Muscle Building and Alcohol

Posted by Shivani Sikri on October 22nd, 2019

Yes, you have read correctly, this blog post is about the topic of muscle building and alcohol consumption. How can this fit together? First of all, the conclusion of this article will not be that alcohol and muscle building complement each other well and alcohol does not harm your performance. Nevertheless, strength athletes are only human and drink on the weekend maybe like a drink or two at the birthday party or a glass of wine with the girls. Therefore, we want to take a closer look at the topic of alcohol consumption and muscle growth.

When does the body build muscle mass?

In order to assess the effects of alcohol consumption on muscle growth, it must first be clear what the body really needs to build muscle. This is a reasonable workload in training. The workload is calculated by multiplying the number of repetitions for each exercise by the number of sets and the weight moved, and then summing it up for all the exercises in the entire training session. It is the total weight that was moved during a workout.

Your workload should logically increase over time when you are building muscle, which is only possible if regular stimuli are applied to the muscles. If both factors are fulfilled, it is called progressive training. Of course, it is nothing new to you that not only training is critical to muscle building success, but also enough regeneration phases in which the muscles can grow and adapt to the new demands placed on them. In turn, regeneration depends on factors such as sleep quality and quantity as well as nutrient supply. As far as nutrition in muscle building is concerned, two aspects have to be considered in particular: that more calories are supplied to the body via food, as it consumes and that enough protein is consumed. Here you can stick to a guideline of 1.6 - 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. If you would like to receive more detailed information on the subject of nutrition in muscle building, have a look in ourBlog article on this topic over!

What happens in the body when we drink alcohol?

Alcohol or, to be more precise, ethanol is, apart from proteins, fats and carbohydrates, a special macronutrient. One gram of alcohol has 7 kilocalories. For comparison, one gram of protein or carbohydrates brings about 4 kilocalories and one gram of fat 9 kilocalories. However, what distinguishes alcohol, apart from its nutrient density, from other macronutrients is that it contains only "empty calories" that do not provide the body with any essential micronutrients. Alcoholic drinks are really nice calorie bombs. Moreover, during a party night, it seldom remains with the calories of alcohol alone; Often many sugary drinks such as soft drinks and juices are drunk. In addition, alcohol stimulates our appetite and makes us lose our nutritional principles quickly, so we grab heartily to the nibbles at the party or after the club visit still stop by the shop of our confidence. As soon as you consume alcohol and it enters your bloodstream, the body has the goal to reduce it again. This is done in stages via degradation processes, which take place mainly in the liver. Finally, the residues of the alcohol are excreted in the form of carbon dioxide and water or used for the synthesis of high-energy compounds such as fatty acids or cholesterol. Since the body perceives any alcohol as a poison and the reduction of this is considered the highest priority, other processes in the body, such as fat burning, are slowed down by alcohol consumption. This also applies to muscle protein synthesis, which is usually very high immediately after training. Also, the regeneration of stressed in training muscles is much slower, when the body is initially busy to reach a sober state again. If you consume alcohol, you should never do so immediately after a workout. Another negative effect of alcohol consumption is the effect on the hormones testosterone and cortisol. When alcohol enters the bloodstream, the testosterone level drops. The muscle growth, which is not insignificantly dependent on this hormone, can be disturbed so. At the same time, alcohol increases the cortisol level in the blood. Cortisol is a stress hormone, which has a catabolic, muscle-degrading effect and can also lead to a weakening of the immune system. Alcohol consumption also negatively affects the body in nutrient intake. Because ethanol extracts water and important electrolytes from the body, the muscle fibres can absorb less nutrients when alcohol is consumed and are therefore not well supplied, which can have a counterproductive effect on the regeneration. Do you know the feeling of falling into bed tired after a party night and falling asleep straight deep and tight? The feeling to sleep particularly deeply after drinking alcohol is unfortunately deceptive. On the contrary, our sleep is much less restful when we have drunk alcohol, which is usually the next morning shows: fatigue, headache and nausea are often the price you have to pay for the alcoholic intoxication. Training is not possible on this day.

Conclusion

Admittedly, alcohol in this article does not really fare well. If your weekend is basically made up of two full nights, which you feel in the bones until the middle of the week, you should rethink this behaviour (by the way, irrespective of the weight training), because you really do not do your body any good and long-term serious health consequences can occur , In moderation, you can also grab a beer or wine glass as a strength athlete with a very high awareness of healthy nutrition, plan a cocktail evening with friends or celebrate the night in the club with one or two drinks. It is important that you become aware of what happens in your body as soon as you drink alcohol and you plan your workouts accordingly, that your body can recover sufficiently after drinking alcohol. How do they say? Exceptions confirm the rule - and there is definitely something true about muscle building and alcohol consumption. for details contact - Indian Dietician Online