Does Alcohol Affect My Fitness/Muscle Gain?
On Friday afternoon after you leave work, you probably think about going out and having a few drinks with friends to relax and wind down. Even though you may think you deserve to go out and have a few drinks, there are some things that you should certainly keep in mind.
Like any other day, tomorrow is going to be a day for exercise, and since you are exercising on a regular basis, a few drinks of alcohol won’t really hurt anything, right? Before you decide to rush out to the local bar, there are a few things below that you should think about before you make your choice about going out to drink some alcohol.
Research has proven that even small amounts of alcohol with increase muscular endurance and the output of strength, although these types of benefits are very short lived. After 20 minutes or so, the problems will begin to surface. All of the negative side effects associated with alcohol will easily outweigh any possible benefits that it can have. No matter how you look at it, alcohol is a poison that can really harm your body if you aren’t careful.
The negative side of alcohol can reduce your strength, endurance, aerobic capability, recovery time, ability to metabolize fat, and even your muscle growth as well. Alcohol will also have an effect on your nervous system and brain. If you use it long term, you can cause severe deterioration of your central nervous system. Even with short term use, nerve muscle interaction can be reduced which will result in a loss of strength.
Once alcohol reaches the blood cells, it can and probably will damage them. With alcohol users, inflammation of the muscle cells is a very common thing. Over periods of time, some of these cells that have been damaged can die which will result in less functional muscle contractions. Drinking alcohol will also leave you with more soreness of your muscles after you exercise, which means that it will take you a lot longer to recuperate.
Alcohol will also have many different effects on your heart and circulatory system as well. When you drink any type of alcohol, you may begin to see a reduction in your endurance capabilities. Anytime you drink, your heat loss will increase, due to the alcohol simulating your blood vessels to dilate. The loss in heat can cause your muscles to become quite cold, therefore become slower and weaker during your muscle contractions.
Drinking alcohol can also lead to digestive and nutrition problems as well. Alcohol cause a release of insulin that will increase the metabolism of glycogen, which spares fat and makes the loss of fat very hard. Due to alcohol interfering with the absorption of several key nutrients, you can also become anemic and deficient with B type vitamins.
Because your liver is the organ that detoxifies alcohol, the more you drink, the harder your liver has to work. The extra stress alcohol places on your liver can cause serious damage and even destroy some of your liver cells.
Since alcohol is diuretic, drinking large amounts can put a lot of stress on your kidneys as well. During diuretic action, the hormones are secreted. This can lead to heightened water retention and no one who exercises will want this to happen.
Author: Robert Bell
Scridb filterTags: aerobic problems, alcohol, endurance, heart problems, liver poisoning, loss of strength, muscle, muscle cells, muscle chemistry, muscle contractions
April 26th, 2009 at 2:13 PM
yo, great name for site)))
————————
ad: http://xabul.ru/
April 28th, 2009 at 10:31 AM
now in my rss reader)))
————————
signature: http://semev.ru/
April 29th, 2009 at 12:51 AM
yo, great name for site)))
————————
signature: http://ponon.ru/seq038v
May 1st, 2009 at 5:55 AM
Wonderfull…
May 11th, 2009 at 4:20 AM
Oh, damn!
July 9th, 2009 at 3:21 AM
Man, that’s great…Thanks for providing such a good info………
July 11th, 2009 at 6:50 PM
Nice work! I’ll have to do a cross post on this one
July 13th, 2009 at 12:44 AM
Thanks a lot!! a very useful topic!!
July 26th, 2009 at 4:35 AM
This is absolutely perfect. Thanks a lot, I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time.
August 7th, 2009 at 3:24 PM
For example, taken post-workout, sugar is considered essential to restore insulin levels, but taken in excess before sleep is usually a request for more fat tissue. From past experience and as a rule of thumb, the longer you wait after a workout to indulge in some form of sugar, the more the detrimental effects begin to take over and outweigh the benefits.
December 14th, 2009 at 7:44 AM
Good job! I wrote about it before–many others have written it before me, and written it better–know thyself, and to thine own body be true.
December 29th, 2009 at 11:24 PM
Do you have any recommendations for someone that may be a tiny over weight but wants to lift weights as well?
January 28th, 2010 at 1:21 PM
Cool blog! Thanks for your info! I couldn’t agree more. Good stuff! Stay Healthy! – Devin
February 4th, 2010 at 12:42 AM
I think that is an interesting point, it made me think a bit. Thanks for sparking my thinking cap. Sometimes I get so much in a rut that I just feel like a record.
February 6th, 2010 at 4:58 AM
Awesome blog mate, defnitely some great information here and well written. I keep trying to build a following to my blog on the amazing results I have had with resveratrol.
February 10th, 2010 at 5:57 AM
Yeah I like what you are writing about. I’ve saved this post
February 11th, 2010 at 8:56 PM
I am completely impressed with the article I have just read. I wish the author of http://www.infonian.com can continue to provide so much productive information and unforgettable experience to http://www.infonian.com readers. There is not much to tell except the following universal truth: Progress cannot be achieved without suffering. I will be back.
February 13th, 2010 at 5:37 AM
Thanks to your post I do not look like an idiot. I had a disagreement with my wife and this shows I was right. Thanks!
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:26 PM
Can I take any other medications while using this?
February 24th, 2010 at 6:40 AM
special post , really good view on the subject and very well written, this certainly has put a spin on my day, numerous thanks from the USA and keep up the good work
March 10th, 2010 at 6:48 PM
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time!
March 11th, 2010 at 5:21 PM
Thanx for the effort, keep up the good work Great work, I am going to start a small Blog Engine course work using your site I hope you enjoy blogging with the popular BlogEngine.net.Thethoughts you express are really awesome. Hope you will right some more posts.
March 13th, 2010 at 12:44 PM
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time!
March 17th, 2010 at 3:12 AM
Excellent Article!
If I could write like this I would be well chuffed
The more I read articles of such quality as this (which is rare), the more I think there might be a future for the Web. Keep it up, as it were.