Saturday, October 16, 2010

Alcohol and Fitness




As I write this post I feel a pang of guilt because alcohol is one of my greatest weaknesses when it comes to proper nutrition. Knowing your weakness is important in order to keep them in check; for me it means not having that beer I crave with my dinner. A big part for me was avoiding parties, at first I cut it down to going to half the parties I usually do and am currently down to a third. It's alright to take it in moderation but know that binge drinking does negatively affect your fitness routine in the following ways:

  • Alcohol is a major dehydrator which makes it difficult to gain muscle since no muscle can be formed without water.
  • Beer as well as hard alcohol contain empty calories which cannot be burned as easily because of the dehydration caused and instead, the muscle fibre is used.
  • Alcohol suppresses testosterone which decreases drive. 
  • Slows down muscle repair.
  • Reduces strength.
  • Slows your metabolism.
Needless to say, drinking alcohol is disastrous to your body and is best to avoid completely. This is harder for some than others. If you find it hard to avoid alcohol just keep in mind that in moderation it won't affect you too terribly especially if you drink lots of water before and afterwards. 

Thanks for reading, 

Joe

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recomendations,
    Very interesting post my friend.
    I'll follow your blog.

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  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  3. very true, ive been doing a regular regiment for some time now and just recently cut out alcohol completely from my diet (with the exception of wine here and there) and its been a tremendous blessing in terms of my overall fitness goals and physique

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  4. Thanks, I hardly ever drink myself.

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  5. nice post, things as a college student i should keep in mind

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  6. @nubilus

    Yeah, its amazing what a difference cutting booze out of your system makes on seeing results.

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