Doing a fitness run for two to three hours will make you want to hit the bar for a sip or two of alcohol. But did you ever wonder why you never see any of your gym buddies in the coolest beer pub in town?
That’s because they probably know a thing or two about alcohol and its adverse effects on your fitness game. And here are a few things to enlighten you about why no one talks about alcohol anymore.
1. Alcohol Dehydrates You
Your kidney will produce more urine because alcohol is a diuretic, and hitting the gym after drinking alcohol increases the likelihood of dehydration.
Hydration is critical when you are exercising because it helps you maintain the flow of blood through your body, to carry the necessary oxygen and nutrients to your muscles. And being dehydrated as a product of consuming alcohol can cause you to slow down and eventually do less exercise than others who are retaining enough water in their body.
2. Thin Muscles, Thick Fat
In addition to the first item, dehydration also happens to your body muscles. If your muscular cells are dehydrated, it becomes harder to build muscles, and it blocks the absorption of many essential nutrients that are crucial in muscle activities such as contraction, relaxation, and growth.
Aside from the having thinner tissues as a result of dehydration, alcohol is nothing but unnecessary calories.
3. Messes With Your Digestion
Again water is a way to deliver nutrients all throughout the body, so drinking excessive alcohol before or after any exercise will surely mess up your metabolism.
Too much alcohol in circulation will make it difficult for your body to ingest necessary amino acids and B-vitamins. It will also affect your body’s protein synthesis.
4. Lowers Your Energy
Alcohol also interrupts the production of energy in your body. When the body is breaking down alcohol, the liver finds it hard to produce enough glucose, and that means low levels of sugar. The liver has to work extra harder to get rid of the toxic products of alcohol brought into your system.
When you don’t have enough sugar to run your body during exercises, your body will be forced to use fat. And that makes you slower and have way less energy, hindering you from exercising to your fullest capacity. Your reaction time, muscle coordination, and agility will be adversely affected.
These effects happen immediately, and that is why athletes and sports enthusiasts do not drink alcohol before any competition.
5. Alcohol Disrupts Sleep Patterns And Growth Hormones
Alcohol is a depressant, and that is the reason why you fall asleep faster, but that doesn’t mean you get longer sleep than usual. It will wake you up earlier than usual, and after it wears off, you will find it harder to go back to sleep.
Sleeping is also the time for our body to build new muscles because the glands that are releasing growth hormones (anterior pituitary) work during the night. Alcohol causes hormonal imbalance, and it interrupts the production of growth hormones.
Takeaway
Alcohol and gym never date together. If you want to up your fitness game another level, you have to control your drinking. Drinking alcohol is healthy at some point, but excessive intake isn’t going to help you reach your fitness goals.
If you have issues dealing with excessive alcohol consumption at the moment, get help now. You have to deal with alcohol dependency first because all other efforts to become fit will be futile.
