Alchohol consumption and training performance

[jayman2606]

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

[Shaun.R.]

when i drink my fitness drops rapidly. thats enough proof for me

[black gerbil1]

everybody is different , but if I have a few then stop, ill be fine to train the next day.

if I have several too many (which always seem to be the case), the next day I defiantly feel it, my skin is all dry no matter how much water I drank, and after about 15mins of being at the gym, it hits me and im not lifting as much as usual.


If your cutting weight to make a fight, it would be better off to eat 250caliores of quality food, instead of 250cals of beer for example, so I would have to say yes it does affect training, depending on how much you drink

[Sledge]

Ricky Hatton gets on it inbetween training camps. He does not drink in the run up to his fights.

So if you were drinking and training then yes it will obviously effect you but if you binge and then go on the waggon for 3 months I can't see it doing too much harm.

Alcohol is fully flushed out of the body within a few days so if you train within 48 hours of getting hammerd then you will probably be effected.

[Maccavelli]

Heres an old blog post i made

http://maccavelli.wordpress.com/2009...ol-and-sports/

[thaison]

Like everything else i think it depends on the individual, if you believe reports george best played most of his best football while drunk or hung over. I dont drink mostly coz i dont like the taste of booze, in the rare occasion i have had some booze ive struggled for 5-6 days in training after it, at the same time we have guys in our gym come into training after a night on the booze and no sleep and still trash everyone.

[boxingbrit]

Alcohol and general abuse have been detrimental to my performance.

[jayman2606]

Heres an old blog post i made

http://maccavelli.wordpress.com/2009...ol-and-sports/

Thanks for this its really good.

[KidKimura]

The way I see it is I've never been able to train hungover, so it can't do me any good! The occassional couple of pints can't hurt tho surely? Unless your counting calories obviously.

[Wiegieboard]

I know for a fact that it limits my performance.
I have very rarely been drinking since about October last year. I swim weekly and as I have asthma, I have a routine for monitoring the capabilities of my lungs in where I swim underwater with a fixed stroke and rhythem. I normally manage 1 and a quarter lengths before I absolutely must come up for air but never manage less than a length. I have drank on 3 occasions since October last year and on the Saturday morning after these three sessions as hard as I try, I have not yet been able to swim as much as a length.
The same has happened with my breath holding. Each of the three mornings after I had been drinking, my breath holding time was significantly impacted although my expulsion of air in litres per minute remained well within normal limits.

A few months after I had decided to majoritively give up drinking in October, I noticed that my moods had stabilised more, I could concentrate better and I actually became healthier on a whole.This however was after going apeshit up until mid February as I'm sure many of you would have noticed. When I drink it seems to throw me off a little.