Being in college, it is natural for people to party and drink socially, but there presents the infamous question, "How bad is drinking alcohol after a workout?" Will going out on the weekends have bad effects on your fitness efforts? Well, the consequences may not be as bad you might think there are two things you need to keep in mind, alcohols effects on both muscle recovery and body composition.
1. Make sure you are taking in protein once you finish a workout. There was an experiment focusing on post workout drinking that had the athletes get drunk after an intense workout session and as a result, their protein synthesis when down almost 40%. These athletes were then set up for another trial, where they were given a whey protein shake before they started drinking, and the amino acids in the whey were able to reduce the effects of the alcohol to almost 20%. Even though this may still seem like a lot, drinking this heavily once a week is not a big deal. Also if you did something that lowered protein synthesis three times a week, it still would not be that detrimental to you. Also, the athletes in the study were taking in around 8 vodka shots in a short amount of time, obviously if you drink less, the effects on protein synthesis will be less. So next time you plan to go out with your friends post working out, have some chocolate milk or better yet, have a protein shake at the ready, and you will not have to worry about ruining your hard work.
2. Another thing you are going to need to watch is the calories of whatever you are drinking. If you are trying to lose weight, or even maintain it, calories always matter! Try to make it your aim while working out to have 5 drinks a week, and change it from there depending how your weight loss is coming along. If you drink this much a week, your body will benefit by increasing your HDL cholesterol, but anymore and the extra calories start to outweigh the benefits toward your HDL cholesterol. Keep in mind as well that all drinks are different in the amount of calories you take in. Having drinks with sodas and juices as mixers can end with you overloading on calories and end with a bad hangover from all the sugar. Try choosing simple drinks like vodka and club soda where you can still party and minimize the amount of calories you take in.
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