4 Ways Alcohol Hurts Your Fitness Goals
June 1, 2012 by Jenn
Exercise and Alcohol: How It Hurts Your Workouts
Chocolate milk is a far better choice post workout... Credit: House Of Sims
1. Slower Recovery. Hard workouts drain the glycogen stores (carbs stored in the liver and muscles) and leave your muscle tissue in need of repair. “Pouring alcohol into your system as soon as you finish stalls the recovery process,” says Tavis Piattoly, RD. High levels of alcohol displace the carbs, leaving your stores still 50 percent lower than normal even eight hours later, according to one study. Sip or snack on a combo of muscle-repairing protein and carbs (think low-fat chocolate milk or peanut butter on whole-wheat crackers) before tipping back.
I’ve really cut back. One glass vino or beer a month, I guess.
Rude awakening. I’m embarrased to say I consume a glass of wine with dinner. HOWEVER, I drink a lot during the weekends (I’m a little too social). Thank you for the wake up call.
UGH. I knew some of this, but some was definitely news to me. My consumption varies a lot, depending on social obligations, workload and stress. Last week, with Memorial Day? It was high. Now I’m glad I’ve cut back this week, and it’ll definitely keep me from overindulging at the shindig I have planned for tomorrow.
Training for a marathon and weekend long runs definitely put a damper on my drinking. Early weekend mornings means no partying the night before for me! So my drinking has decreased drastically over the past year as my running has increased. Maybe 1-2 glasses of wine or hard ciders a week. NYE was probably the last time I had considerably more.
Hm, I never heard about the corrolation between drinking more and exercising more. I have been doing the Couch to 5k on top of my regular workouts. When I drink, I usually have two or three drinks, and I try not to drink any alcohol more than 3 nights a week. But since I’ve been running, I’ve been a lot more likely to have a glass of wine with supper and cocktails on the weekends, when usually I just have water with supper. I really need to reign that in.
Great post, I think we need to be moderate in everything that we do. That keeps an individual healthy. Keeps it going!
Thanks for the wake-up call. I’ve been thinking about cutting back, i.e., no alcohol during the week and only a few on the weekends, but I hadn’t made the decision yet. I needed to read this!
I used to be quite the social drinker back in my student days but when I decided to do a marathon a few years back I decided to really put my heart and soul into it and give up alcohol altogether. I definitely felt better from it … in fact so much so that I’ve not drunk since!!
I decided to forego the glass(or 2) of wine with dinner unless we’re out. Need to break that habit and I sure miss my cab:}
Debra