One of my friends is convinced that if you drink the night after you work out that it pretty much cancels out any gains you would have had otherwise.

I can understand how drinking does not help your fitness goals but i have a hard time buying the notion that a few drinks will make a complete workout worthless. Is there any truth to this concept?

[Edited on January 19, 2007 at 3:45 PM. Reason : l]

1/19/2007 3:44:55 PM

sounds like your friend is full of shit

1/19/2007 3:45:21 PM

NO.

1/19/2007 3:46:11 PM

that is what i thought ^^, we went to the gym tuesday and i tried to get him to go today but he didn't want to since it was "worthless" since he was drinking tonight. Asked about tomorrow and got the same thing.

[Edited on January 19, 2007 at 3:47 PM. Reason : l]

1/19/2007 3:46:57 PM

your friend is correct

1/19/2007 3:48:44 PM

I mean, other than calorie intake and output being affected, I'm fairly sure it wouldnt affect your work out. Really if you think about it, the day before or after a night consuming a lot more calories would be neccessary to make sure you burned off all of what you took in.

1/19/2007 3:52:18 PM

It makes sense that if after working out, your body is short on free calories...it's going to take them from fat stores. But if you go and drink beer or eat sugary food right after a workout, then your body replenishes it's energy from that and not your fat stores.

That would make sense to me.

The solution here is your friend needs to stop being a little girl and learn how to drink liquor.

1/19/2007 3:54:50 PM

well i don't think he's worried about the calories and burning fat. i think he was talking something about protein uptake and how drinking afterwards prevents your muscles from getting any gains from the lift.

1/19/2007 3:58:00 PM

Just don't go straight from the gym to a bar.

I lift after work and then go out at night most of the time and it hasn't made my workouts worthless by any means.

1/19/2007 4:04:27 PM

Alcohol wouldn't affect that. It's the other stuff with alcohol that would pose a problem, and like I said, drink some liquor straight or on the rocks and your problem is solved.

If he says alcohol is the problem, he's full of shit and needs to get his head out of dumbass body building mags.

1/19/2007 4:04:40 PM

from what i have read before, i am pretty sure drinking alcohol has a very negative effect on muscle recovery / growth - so drinking after working out is bad

obviously alcohol before hand is bad

references to come...

1/19/2007 4:08:51 PM

Some evidence suggests alcohol consumption within ~24 hours of lifting can inhibit muscle gains. "Cancel out" is a bit of an exaggeration in most circumstances. However, alcohol does impede Human Growh Hormone release (HGH), and thus will inhibit recovery/rebuilding/growth around a workout.
http://www.nd.edu/~aldrug/green_zone.shtml

Quote :

"Alcohol and Athletic Performance Drinking alcohol the day before or after a workout can also impede one's athletic performance. While alcohol deprives one of valuable REM sleep, it also depletes an important chemical called Human Growth Hormone or HGH. HGH is part of the muscle-building and repair process, and the body's way of saying that muscle needs to grow. Because of its effects on sleep patterns, alcohol can decrease sleep-related growth hormone release by as much as 70%. Thus, drinking before or after a workout essentially nullifies all of one's hard work. "

Of course, there are plenty of reasons to work out if you are going to spend the next couple days drinking and lounging around anyway. If you drink right after lifting (i.e. while you are still "pumped up"), you can feel your muscles tingling from the alcohol though [link]


[Edited on January 19, 2007 at 4:20 PM. Reason : .]

1/19/2007 4:12:23 PM

from http://www.wannabebigforums.com/showpost.php?s=c8d5ff1aaf80b6a3fd0ffcb88c730895&p=491176&postcount=20
(quoted from medical studies)

Quote :

" Studies on the time-course of ethanol's acute effects on skeletal muscle protein synthesis: comparison with acute changes in proteolytic activity. Reilly ME, Mantle D, Richardson PJ, Salisbury J, Jones J, Peters TJ, Preedy VR. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom. A study of the effects of ethanol on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and protease activities was carried out in young male Wistar rats (150 g) for up to 24 hr after a single intraperitoneal dose of 75 mmol of ethanol/kg of body weight. At 20 min, the mean blood ethanol levels were 448 mg/dl. This level dropped steadily to zero through the following 24 hr. Compared with pair-fed controls, significant reductions in total protein, RNA, and DNA contents were seen only after 24 hr in all skeletal muscles studied: changes were more marked in the muscles containing large proportions of type II fibers. In plantaris muscle, the fractional rate of protein synthesis (ks, %/day) did not fall 20 min after dosage but was reduced after 1 hr by 23% (p < 0.001), and by 63% after 24 hr, compared with control saline-injected rats (p < 0.001).compared with the pair-fed group, the 24-hr ethanol-treated rats still showed a 52% decrease in fractional rates of protein synthesis (p < 0.001). Smaller reductions in ks were seen in soleus muscles in response to ethanol at 24 hr (-39%, p < 0.001). The activities of a variety of lysosomal and nonlysosomal proteases in plantaris muscle of 24-hr treated rats were not significantly affected by ethanol. Only alanyl- and tripeptidyl-aminopeptidase activities were reduced significantly (26%, p < 0.05 and 39%, p < 0.01, respectively). These results suggest that the muscle compositional changes seen over acute periods of ethanol toxicity are predominantly associated with impaired synthesis of protein and that the contribution of cellular proteolytic systems may be minimal. Incase anyone missed the it the bottom line is showing a 23% reduction in protein synthesis after 1 hr and 63 after 24 hours independent of dietary intake so a few protein shakes or otherwise perfect diet are not going to save you "

1/19/2007 4:20:30 PM

from http://www.musclenet.com/smoking_bodybuilding_alcohol.html

Quote :

" Alcohol and Bodybuilding Q. Will alcohol effect my muscle gain? A. Alcohol is very fattening and it also retards muscle growth. Not only due to hangovers lowering your workout intensity, but it actually lowers protein synthesis by twenty percent! There are several reasons why it does this. For one, it dehydrates your muscle cells. As many know, hydrated and even over hydrated muscles (like when you take creatine) allows for a much higher anabolic environment. Because your cells aren't holding as much water, it becomes much harder to build muscle. The second reason why alcohol can severely hurt muscle growth is because it blocks the absorption of many important nutrients that are key to muscle contraction, relaxation and growth including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron and potassium. The third way that alcohol actually lowers testosterone and increases estrogen! Yes, you read that right. In one study, men's testosterone levels were measured before and after consumption of alcohol. At the most intoxicated state, testosterone levels had dropped to an average of 25% lower. To Conclude: Alcohol and bodybuilding do not mix and will cause you to gain fat and lose muscle in the long run. "

1/19/2007 4:23:44 PM

all the more reason to do your own research before believing someone on tww

1/19/2007 4:25:38 PM

the answer is yes

since alcohol negatively affects muscle reparation and protein synthesis

1/19/2007 4:25:40 PM

If the question is "Will drinking hamper your fitness goals?", the answer is clearly yes.

If the question is "Will a few drinks make a workout worthless?" I would say no (in most cases), provided you are going to drink whether or not you work out.

[Edited on January 19, 2007 at 4:30 PM. Reason : .]

1/19/2007 4:30:07 PM

All in all, it sounds kinda negligable to me (after reading that study). I mean, is this guy competing in bodybuilding competitions? The day I care more about "getting big" than hanging out with my friends, please beat me with a baseball bat, on the head, for being such a dumbass.

1/19/2007 4:41:16 PM

^nice comeback to a failed argument

but the question about inhibited gains after lifting when you drink still remains true

TWENTY PERCENT, regardless if you are a body builder or not, thats pretty big

nobody is talking about the choice you make, we are stating the fact - it inhibits gains, HURs friend is NOT a moron

1/19/2007 4:44:23 PM

Quote :

"cancels out any gains "

=/inhibit


yes he is.

1/19/2007 4:50:38 PM

Yes, alcohol clearly does affect muscle rebuilding after a workout. But it does not cancel it out as this guy was saying.

Also, I question his commitment to working out over his friends.

1/19/2007 5:13:34 PM

Some of the greatest athletes in the world were alcoholics, including professional wrestlers...I'm pretty sure it didn't affect their workout

1/19/2007 5:54:23 PM

Quote :

"drink some liquor straight or on the rocks and your problem is solved"

Liquor ounces Calories
Rum (100 proof) 1.5 125
Rum (94 proof) 1.5 115
Scotch Whisky 1.5 115
Sloe Gin 1.5 125
Southern Comfort 1.5 180
Tequila 1.5 115
Tequila Sunrise 5.0 200
Vodka (100 proof) 1.5 125
Vodka (94 proof) 1.5 115
Whisky (100 proof) 1.5 125
Whisky (94 proof) 1.5 115

Beer (12oz) Calories
Bud Light 110
Busch Light 110
Natty Light 95
Mich Lite 113
Mich Ultra 95

[Edited on January 19, 2007 at 6:00 PM. Reason : http://www.rochester.edu/uhs/healthtopics/Alcohol/caloricvalues.html]

1/19/2007 5:59:58 PM

i rotate. one or 2 months of no working out just drinking and then a month or so working out with non drinking . . . it balances everything out.

1/19/2007 6:03:50 PM

beer also has a shitload of protein in it though so that is always a plus for after you work out

1/19/2007 6:15:00 PM

fuck protein shakes pass that beer this way 0.7 g protein per beer!

1/19/2007 6:47:47 PM

I don't ever drink on days I lift or the day before I lift. Thats just my take. I believe the evidence that suggests alcohol reduces protein synthesis, so I steer clear. No, I'm not a bodybuilder, pro powerlifter, strong man or OLY Champ but its my hobby. There is a thread on this same topic around here some where. I bust my ass in the gym and don't want to fuck my shit up w/ a night of drinking, call me nuts, but thats me.

1/19/2007 7:00:39 PM

Where the fuck is eleusis when you really do need him?

1/19/2007 7:05:45 PM

I changed my schedule around so I wouldn't drink after I lifted.

Of course, I probably fucked that up today

1/19/2007 7:37:22 PM

alcohol shuts down protein metabolism in your body, so all that muscle tissue you tore up during your workout is not being repaired. satellite cells are not generated, GH is not converted into IFG-1 in the liver, and you're filling your body up with empty calories containing no nutritional value. Same thing happens when you take NSAIDs for pain after a workout.

Enjoy. Tell your friend that you should listen to him a little closer.

1/19/2007 7:49:54 PM

wouldn't you also get dehydrated as shit??

1/20/2007 12:20:18 AM

Always found that I'm sore as shit if I drink pretty heavily after I workout.

But that doesn't stop me from lifting. I figure it would be just as worse if I didn't work out at all (although it would probably feel better b/c I wouldn't be so damn sore).

1/20/2007 7:04:13 AM

I'll be damned. learn something new every day

1/20/2007 1:35:44 PM

Quote :

"But that doesn't stop me from lifting. I figure it would be just as worse if I didn't work out at all "

1/20/2007 1:46:45 PM

3 drinks would cancel it out really...

alcohol slows the process of calorie burning of the other parts of your body to just work on the alcohol and breaking it down.

this therefore post pones the other fat break down making that turn into stored fat.

so yes in effect, 3 drinks is enough to make you cancel it out.

1/20/2007 1:55:36 PM

let's not forget that alchohol lowers test levels up to 50 percent

1/20/2007 2:39:30 PM

not if you're Floyd Landis

1/20/2007 2:42:27 PM

Quote :

"so yes in effect, 3 drinks is enough to make you cancel it out."

But without working out...those three drinks do more damage.

1/20/2007 3:29:47 PM

I like the way I spelled alcohol

1/20/2007 3:48:37 PM

Doesn't really bother me that much. But I do believe alcohol can be detrimental to working out. Terrell Owens does not touch alcohol at all. But I think his reason is his grandmother or something like that. Just a random fact.

1/20/2007 4:19:51 PM

Yea, decreasing test. levels, protein metabolism halted, growth hormone prevented from working, and efmpty calories is ok by me, too.

[Edited on January 20, 2007 at 4:25 PM. Reason : ]

1/20/2007 4:22:41 PM