Alcohol can cancel out those hard-earned gains and heavy drinking is one mistake you don't want to make if your goal is building muscle or achieving peak performance.
No, this article isn't about WUIs (working-out under the influence). Granted, that would dangerously increase the risk of injury and definitely negatively impact your performance. However, what about consuming alcohol after a workout session? Can alcohol derail your muscle gain goals? Is alcohol ruining your game and affecting your build?
It turns out the answer is a clear yes. Alcohol can cancel out those hard-earned gains and heavy drinking is one mistake you don't want to make if your goal is building muscle or achieving peak performance.
Muscle Development and Recovery
A study as far back as 2001 published in the scientific journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research showed how alcohol can directly inhibit muscle protein synthesis.
By supressing myofibrillar protein synthesis, less muscle is built up. This effect of alcohol is seen in both short-term and long-term alcohol use.
In one study, volunteers were put through an intense exercise session followed by an optimal post-exercise protein intake immediately after the workout and a carbohydrate-rich meal two hours later. During the recovery period, some research subjects were given a placebo while others were given alcohol (1.5 g/kg of body weight). What did the muscle biopsies and blood samples reveal?
Those who had no post-workout alcohol had the best results. Those with alcohol showed evidence of suppressed protein synthesis in skeletal muscle even after strenuous exercise and adequate protein intake.
Dehydration
Since alcohol is a diuretic, it can lead to dehydration. Dehydration limits the circulation of essential nutrients and oxygen to muscles. This interferes with the muscle cells' ability to produce energy in the form of ATP. Dehydration also leads to fatigue and low athletic performance.
Altered Metabolism
Drinking alcohol also constricts metabolism and, thus, lowers energy levels. With the body more focused on processing the alcohol and clearing it out of the bloodstream, less attention is given to energy production in the body.
Poor Nutritional Value
Here's one that comes as no surprise. As most are aware, alcohol has little nutritional value but is packed in calories. It offers 7 calories per gram. Most drinks supply 150-200 empty calories in the form of alcohol sugars. These sugars won't be useful in providing your muscles with energy because instead of being converted to a stored form of carbohydrates that muscles can use during exercise, they are converted to fatty acids.
Not only is alcohol lacking in essential nutrients, it can inhibit the absorption of many important nutrients, including zinc, vitamin B12, thiamin (vitamin B1) and folic acid.
Increased Risk of Sarcopenia
Put simply, sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass during aging. A new study found that post-menopausal women who consumed the highest levels of alcohol had over 4-fold increased chances of developing sarcopenia compared to those who drank the least amount of alcohol.
After menopause, sarcopenia accounts for a 6% loss of muscle mass every decade. Increased alcohol consumption can accelerate this process.
Clearly, alcohol can definitely affect your hard-earned muscle gains. A glass here and there might not do much damage. However, heavy drinking does add up. As this article shows, the impact of both food and drink on your training goals cannot be overemphasized. The key is moderation.
References
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2001 Sep;25(9):1373-82.
Menopause. 2017 Jun 5. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000000879.
Parr EB, Camera DM, Areta JL, Burke LM, Phillips SM, Hawley JA, et al. (2014) Alcohol Ingestion Impairs Maximal Post-Exercise Rates of Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis following a Single Bout of Concurrent Training. PLoS ONE 9(2): e88384.
https://drinkwise.org.au/drinking-and-you/is-alcohol-affecting-your-athletic-ability/