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Alcohol on Body Composition and Performance

Posted by muaythaiguy on September 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

You want to look good and play well, but you also want to party .. what to do? what to do?

Lately I have been supplementing my personal training income by doing security work at a local nightclub. Like any job, the nightlife industry has its pros and its cons. Depending on how you look at it, the pros and cons are very similar. As a 24 year old guy, the benefits of the position are pretty obvious. I get paid to work in a laid back environment full of women and alcohol. Being surrounded by hot-looking, slightly intoxicated girls is rarely a bad thing.

The only downside to working a position in such a party-oriented atmosphere is the temptation that accompanies working in such a wild environment. So far I have exercised self-restraint and I haven’t over-indulged. I actually limit myself to a single beer after my shift even though most of the staff members stay until 5 in the morning to pound down beer after beer. My focus has been where I thought it should be – on my training.

I began to question things a little bit more after this past Saturday. The club has been gaining more and more popularity and it is now considered to be the hotspot of the city. The line now stretches around the entire building and it has recently become somewhat of a lure for high profile clientele – particularly professional athletes. While I wont name the specific teams or individuals, I’ll say they’re professional hockey players and leave it at that.

I spent the past Saturday stationed in the VIP section so I got to witness first hand what goes on. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a whole lot of drinking – they just chose more expensive selections of course. Watching them throw back bottle after bottle and shot after shot made me really question why I was casually sipping on a bottle of water. These were professional athletes, the worlds elite, and if they didn’t concern themselves with the negative effects of alcohol, why should I?

This prompted me to do a little research and figure out exactly how much of an effect alcohol actually has on performance – if any at all. While I was at it, I also decided to do some comparative research to determine the,.. how should I put this.. healthiest options – and I use that term loosely. Anyway, without further ado, here are my findings…

Alcohol on Cardiovascular Endurance

It's recommended that you avoid heavy drinking for at least 72 hours before an athletic event to ensure optimal performance

Have you ever tried to workout the morning after a night of heavy partying? First of all, if you have – congratulations. It takes some serious dedication to do that. I’ve done it…once…then I learned my lesson and haven’t since. After a night of binge-drinking, the next day is pretty much a write-off for me. I do nothing but sit around the house, watch football, and complain about how terrible I feel. That one time when I did workout the next day, I noticed I got tired a lot faster than usual. After looking into it, I came across some pretty solid physiological explanations for the early fatigue.

Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning that it makes you urinate a lot more often than usual. The frequent washroom trips eventually lead to dehydration, which as we already know, is highly detrimental to performance. When you’re dehydrated, less blood is able to make its way to the working muscles. With reduced blood delivery comes less oxygen and nutrient delivery as well. The reduction in both oxygen and nutrients are what cause the pre-mature fatigue. Makes sense right? I hope so. It is recommended that you avoid heavy drinking 72 hours before an athletic event to ensure optimal performance.

Alcohol on Body Composition

It's called a "beer belly" for a reason.

It’s common knowledge that chronic alcohol consumption causes serious damage to the liver – yet it doesn’t get through to people. Well, since the toxicity on the liver doesn’t seem to deter people from drinking, the next little bit of information is sure to make you think twice before downing beer after beer. How do I know this? Well, because I know your physical appearance is important to you. If it wasn’t, I highly doubt you would even be reading this.

The nutrient breakdown of a typical beer doesn’t seem so bad at first glance. It actually only contains around 13 carbohydrates. The only problem is that instead of being converted into glucose like regular carbohydrates, they get stored as fat – mainly in the liver. The same goes for all alcoholic beverages. It’s also very important to watch what you eat throughout a night of drinking. When you have alcohol in your system, the fat content from your food is more likely to actually be stored as fat. Because of this, your best bet is to skip the drive-through and wait until you get home to have a chicken salad and lots of water.

Aside from the negative effects that alcohol has on both carbohydrate and fat metabolism, it’s also important to remember that it is unusually high in calories. A single gram of it yields 7 calories – that’s just a couple calories less than a gram of pure fat. Last but definitely not least, alcohol consumption alters select hormone levels. These hormonal changes are definitely not positive when it comes to adding muscle and decreasing body-fat.

Testosterone, which is a male sex hormone that plays a major role when it comes to adding muscle, is decreased by heavy alcohol consumption. On the flipside, concentrations of estrogen are elevated. For men, elevated estrogen levels are highly undesirable considering that it is primarily a female hormone. Clearly having a few drinks every now and then won’t have this effect, but chronic alcohol consumption may lead to the development of female characteristics. Most notably – man-boobs and shrunken testicles – similar to the side effects of steroid usage.

Alcohol on Strength

Don't expect to set your personal best at the gym after a night of partying.

Alcohol has depressant effects on the central nervous system. The central nervous system also happens to play a major role when it comes to strength. When neural function isn’t optimal, maximal strength will be drastically inhibited. Try doing your regular one-rep max on the bench press while you’re hung-over and you’ll understand first hand what I’m talking about. Central nervous system efficiency is also important when it comes to power, agility and speed – basically all the components necessary for optimal performance.

So, after considering all the negative effects on performance, it’s pretty clear that professional athletes, or any athletes for that matter, shouldn’t be drinking heavily. So why do they do it? Well, the answer is simple – because it’s fun. Alcohol lowers inhibitions and increases self confidence – which makes approaching the ladies a whole lot easier. There is going to be situations in which you’re tempted to drink. When the temptation arises, you can use some of these tips to somewhat negate the harmful effects…

Tip 1 – Don’t overindulge. Small doses of alcohol can actually be very beneficial to your health. Beer and red wine are both high in antioxidants – the protectors of the cells. Small doses have also been linked to increases in HDL cholesterol – which is the good kind that cleanses the arteries. To optimize these benefits, stick to darker selections. Dark beers and wines are usually healthier than ones that are lighter in colour.

Tip 2 – Drink 8-12 ounces of water for every serving of alcohol. This approach is most effective if the water is alternated between servings of alcohol. For example, have a shot then follow it up with some water. However, if necessary, you can drink the glasses of water when you get home from the bar. Just line them up and drink them down – you’ll be glad you did in the morning.

Tip 3 – Don’t combine your alcohol with another diuretic – energy drinks for example. Most energy drinks contain caffeine which has diuretic effects similar to that of alcohol. The combination will cause you to become dehydrated even faster.

Tip 4 – If weight gain is a concern, try to minimise the calories whenever possible. This can be accomplished by making simple substitutions. Regular beer for light beer, regular coke for diet, even juice can be substituted for water.

Tip 5 – Keep in mind that the diuretic effects of alcohol will counteract some of the positive benefits from select supplements. Take creatine for example. Creatine is known for its cellular hydration effects. Cellular hydration, otherwise known as water retention, has been shown to have beneficial effects when it comes to promoting hypertrophy (muscle size). Alcohol on the other hand, causes the body to release water-weight through the urine. These types of effects are important to take into consideration before you go bar-hopping.

Conclusion

Alright, so we’ve established that alcohol can be both poor and positive to your health – still confused? Well, if you take nothing else away from this, just remember that it’s all about moderation. A drink a day is healthy but when you take it to the next step (3 drinks or more), you’ve reached the danger zone. I know that sometimes it’s fun to get a little tipsy but just make sure you’re picking the best times for it. Special occasions, ok fine. Getting drunk on a random Wednesday afternoon while watching talk-shows probably isn’t the best idea – especially if you even remotely care about your health and physical appearance.