by Kerry Taylor
I was recently having a conversation with an old teammate about how we used to be able to go out and have a few drinks and it didn’t seem to severely impact our training sessions or results. We were younger and it always seems that you were invincible and could do anything any ways. But now….if he has a drink, it is very noticeable how his next few training sessions are impacted. So, I figured I would dive in a little bit on this topic.
Going out with friends and having a few drinks and working out at the gym are two things many people enjoy doing. But, one may negatively impact the other. Depending on your amount of consumption of alcohol, your training may be an uphill battle to achieve the results you’re looking for. The 3 main areas of concern are:
1. Your Actual Training Sessions
After a few drinks the night before, you may wake up feeling sluggish and a little slow. Not the greatest feeling to go into a workout with. It can impact your training sessions by throwing off your coordination, balance and reaction time to things. Your stamina and energy output may decrease which may not allow you to do what you need to do in the gym at the level you need to do it to achieve the goals you set for yourself.
2. Your Recovery Time
Your ability to recover is the most important part of training. Not the damage you do to your body during the workout you do, it’s your ability to recover from that workout. That’s where all the magic happens. If you can’t recover well, you may notice that you are sore longer and start to feel some aches and pains that you may have never been feeling before. Stack a few of these training sessions on top of each other and we are in big trouble.
3. Eating Habits
Simply put, alcohol is high in calories with very very little nutritional value, if any. So, you are just loading up on empty calories that will not benefit you. As we all know, too many calories, never mind empty ones, we will see our weight and body fat start to sky rocket! To top if off, alcohol will affect our bodies’ ability to absorb nutritionally what we need to continue to make the progress we want to see.
With all that being said, I know people will still have their drinks and continue to train hard. So here are some quick tips to help you to be able to do both, but maybe lessen a little bit the impact drinking alcohol will have on your training sessions and results.
Moderation
This is one, I’m sure you have heard before. Just like most things. Do it in moderation, keep your alcohol consumption to a minimum and spread it out.
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate
Alcohol dehydrates us, so make sure you pay attention to getting in your water intake before and after you have a few drinks. Have some water with electrolytes to help with the hydration.
Keep It Clear
Calorically speaking, some choices of drinks are better than others. For example, clear liquor tends to be lower in calories than wine, beer and dark liquors. If you’re going to have some mixed drinks, try to stick to soda water or, if you must, have the juices made from real fruits instead of those fake juices that are just high sugary drinks.
Nutrition Is the Highest Priority
Plan, plan, plan- make sure your nutrition is high priority. Hit all your numbers and get the proper foods and nutrients into your system. Let’s face it, when you have a few drinks, you start to eat and crave food you don’t usually eat. You probably will eat those poor choices at times of the day you usually wouldn’t.
All in all, you can do both. Just be aware that your next training session or two may not be up to the level you need them to be and your overall results will be affected. If you can, reduce and eliminate alcohol for a short amount of time so you can see how great your body feels and how your training sessions will level up. Until next time gang, continue to live life, 1 degree above the rest!
