Alcohol and Exercise; Can They Coexist?

Alcohol and Exercise; Can They Coexist?

My husband and I ran a marathon last June. The night before the race, we all went out for a nice meal, and I had a glass of wine. My brother, who was running the half marathon, didn't drink because he was adamant that it would hurt his running performance. Surprisingly, this is a hot topic among athletes. Studies show that consuming five or more alcoholic beverages in just one night can negatively affect your brain and physical activity for up to three days. However, some athletes swear by drinking alcohol the night before events in order to feel more alert, calm nerves, and dull pain. 

How does alcohol effect the body? The effects of alcohol on a person depend on the amount consumed and the individual's tolerance. Some studies show that a small amount of red wine may have a protective effect on the cardiovascular system, but even a few drinks can nullify your hard work by erasing the effects of your workouts, reducing your endurance, and compromising your mental fortitude. It is possible for an athlete to integrate small amounts of alcohol into a healthy diet, but an athlete should be especially careful to find their limit, so that they don't jeopardize their athletic performance.

If you're an athlete that is questioning whether or not to consume alcohol, below are a few key points to be aware of: 

Muscle health is a major key in the success of an athlete. Science shows that alcohol can rob you of your hard work in the weight room because alcohol use impairs muscle growth. Long term alcohol use diminishes protein synthesis, resulting in a decrease in muscle growth. Even short term alcohol can have an immediate affect on your muscles.

Alcohol dehydrates your body. If you want to optimize your athletic performance, it is important to stay hydrated all of the time. Staying hydrated helps you to recover from sore muscles as fast as possible. When dehydrated, an athlete is at a greater risk of cramps, muscle pulls, and muscle strains. It also can cause electrolyte imbalance and dizziness. 

Alcohol can mess up your sleep patterns. Whether it causes you to pass out early, wake up in the middle of the night, or causes insomnia, there is no question that alcohol interrupts normal sleeping patterns. Getting enough rest is essential to building bigger and stronger muscles. When your regular sleep patterns are messed up, your body doesn't produce a chemical called human growth hormone (HGH), which plays an integral role in building and repairing muscles. Sleep also directly affects your energy levels. When you're exhausted, you're athletic performance is going to suffer. 

Alcohol depletes your energy. After alcohol is absorbed through your stomach and small intestine, it moves into your cells. When it moves into your cells it can disrupt the water balance in your body. An imbalance of water in your muscles and tissues can hamper the cells ability to fuel your body. Hence the cells don't make energy as efficiently as they should.

Alcohol can effect your memory. Depending on your sport, this could be a huge deal, or a non factor. If you're learning plays or strategies, this is a huge deal. alcohol impairs the functioning of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is vital to the foundation of memories. If you can't form new memories, you can't learn and store information. Creating memories is a complex process that takes a long time. The majority of memory foundation happens when you sleep. As I stated earlier, alcohol interrupts normal sleep, which interrupts memory foundation.

Alcohol effects nutrition. Alcohol has a lot of calories (7 per gram), but your body doesn't use these calories for fuel. Instead of converting these calories into energy, the body converted alcohol calories into fatty acids. As a result, alcohol consumption increases fat storage and can adversely affect your percentage of body fat. 

Alcohol is referred to as "empty calories." Calories that don't benefit the body in any way. Alcohol does inhibit the body's ability to absorb the following nutrients: 

• B1 Vitamin (Thiamine) - used in protein and fat metabolism, as well as the formation of hemoglobin.
• B12 Vitamin - helps to maintain healthy red blood and nerve cells
• Folic Acid - part of a coenzyme that is involved in the formation of new cells. A deficiency in folic acid can result in a lower oxygen carrying capacity, which negatively impacts your endurance levels.
• Zinc - plays an important role in the process of energy metabolism. Alcohol depletes your body's zinc resources, which can result in a reduction in endurance.

Alcohol affects hand-eye coordination. Even small amounts of alcohol (0.02 - 0.05) can result in a slowed reaction time and decreased hand-eye coordination.

All of this information is pretty scary for an athlete, and most of it speaks for itself. One key thing I want to point out, is that most of these effects of alcohol are either sleep related, or are immediate response effects. By immediate response effects, I mean that you must drink alcohol and then go directly to competing in order to experience these effects. So, as an ex-athlete, I suggest staying away from alcohol before going to bed, and not to drink before a hard workout or before a competition. These situations seem to be the most critical when it comes to effects of alcohol.

Have more questions about alcohol and exercising? Send me an email at abby.shroka@gmail.com or send me a message on twitter @Abby_Shroka

Wishing you Health, Hope, & Happiness