on muscle recovery, alcohol consumption can also impair cognitive function and coordination. This can make it difficult to perform exercises safely and effectively. Decreased cognitive function is even more negatively impactful on game days. While you certainly need to be able to perform, you also need a clear mind to know what to do while out on the field. There’s a lot of information to process quickly and one second could be the difference between winning at losing.

    For athletes who are serious about their training, it is important to avoid alcohol consumption in the days leading up to and after exercise. If you do choose to drink alcohol, it is important to do so in moderation.

    Tips for optimizing your recovery

    • Get enough sleep. Sleep is essential for muscle growth and repair. Aim for a minimum of 7-8 hours of sleep per night. When you sleep your body naturally is releasing testosterone and growth hormone. These are big players in recovery and body composition changes.
    • Eat a healthy diet. Eat your vegetables! A healthy diet provides your body with the nutrients it needs to recover from exercise. Make sure to include plenty of protein, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in your diet.
    • Do light active recovery. Light activity, such as walking, swimming or foam rolling can help to improve blood circulation and reduce muscle soreness. The main thing is just to move. Doing something is better than nothing. Just don’t have the intensity be too high.
    • Stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of fluids helps to maintain optimal blood volume. This ensure delivery of nutrients/antioxidants and removing inflammation from the muscles. Aim to drink at least half your weight in ounces of water per day.
    • Avoid alcohol. Given the main topic, this is an obvious one. Alcohol can impair muscle protein synthesis and increase cortisol levels. Neither of which is ideal for helping recover and feel better for the next day.
    Alcohol is a common addition to celebrations and social outings but be careful when having it as it will negatively impact your recovery.
    • Do light active recovery. Light activity, such as walking, swimming or foam rolling can help to improve blood circulation and reduce muscle soreness. The main thing is just to move. Doing something is better than nothing. Just don’t have the intensity be too high.

    Alcohol considerations

    The amount of alcohol you consume can affect the severity of the negative effects. The more alcohol you drink, the worse the effects will be. Again no shocker but just a reemphasis on ensuring to practice moderation if partaking. Your age and overall health can also affect how alcohol affects your recovery. Older adults and people with certain health conditions may be more sensitive to the negative effects of alcohol. So, to play it safe you’re best off just simply avoiding alcohol. A good alternative if looking for a non-alcoholic beer is Athletic Brewing. Certainly worth giving a try but if wanting to have some actual alcohol, absolutely avoid it around games. I encourage leaving a 48-hour buffer before and after competition to alleviate most of alcohol’s negative effects.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Alcohol, Body Composition, Hydration, Inflammation, Injury, Performance, Recovery, Sleep, Wellness

    Alcohol and its impact on your health goals

    Most people’s health goals involve things such as improved strength, body composition, energy, performance and recovery. Alcohol negatively impacts all of those across the board. For many of us, weekdays are the busiest and then as soon as the weekend comes, that’s when we prioritize resting. Unfortunately, though if that relaxation involves regular alcohol consumption it may never truly allow the body to get the rest it needs. That’s not to say you can never have alcohol! You just want to be very mindful of when and how much you are having. Athletes in particular whose livelihood centers around optimizing performance. Athletic Brewing is a great non-alcoholic beer example of how to potentially bridge the gap of having a cold one without hurting your goals.

    Alcohol prevents quality sleep

    A popular belief is that alcohol actually helps you sleep. This is based off of how many tend to fall asleep quicker after having some alcohol. This is a false belief as it simply gives the perception of better sleep. While it is true you may fall asleep quicker, the quality of sleep can be severely impacted. With deep and REM sleep being where a lot of the ‘magic’ happens this whole process gets skipped. As a result, the body isn’t able to recovery physically or cognitively as well.

    Alcohol is a part of many social settings and regularly abound. Just because it's common doesn't mean it isn't without negative effects.

    One day/night of this isn’t the end of the world. If done a bit more frequently though the effects will add up and take a toll. Sleep is one of the greatest factors into one’s wellbeing and anything that impacts it needs to be kept in consideration. Getting enough sleep overall is tough enough for most of us so it’s important to preserve the quality of what we do get.

    Body composition, recovery and injury

    This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise but if looking to optimize your physical wellbeing, alcohol isn’t of much assistance. Two of the biggest factors stem from cortisol and testosterone. Alcohol has a big impact on both of them in a negative way. Cortisol experiences an increase while testosterone has a decrease. Again, not an ideal situation for muscle building and repair.

    Cortisol is a stress hormone that stimulates muscle breakdown. Typically, cortisol is associated with general life and physical stress as well as poor sleep. Alcohol itself causes a direct increase in cortisol which adds to that. Testosterone is a key hormone that is very potent at stimulating muscle growth. Due to its benefits, that is why some athletes have gotten in trouble for taking some “extra” of it. Especially if recovering from an injury, to be back to your old self quicker try and avoid alcohol as best you can.

    Alcohol is not hydrating

    Just like sleep, hydration impacts everything in the body from head to toe. Alcohol though is a diuretic causing you to lose more water than what alcohol provides. Dehydration contributes to less blood volume overall causing the heart to have to work harder. With less blood, it needs to circulate more and quicker to make up for it. Blood delivers all the important nutrients to your muscles and organs as well and clears out any byproducts. It takes that to the kidneys and liver to clean things up and keep the body in a prime state.

    On top of that, when in a dehydrated state your body is at a greater risk for injury. A good comparison is a raw steak versus beef jerky. When in a hydrated state, your muscles are like a raw steak which is tough to tear if you tried to pull it apart. On the other hand, muscles are more similar to jerky when dehydrated. While it may still be a bit tougher to pull apart, it’s significantly easier than the steak. Nobody enjoys those annoying muscle pulls so control what you can control to decrease your risk. 

    Athletic Brewing – non-alcoholic option

    After so much discussion on the negative effects of alcohol, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a beer anymore! There is a surge in non-alcoholic beer companies now to help bridge that gap. None of which do it better than Athletic Brewing! That is why my wife and I are proud to have teamed up with them. Athletic Brewing allows the ability to enjoy a beer, especially in social settings, while not sacrificing your recovery. There are a lot of non-alcoholic beers out there but none have compared to the taste of Athletic Brewing. You still want to make sure you’re able to enjoy the beverage after all!

    Overview

    An occasional alcoholic beverage again, is not the end of the world. You just want to be very mindful and strategic of when and how much you are having. Especially now taking into consideration what some of the effects of that alcohol can be. This is why for the athletes I work with I encourage what I refer to as the 48-hour rule.

    Given the impact of alcohol I don’t want to have those effects anywhere around competition. Avoiding alcohol 48-hours before and after competition helps to ensure your body is primed for the event. It allows optimal performance and decreased injury risk in the moment as well as peak recovery afterwards. This same concept applies to non-athletes as well needing to perform their best as well. Choose your alcohol responsibly and when in doubt, less/none is best. Don’t be afraid to incorporate some non-alcoholic options as well like Athletic Brewing in those moments a craving hits.

    Reference: click here

    Check out Athletic Brewing: click here

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