The Relationship Between Alcohol And Fitness

Alcohol and fitness have an often opposing relationship. Alcohol use decreases overall fitness and hampers an individual’s ability to achieve their fitness goals. However, improving physical fitness through a variety of methods such as working out and eating a healthier diet is one of the most effective ways to combat alcoholism and counteract the many negative health effects that it causes.

Effect Of Alcohol And Fitness And Performance

Drinking alcohol as a regular pattern can negatively affect your performance in the gym, when you play sports, and in everyday life. Alcohol is a sedative that slows down functioning. It weakens hand-eye coordination, impairs judgement, and slows down reaction time. When you are active, no matter what you are doing, all of these functions are imperative to keep up the pace and efficiently be aware of your surroundings. Playing any sport requires top-notch attention due to the fast pace and quick reaction time needed to win. Alcohol impairs your ability to perform at your highest level, costing you the game, or ending your workout early.

Effect Of Alcohol And Fitness On Weight-Loss Goals

Alcohol is known for containing empty calories, or calories that provide little to no nutritional value. Drinking right after a workout could set you back from your weight loss goals. A study was done to show how drinking effects working out. A group of men performed an intense workout then drank a couple of drinks. The results showed muscle building and recovery, also known as protein synthesis, decreased by 37%.

Many times, when you reach for an alcoholic drink, you mix it with a sugary liquid, such as juice, to amplify the taste. Drinking sugary drinks after a workout actually stops the fat burning process, leaving you back to where you were before you put all of that hard work in the gym

Effect Of Alcohol And Fitness On Dehydration And Fatigue

Working out leaves you dehydrated due to the sweat excreted during each exercise. Alcohol is a big culprit in dehydration as well. Mixing the two enhances the problem. Exhaustion and fatigue can be a result. Dehydration from both activities can also lead to a worse hangover, and when you have a hangover complimenting fatigue, your chances of going to the gym the next day are slim to none. If you love to do cardio and love your glass of wine right after, you could be stripping your body of glycogen. Glycogen allows your body to work out at high intensities. Slowing down this hormone might cause faster fatigue the next time you decide to workout.

Effect Of Alcohol And Fitness On Soreness And Muscle Repair

Every time you work out, you tear your muscles. These muscle tears are part of what causes the soreness you feel until they heal with the use of a human growth hormone. Drinking alcohol after a workout prevents efficient healing of the muscles by decreasing the secretion of the hormone. As a result, you will feel sore longer and have to wait a longer time period for your muscles to fully heal. Binge drinking also plays a role in decreasing your gains from the gym. Instead of increasing testosterone levels, which would help grow the muscles, alcohol increases the hormone cortisol (the same hormone that causes stress) and destroys all the muscle you were trying to build