alcohol and working out?

[theNEOone]

can anyone give me some insight into the negative effects of alcohol on working out? of course, i'm not talking about drinking before i go to the gym, but i do exercise regularly, sometimes 8-9 times a week depending on whether or not i can get cardio in. drinking occurs maybe 2-3 times a week when i go out. i'll have 2-3 drinks and maybe a beer each time. most of the time i dance it off but occasionally i'll get way too drunk.

i do know that alcohol dehydrates. i'm taking creatine at the moment, and i do realize that i need tons of water w/ creatine, so i do try to drink as much water as possible. i also take isopure twice daily.


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[isekii]

You have 7 days

 

[MacBaine]

I like to get reallllly drunk and go running outside.

 

[Whisper]

alcohol can be good for you, but in smaller quantities than you're currently drinking (try a glass of wine/day or so). Also, alcohol is basically empty calories. From what I know, it's different than regular carbohydrates in that your body will try to burn off the calories gained from alcohol before anything else. Thus, if you drink too much, and you let the lessened inhibitions make you eat something you normally wouldn't, then you could be in for some weight gain.

However, despite all this, I personally don't see any detrimental effects from alcohol. I usually drink maybe once a week in decent quantities, though I try to never eat afterwards, as I'll usually just go right to sleep. Just remember: everything in moderation, and you should be ok.

 

[agnitrate]

2-3 gets you way too drunk or are you saying that sometimes you do more than 2-3 and go overboard?

8-9 times a week is a lot unless you're counting lifting and cardio separately or something. If you're that hardcore into exercising, I wouldn't imagine why you would want to drink 2-3 times a week (packing carbs+calories) just to exercise so much?

I'd say cut down on the boozin', especially if you're doing creatine as well.

-silver

 

[theNEOone]

Originally posted by: agnitrate
2-3 gets you way too drunk or are you saying that sometimes you do more than 2-3 and go overboard?

8-9 times a week is a lot unless you're counting lifting and cardio separately or something. If you're that hardcore into exercising, I wouldn't imagine why you would want to drink 2-3 times a week (packing carbs+calories) just to exercise so much?

I'd say cut down on the boozin', especially if you're doing creatine as well.

-silver

well it depends on the drink. sometimes i'll chug 3 hurricanes or adios motherfvckers in 10 minutes. it gets me pretty wasted.

sometimes i'll do cardio in the morning, and lift late afternoon - i can't that as two workouts. i'm not usually this hardcore, but the idea is to be ripped for spring break.

like others have mentioned, moderation is essential and unfortunately, i lack it. i'm definitely going to dial down the drinking a bit. aside from the calories though, does the alcohol inhibit muscle growth and recouperation? this is the issue that matters most to me, because the calories aren't as important right now.


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[Turnpike]

Alcohol has 9 cal/gram which is more than carbs (6 cal/gram) and protein (4 cal/gram) and even fat (7 cal/gram). Top that off with all the extra carbs in beer plus the alcohol and that's alot of calories you're feeding yourself. If you are watching your diet and are trying to lose the flab to have better body defination... then beer is an excessively easy way to counteract that and make you fatter. And yes alchohol is a diuretic (Along with caffeine) and you can become dehydrated (that's the hangover) from not drinking a lot of fluids. Other than that I can't think of any horrid side effects of having a few drinks will have on your working out. Studies show that 1 (thats ONE, not 2 or 3 or 4....or 7 on friday to make up for the whole week) drink of alcohol a day is actually beneficial to your cardiovasular system. Moderation is really everything.

BTW I hope you aren't a protein freak with all the shakes and everything, because that doesn't make you gain muscle mass any faster or bigger. You only need to up your daily protein intake by about 10-20 grams a day over the normal RDA is for your sex and weight.

 

[alkemyst]

I never had a problem with alcohol and creatine....but caffiene did ruin the effect it seemed for me.

I'd try to keep my drinking to the weekends though. I did just about everything bad on the weekends only.

When I did long runs I would notice the alcohol if I drank within 24 hours or so.

Å

 

[Geekbabe]

I've stopped drinking beer altogether a couple months ago.Now if I have alcihol it's a shot of brandy or two in my coffee or a glass of wine.Even that use is occasional and not a daily or even weekly occurance.

I'm having brandy tonight,an early start to cheat day after a pretty clean,lean eating week

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Turnpike
Alcohol has 9 cal/gram which is more than carbs (6 cal/gram) and protein (4 cal/gram) and even fat (7 cal/gram). Top that off with all the extra carbs in beer plus the alcohol and that's alot of calories you're feeding yourself. If you are watching your diet and are trying to lose the flab to have better body defination... then beer is an excessively easy way to counteract that and make you fatter. And yes alchohol is a diuretic (Along with caffeine) and you can become dehydrated (that's the hangover) from not drinking a lot of fluids. Other than that I can't think of any horrid side effects of having a few drinks will have on your working out. Studies show that 1 (thats ONE, not 2 or 3 or 4....or 7 on friday to make up for the whole week) drink of alcohol a day is actually beneficial to your cardiovasular system. Moderation is really everything.

BTW I hope you aren't a protein freak with all the shakes and everything, because that doesn't make you gain muscle mass any faster or bigger. You only need to up your daily protein intake by about 10-20 grams a day over the normal RDA is for your sex and weight.

You done well repeating all the stuff we hear everyday , so of it's off thought... I have found close to 1.5g of protein per lean pound got me the best gains...this was needed also to round out my calories as I didn't want to add more carbs or fats....my diet was about 30-35% protein, 15% fat and the rest carbs (about 50%). I was a heavy weight lifter though....YMMV, but not many need protein supplements, you are right.

The alcohol does have 9 cal/gram and also fat will bind to it in your body as it's a poison, the fat 'wraps' around it and then keeps the COH bound...the fat is then absorbed....again if you exercise regularly drinking and desserts arent the problem.

I have found if you hit the gym on a regular basis you can do a lot of bad things and get away with them....the trick is to get into shape first and then abuse away. Also the main thing too is just going to the gym doesn't do anything....if you aren't getting a bit of sweat and/or increased heart rate you may as well stay home neffing.

Å