jayman2606
13-04-2009, 01:13 AM
This is actually quite closely related to some discussion recently within the weights, conditioning and nutrition section namely about "saturated fats" which in turn led to people wondering if there really is solid evidence to back the idea that they are bad. People also mentioned other similar things including that the advice we are given about drinking 2 litres of water and I also showed a link that said the alchohol limits that we are all told about i.e. 2 units a day were "plucked out of the air" in the 1950's by a bunch of doctors because they probably thought they sounded sensible.
Many of us drink as an acceptable form of getting trashed. If we don't drink it generally has a solid reason behind it i.e. health nut, maybe religion, control freak, also those with the insight to see that it affects them adverseley.
So this leads me to my question in regard to alchohol. I mean when I hear that a sports person has given up alchohol I always think to myself "well they are obviously serious". I heard boxer Carl Froch had done this fairly recently (think of him what you like I am just using a recent example). Likewise Ricky Hatton is sportsman that does not give up alchohol which makes people sometimes question if he is totally dedicated.
Now please don't take this debate down the road of talking about how good/bad Froch and Hatton are as I am just using them as examples that are on my mind.
Personally I do drink but as Ive got more interested in health and exercise I probably drink a fair bit less. Although I do still go out and get a few drinks down me every week or two. The difference is I probably feel a bit more guilty about it where as before it made no odds.
So my question...initially might seem like a strange one but is there any real evidence that drinking alchohol really affects training performance with things like cardiovascular output and things that would affect the combat fighter or just someone that enjoys training/exercise.
Initially it seems obvious to say "of course it makes you perform worse" but the key thing is....where is the proof? If I gave up alchohol would I likely improve my London marathon time for example.
I realise this is a massive post but I wanted to articulate it properly,
Thanks in advance
Many of us drink as an acceptable form of getting trashed. If we don't drink it generally has a solid reason behind it i.e. health nut, maybe religion, control freak, also those with the insight to see that it affects them adverseley.
So this leads me to my question in regard to alchohol. I mean when I hear that a sports person has given up alchohol I always think to myself "well they are obviously serious". I heard boxer Carl Froch had done this fairly recently (think of him what you like I am just using a recent example). Likewise Ricky Hatton is sportsman that does not give up alchohol which makes people sometimes question if he is totally dedicated.
Now please don't take this debate down the road of talking about how good/bad Froch and Hatton are as I am just using them as examples that are on my mind.
Personally I do drink but as Ive got more interested in health and exercise I probably drink a fair bit less. Although I do still go out and get a few drinks down me every week or two. The difference is I probably feel a bit more guilty about it where as before it made no odds.
So my question...initially might seem like a strange one but is there any real evidence that drinking alchohol really affects training performance with things like cardiovascular output and things that would affect the combat fighter or just someone that enjoys training/exercise.
Initially it seems obvious to say "of course it makes you perform worse" but the key thing is....where is the proof? If I gave up alchohol would I likely improve my London marathon time for example.
I realise this is a massive post but I wanted to articulate it properly,
Thanks in advance