Sports-And-Fitness

Muscle building and alcohol - are they compatible?

introduction

After an extensive training session, you like to go out for a drink with your friends in the evening and move around the houses. It is well known that excessive amounts of alcohol can be harmful to the body. Even small amounts of alcohol can lead to a change in consciousness and affect the central and peripheral nervous system, thus influencing our movements. However, very few people know that the consumption of alcohol after a training session can have an effect on training success.

Alcohol becomes interesting for our strength training in the first place because alcohol blocks certain hormones that are normally required for muscle building. The main hormones are testosterone and cortisol.

In addition to the effects on the cardiovascular system, regular and high alcohol consumption has Effects on muscle building, fat burning and the entire energy metabolism of the body. The influences are unfortunately often underestimated by strength athletes and can last for several days.

Consequences of alcohol

The alcohol we know is that Ethanol, a tasteless combination of carbon and water. This single drinking alcohol is mixed with small amounts of various accompanying alcohols. Butanol, Methanol and Propanolthat too Fusel oils can lead to poisoning. In beverages such as whiskey, however, they belong to the flavor carriers. High quality alcoholic beverages have a smaller proportion of fusel oils than low-quality alcoholic beverages.

Optimal muscle growth is positively influenced by a healthy, balanced diet, the correct training dose and sufficient rest and recovery phases. Every now and then an extensive burger meal or a beer with your buddies after a workout does not promote the regeneration phases and muscle growth, but there are also no negative effects on the physical condition and training success. In moderation, alcohol and a high-fat diet are not a problem. However, if there is an excessive consumption of alcohol, especially after training units, this fact can have a very negative effect on the performance development and recovery of our body.

Alcohol can spoil the game when it comes to weight loss. In contrast, when it comes to building muscle, the consequences of excessive alcohol consumption are much more far-reaching. Anyone who has worked out with a hangover after a night of drinking knows the side effects such as low motivation, fatigue, performance drops during training and low willingness to perform.

Find out more about the topic here: The consequences of alcohol

However, it can get worse if you consume too much alcohol. If the body notices that it is continuously being fed alcohol, it tries to break it down in order to avoid being poisoned. The breakdown of alcohol takes place in the liver. Substances are used that are normally supposed to provide energy for muscle building. These include amino acids and carbohydrates. In this case, the body needs more of these substances than is available to it. Since the breakdown of toxic alcohol has priority, there is a lack of carbohydrates and amino acids in building up the muscles and in the regeneration phases after training. A beer can therefore have serious consequences and seriously disrupt muscle development.

This effect increases again if the body has already been weakened by previous training. After training, the human organism is in a build-up and regeneration phase. Now the alcohol deprives him of the important substances for building muscle, as they are needed to break down the alcohol.

Studies have shown that alcohol significantly inhibits the production of growth hormone and testosterone. The cortisol actually causes fat to be transported from the adipose tissue to the muscle cells, where it is converted into energy. With this energy new muscles should be built. Since alcohol is missing important substances for muscle building, the fat is stored back in the fat tissue. An effective muscle building is prevented.

In addition, alcohol increases the recovery time of the body after training and physical exertion, which also prevents efficient muscle growth. There is a saying when it comes to the combination of alcohol and fatty food: "I can smear that directly on my hips". This saying is therefore quite correct and should be taken seriously.

You might also be interested in: The calorie content of alcohol

Alcohol has other negative influences that you should be aware of. Studies show that alcohol can show its effects up to 36 hours after a humid evening. It can sometimes take that long until the alcohol has completely disappeared from the body and broken down. Only then can you call up your full potential in a training session and feel completely resilient again.

Sufficient sleep is particularly important for the regeneration effect after exercise. After consuming a lot of alcohol, you fall asleep quickly and find your sleep deep and healthy. However, it is exactly the opposite. Restful REM sleep is disturbed by the poison.

Normal regeneration is not possible and there is also a negative impact on our immune system. Even small amounts of alcohol make an athlete more susceptible to bacteria and viruses. For the athlete, there is little to be said for regular or high alcohol consumption. In competitive athletes, alcohol is almost prohibited from the start, because at this level, the little things make the difference. Alcohol can play a role in this.

Most of the people are amateur athletes and therefore at a not quite as high training level. Above all, runners, endurance athletes and people who do interval or cardio training do not have to be completely abstinent. A beer at soccer or a glass of wine in the evening shouldn't be a problem. As always, the amount and frequency are crucial.

Excessive alcohol consumption can interfere with muscle building, regeneration and fat burning. If you still do not want to do without alcohol in a social setting, you should observe some important rules when drinking alcohol. Especially when sport plays an important role in a person's life, the crowd makes the poison. A complete renouncement of alcohol brings recognition and you benefit significantly more from your training.

How harmful is alcohol to muscle building?

Once absorbed by the body, alcohol is immediately metabolized by the liver. This requires enzymes that consume energy. This energy is no longer available to the muscles for their regeneration, which is important for strength training. However, the breakdown of alcohol not only steals the energy for regeneration from the muscle, it also prevents the glycogen stores that are required for training from being replenished and deprives our most important metabolic organ - the liver - the capacity for building proteins.

The body is supplied with high calorific energy, but due to its metabolism, the body can primarily build up energy too quickly and then into fat. So not only is regeneration and muscle building inhibited, but fat production is also boosted.

Furthermore, alcohol inhibits the release of the growth hormone testosterone, which is extremely important for building muscle. The catabolic stress hormone cortisol, which has a degrading effect, is increased so that the hard-earned muscle tissue is also at risk.

Since alcohol itself but also its metabolic intermediates are toxic to the body (Neurotoxin), the reaction and responsiveness of the motor nerves for the following training is also limited. Alcohol consumption and effective training therefore contradict each other to the greatest extent.

Even small amounts of alcohol already have this effect, so regular consumption should be avoided in any case, but the amount still makes the poison. So when toasting a birthday, the ambitious strength athlete should leave it with a small glass of champagne.

Can I drink alcohol on the weekend while building muscle?

It is well known that alcohol is detrimental to the training effect in strength training, as it hinders the regeneration of muscles, affects our hormone balance to the detriment of the training and has a negative effect on the metabolism. Nevertheless, even an ambitious athlete can certainly grab a glass of beer every now and then if he keeps a few things in mind.

It is best not to drink the alcohol immediately after a demanding session, but approx 2 days after that to be consumed when the body has had time to regenerate. On a non-training day that is not followed by an intensive session, alcohol is harmful - consumed in moderation - the training least.

Nevertheless, alcohol remains a poison for the body and interferes with muscle building and training success. Those who are consistent in their strength training are better off completely avoiding alcoholic beverages. If that is not possible, at least the time for consumption should be in an appropriate interval. So if there is a big party coming up on the weekend, maybe the training sessions should be planned accordingly.

How much alcohol is "allowed" after exercise?

Basically, alcohol that is consumed directly after training severely limits the effect of the training session. Even if the amount of alcohol certainly has an influence on its harmful effects, the body changes its metabolism even with a small amount and changes the hormone release to the detriment of the actually desired training effect. An alcohol-free beer after training, on the other hand, supplies the body with important nutrients and electrolytes and has no harmful effects.

Basically, it is said that a woman's harmless consumption of alcohol corresponds to around 12 g of alcohol (0.1 L wine) and 24 g of alcohol per day for a man. Even if this consumption is not supposed to have a harmful effect on health, it will still enormously hinder the training effect of the strength athlete.

You can also read about it: The right diet for strength training