How to Avoid the Effects of Alcohol on Bodybuilding

Step 1

Today, the topic I would like to discuss with you is alcohol and its effects on bodybuilding. Now, most people who are from age 15 to all the way to age onto 90 go out and get hammered on the weekends. A lot of people do. I shouldn't say most people do. The greater majority, I would say are between the mid-teenage years, till probably around their late 30's, go out and get hammered on the weekends.

Step 2

Now, the thing about that is, that is fine, as long as you know to do it in moderation. Now, here is nothing wrong with going out and having a couple drinks, and having a good time. But, you have to know your limits. And I am not necessarily talking about drinking and driving or alcohol and its harmful effects on the body or just generally. I am talking about on bodybuilding specifically.

Step 3

What alcohol will do is: 1) it is empty calories. And those empty calories will most likely either turn to fat or just empty water weight. Ultimately means, just extra pounds you have to work off later on. And those extra carbohydrates just mean more sprints on the treadmill, more sprints outside, or an extra mile. And cardio is difficult enough and keeping a decent body in the off-season is hard enough. And working to lean out is as difficult task as you'll have within bodybuilding. So, I believe you really have to limit your alcohol level. You have to know your limits. You have to know when is enough, enough?

Step 4

2) Alcohol dehydrates you and it will make you pee quite a bit. And that is no good because your muscles themselves are 75 percent water. So, you taking all the water out of them, really dehydrating your body and you are stopping the protein synthesis. That's what alcohol does: it dehydrates your body, it slows down your protein synthesis.

Step 5

It really just makes you feel blah, and recovering form a hangover the next day is not a good way to spend your next day that you need to work out. When you need to be in the gym and you are too hung over, and if you are hung over and you go to the gym because you have been out late the night before drinking it up, you are going to have a poor performance and one poor performance could screw you up your whole week, your whole routine, because you are going in there consistently day after day, and if you screw up that progression, you throw it off, you basically shatter it for that week, you screw up your body's development, you screw up what you are trying to develop.

Step 6

If you are trying to develop a strong, muscular, lean physique that is worthy of being in a photo shoot, worthy of appearing in a magazine or winning a contest. In order to do that, you have to maintain healthy habits, and by that I mean obviously minimizing your alcohol level.

Step 7

Alcohol slows down reaction time. Alcohol will slow down your metabolism. Alcohol just basically does not go with bodybuilding. All drinking is is basically extra calories an water weight. And that is the total opposite of what bodybuilding is all about. Bodybuilding is all about gains and progression.

Step 8

Drinking is kind of about getting smashed and having to recover and its not a positive recovery. Think about it like that: you are recovering from something that is negative, something that did damage to your body. Something that dehydrated you, that made you sick, that made you vomit, as opposed to a workout that broke down your muscles and you have the micro tears on you that will ultimately make your tissue grow, but its a positive recovery. Its recovery in a positive way. I think that is what you need to distinguish, between positive recovery and negative recovery. Alcohol will just give you negative recovery.

Step 9

As opposed to, when you are cutting, you might want to just drink rarely at all. I would say don't do it cold turkey, but if you feel the need, I would say do it in very strong moderation, no more than 2 beers per time. Maybe just get a little buzz. Don't get hammered because that will just set you back. Especially for the fact that you need to be up, on the treadmill, doing that heavy cardio to burn those calories off to lean out and preserve that muscle mass. All alcohol is going to do is just come in here and be this huge, negatively disruptive force.

Step 10

My advice to you is, if you are going to drink, beer is actually better. And its unbelievable that I would say that, but here is the reason why: With beer, at least you get the nutrition of barley. Hard alcohol is just straight up empty calories and its just no good and its sugar as well. So, you are better off sticking with beer, and plus, beer has a much lesser effect on you and one or two will not kill you. On a consistent basis if you just do it in moderation.