What you get out of lifting weights depends on what you put into it --- and using alcohol can negate your work in the weight room. Ongoing alcohol use reduces protein synthesis and impairs muscle buildup, and short-term alcohol use interferes with muscle growth, too, the University of Notre Dame's Office of Alcohol and Drug Education explains. Eliminating or limiting your drinking will improve your weightlifting results. Consult your doctor if you think you might have a serious problem with alcohol.
Health Effects
Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, and these calories provide no nutritional value. As the term "beer belly" suggests, alcohol consumption increases body fat. Alcohol contributes to dehydration; even slight dehydration slows your metabolism. A slower metabolism means your body burns fewer calories. Alcohol also affects sleep --- contrary to myth, an alcohol nightcap won't help you sleep. Alcohol-impaired sleep reduces your supply of human growth hormone, directly affecting your ability to recover from lifting weights and achieve your muscle-building goals.
Training Effects
With optimum nutrition, lifting weights improves your muscle-to-fat ratio --- meaning you become leaner and more muscular as you train. Alcohol's carbohydrates, however, don't turn into glucose for fuel. They become fatty acids and are stored in your liver. Drinking increases your appetite and results in higher calorie intake, further undermining your goals for improving your body composition. By the time you feel thirsty, you may already be dehydrated. Dehydration undermines your physical performance --- by as much as 10 to 20 percent, dietitian Dawn Weatherwax-Fall warns on the National Strength Training and Conditioning Association's website.
Lifting Weights
Making progress requires setting goals, maintaining focus when you train, lifting in proper form to target your muscles and reduce the risk of injuries, good nutrition and recovery. Alcohol consumption can undermine goals, erode your ability to focus and increase your risk of injury --- for up to 72 hours after your last drink. Alcohol impedes your muscles' ability to create their required fuel and slows muscle recovery and growth. Excessive alcohol consumption leads to muscle breakdown, the American Council on Exercise cautions.
Considerations
Complete abstinence from alcohol isn't for everyone. Giving it a try during an intensive training period gives you the opportunity to experience for yourself how your weightlifting sessions feel without alcohol. Many people find that eliminating alcohol improves their motivation and energy for working out. For example, plan to go two weeks without a drink. An inability to go two weeks without a drink could indicate alcohol dependence or a need for support with issues that trigger your alcohol use.
Aiming to find a balance with occasional moderate indulgence rather than drinking regularly may offer an approach to alcohol and weightlifting that you can live with long-term.
References
- University of Notre Dame: Office of Alcohol and Drug Education; Alcohol and Athletes; 2008
- Amercian Council on Exercise: Alcohol Eats Away at Muscle Mass
- National Strength and Conditioning Association; Alcohol Consumption, and its Effects on Performance; Dawn Weatherwax-Fall, A.T.C, R.D./L.D., C.S.C.S.; 2008
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