Does Drinking Alcohol Affect Our Fitness?
Do you want to build muscle and/or burn fat and enjoy a drink or two? Is it possible?
Do we have to avoid drinking alcohol altogether to obtain that amazing physique that we desire?
To many in the fitness industry, alcohol is a big no-no. Many health experts will tell you to avoid alcohol.
Many nutritionists and personal trainers would tell you that if you drink, you’ll struggle to reach your fitness goals.
But, is this really the case?
Or, can we still build muscle and burn fat whilst regularly enjoying a drink or two?
We’ll look at what science has to say.
How alcohol affects our bodies
Alcohol is the drug present in beverages such as beer, wine, and spirits.
Many of us drink alcohol to enjoy its pleasant buzz. In fact, as of 2016, data from the World Health Organization indicated that 2.3 billion people are drinkers.
We feel a buzz from drinking alcohol because it affects the nerve cells within the brain. After alcohol is absorbed into our bloodstream via the stomach and the small intestine, the liver breaks it down, before it leaves the body.
When processed by the liver, alcohol is degraded and a carcinogenic (toxin) molecule called Acetaldehyde is produced.
Although it feels good at the time, intoxication can have many adverse side effects such as a loss of coordination, memory loss and then the dreaded hangover.
However, moderate drinking (1–2 drinks per day for a man and 1 for a woman) has consistently shown to be beneficial for general health.
But, what about fitness goals?
Can we drink alcohol and still build muscle and burn fat?
Will alcohol negatively impact our fitness goals?
Alcohol consumption could affect our health and fitness goals in several ways.
In this section, I discuss how alcohol can affect fitness goals based on how our bodies deal with alcohol. The basis for this information is findings from the scientific literature.
Muscle protein synthesis
The body requires protein to repair muscle after a workout.
There has been some research finding that alcohol consumption decreases the body’s ability to synthesise protein. Much of the research is on rodents however, one study found that muscle protein synthesis could be reduced by up to 25% after alcohol consumption.
When Acetaldehyde is created in the body through alcohol consumption, it contributes to the denaturation of proteins via adduct formation. Protein enzymes are subsequently either impaired or destroyed.
A study using human subjects found heavy consumption of alcohol — 1.5 g per kg of body mass (8–9 drinks), produced a reduction of protein synthesis of up to 37%.
However, in the grand scheme of things, this decrease in protein synthesis is only minor and short-lived. It might pay to increase protein consumption the day after heavy drinking, to offset any potential decrease in protein synthesis.
Testosterone
Testosterone is a key contributing factor to muscle growth.
The effect that alcohol has on our testosterone levels varies based on how much we consume. Low levels of drinking won’t negatively impact testosterone levels and could actually increase testosterone — two to three drinks were shown to boost test levels by up to 17%.
Moderate drinking should also have little impact on testosterone — one study found that 6–7 drinks consumed after a workout did not affect testosterone. Three beers every day for three weeks straight had a 6.8% decrease.
Ten drinks resulted in a 23% decrease in testosterone lasting up to 16 hours. So, even when we consume a large amount of alcohol, this decrease is still relatively small and returns to baseline quickly.
These small and temporary spikes in testosterone have little to no long-term impact on muscle gains. Therefore, a big night of drinking a few times a month won’t significantly impact testosterone levels.
Recovery
If we can’t recover effectively from a hard workout, we won’t improve and it can even harm our progress toward fitness goals.
It may be encouraging to hear low dosages of alcohol consumption won’t impact your post-workout recovery. A low dosage is considered 0.5 g of alcohol per kg body weight (around 2–4 drinks).
“Consumption of a low dose of alcohol after damaging exercise appears to have no effect on the loss of force associated with strenuous eccentric exercise.” — Barnes, Mündel, & Stannard, 2011
Moderate alcohol consumption shouldn't affect recovery; however, intense workouts and heavy alcohol consumption can negatively impact our recovery.
“It seems that alcohol consumption during the evening after competitive rugby matches may have some detrimental effects on peak power and cognitive recovery the morning after a Rugby League match.” — Murphy et al., 2013
“Even 12 hours after acute alcohol treatment, the rate of protein synthesis is still suppressed compared with control animals, implying that an episode of heavy drinking the night before could limit muscular adaptations from exercise performed the following morning.” — Steiner & Lang, 2014
After a big night of drinking, have a rest day. First, you can’t train to your full potential, and, your body is unlikely to recover as effectively as usual. Therefore, it’s probably not worth dragging yourself to the gym with a hangover.
As long as binge drinking isn’t a regular habit, drinking shouldn’t negatively impact your ability to recover from workouts and reach your fitness goals.
“Acute ingestion of alcohol has no effect on several indicators of exercise-induced muscle damage.” — Clarkson & Reichsman, 1990
Effort and performance
Perhaps the most obvious way that heavy alcohol consumption can affect fitness goals is through a reduction in the time and effort we put into the gym and/or our diet.
The more regularly we‘re hungover, the more likely we are to have lacklustre effort in the gym, skip gym days altogether, and eat bad food.
The inability to perform at our full potential consistently means it’s a lot harder to reach our fitness goals.
However, moderate alcohol consumption (1g of alcohol per kg of body weight) should not affect our performance physically. Research has shown that in the 48 hours after a rugby game simulation, the performance of tasks requiring repeated maximal muscular effort is not affected.
Moreover, a 2020 study on young healthy adults found that drinking alcohol intake does not impact the positive effects of a 10-week high-intensity interval training program.
“A single episode of moderate alcohol intoxication does not impair motor performance, and no accelerated exercise-induced muscle damage is seen.” — Poulsen et al, 2007
Fat loss/gain
We’ve talked about the effects of alcohol on our ability to train effectively, recover and build muscle — but, what about body fat?
Can we lose fat when we’re regularly drinking? Or, does drinking alcohol make it impossible to obtain that lean physique?
Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, meaning we need to account for it in our daily calorie intake, just like any other macronutrient such as carbs or fats.
However, the body can’t convert alcohol into body fat, so our bodies prioritise burning alcohol as energy before using other calories. We switch from energy metabolism to detoxification.
So, when alcohol is in our system, all carbs and fats are preferentially shuttled towards storage as body fat. However, this shouldn’t be an issue unless you consistently ignore the calorie content of your drinks.
The first way to manage these calories is by choosing low-calorie drinks such as spirits, wine or low-carb beer. When using a mixer, choose a calorie-free option.
We can also manage our calories by consuming less fat and carbs on the days we drink. If you’re prone to binge eating when you’re drunk, eat less earlier in the day to save those calories up for later.
So, is alcohol going to impact our fitness goals?
The effect of alcohol on these goals seems to have been widely exaggerated by many in the fitness community.
Yet, the literature indicates that low to moderate alcohol consumption will not negatively impact our ability to lose fat or build muscle.
There is also no reason we can’t enjoy a heavier night of drinking once in a while (no more than twice per month in most cases) if it doesn’t affect the overall consistency of our workouts and nutrition.
However, regular heavy drinking is more likely to harm our muscle gains or fat loss.
To avoid some of the pitfalls of drinking, here are some tips to help you keep on track with your fitness goals:
- Avoid training on the day after heavy drinking
- Reduce fat and carb consumption on days around drinking
- Increase protein consumption on the days you drink
- Avoid regularly heavy drinking
- Aim for light to moderate alcohol consumption
- Keep yourself fully hydrated throughout the night to avoid hangovers
Final Words
In sum, it IS possible to consume alcohol without significantly impacting our fitness goals.
If you’re 100% dedicated to bodybuilding, regular alcohol consumption won’t be doing you any favours.
However, for the average person, alcohol is probably not so bad. But don’t get carried away with drinking so much that it interferes with your regular training and nutrition habits.
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed the content, you might be interested the learning the best way to build lean muscle.
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