Work out - the drinking

gary the great

This happens every weekend. I work out friday evenings after work, then later on for a few drinks with the lads.

Is there much point in working out at all? Is the drink just going to destroy all my hard work?

Shrimp

Is there much point in drinking at all?

gary the great

I suppose there is, i enjoy a few drinks after a hard week.

Shrimp

Do you enjoy the drinks? or the affect? Could you go without it completely?

What/how many drinks? A pint of cider can have the same amount of calories as a mars bar. Imagine eating 4-6 bars on a night out, that'd be fairly moderate guess. Of course there are other factors, but still it's widely accepted that drinking is not a good idea.

Another thing, what is your workout? What are your goals?

gary the great

Well Friday is usually my deadlift day, so I deadlift and then do a few other things, usually mix it up a bit but base it around the deadlifts.

And i enjoy the effects of a few drinks. A few drinks (Lets say between 3-5 pints)after a hard weeks work is nice, its nice to let the hair down.

I didnt really want a lecture on drinking tbh, just wanted to know if drinking has a big effect after a workout, which I presume it does. But i would like to know to what extent.

My goals, keep on getting bigger. im at this about a year, when i started i was about 11st. Im just under 13 stone now and coming along well. And that wieght added is mostly lean muscle.

Reyman

3-5 pints once a week won't do you any harm. Probably do you good.

But if you go up to around 6-7 pints I reckon you don't recover for several days and that really damages your training

rediguana

I only drink (dry) wine or vodka+water and I'm lean as anything.

As someone mentioned before, if your total creeps up to 6 or 7 on a night, that's going to have a knock-on effect for a few days, quite apart from the calories. If I have a big session, it's normally three days, at least, before I see the gym again. Even then it's a wishy-washy workout.

If you take care of yourself and work out frequently and don't drink too crazily too often, you'll stay in good shape. But even boozing once a week (if it's 3-5 pints) will mean you're not carrying around the physique that you might be.

But that's the trade off, isn't it? If you're not competing or modeling or whatever, and you just want to impress the ladies with a six pack (and who doesn't?), have your pints and take your gym punishment during the week and don't beat yourself up about it.

King of Kings

Shrimp wrote:

Is there much point in drinking at all?

yes there is.

davyjose

To be honest I'd say for a good 99% of the population who drink, it's not worth going off the drink for a prolonged period of time, in order to develop the perfect body. That is a fact, but I think sacrifices do need to be made. I don't think it's feasible to go gargling all weekend (not saying your doing that), and then expect your body to be able to cope with what it takes to work hard in the gym.
What I do is cut lose every two or three weeks (I'm 4 weeks off the booze now), sometimes for a weekend away, sometimes for a night out with the lads. I really don't like the sh1tty feeling you get from alcohol for days after - not enough to spend 1/3 or so of my life like that. And yeah, when I'm in the gym on a monday I can hear my body telling me it's still not ready. But when I do go out I make sure it's a good night out - Work hard; play hard.
Rediguana, Alcohol does not just add calories, it also has a huge impact on the body's hormonal balance. So your body is depleted of testosterone - the growth hormone! Gary Deadlifting Is one of those exercises that increases Testosterone production, so doing them before you go out is reall self-defeating. Try moving them to the beginning of the week.

I_and_I

I know where you are coming from I was a big drinker up until I realised how much it was actually affecting my body, I found if I worked out and then hit the pub with the lads the next day whatever muscles I worked would be in really bad shape, almost unbareable pain( I used to drink a lot). I would put it all down to dehydration. And I would say there is definately no point in drinking the same day as working out because it dehydrates you and your muscles need to be well hydrated to continue repairing themselves efficiently.
Also someone above mentioned it and it is a good idea if you have to drink to probably go out every two-three weeks.

g-punkteffekt

of course it's worth it. Just think about people who drink all the time and DONT work out. Which is better? I drink fairly heavily 2 or 3 nights at the weekend and have 2 or 3 beers a night during the week, yet I still consider myself to be in pretty good shape. As long as you keep your diet in check and do a lot of cardio and dont miss your training you'll be grand.

Aedh Baclamh

I really don't like that arguement of 'because I workout I'm allowed to drink'. And when I say drink I mean weekly exploits in the pub. It really does affect performance. But at the end of the day it benefits me, because then my opponents in a game are way off the mark.

Reyman

g-punkteffekt wrote:

I drink fairly heavily 2 or 3 nights at the weekend and have 2 or 3 beers a night during the week,

Why?

What's the point wrecking yourself?

rubadub

Reyman wrote:

Why?

What's the point wrecking yourself?

I presume he enjoys it, going out meeting mates and having a laugh. Maybe he doesnt consider it wrecking himself, knows the risks and takes them. He is probably not a professional athelte, might not take part in competetive sports and and just wants to be relatively more healthy than he would be if he drank and didn't workout. Many posters here seem unable to accept this, I have seen in other threads people warning or questioning people eating bananas and any types of bread.

Shrimp

Working out coupled with drinking is incredibly counterporductive.

Hydration, recovery, anabolism, and focus are only a few of the areas which are affected by alcohol. Not drinking has many benefits in the long term and short term. If you decide to take a few drinks one night, you may not realize it, but you are severely diminishing possible performance for the next day.

Alcohol leads to dehydration, proper hydration is key to performance in sports or weight lifting because water is needed in all energy-creating reactions.

It affects many of the hormone functions in the brain within 1-2 minutes of consumption. Alcohol intake slows glycogen metabolism. This means the brain receives less glycogen, so it doesn't have much energy.

Alcohol hurts the absorption of protein in the body, just like it hurts the absorption of any other substance. Because less protein is being turned into muscle tissue, you are not growing to the fullest!

It has adverse affects on Strength Performance, Cardiovascular and Energy Levels. The calories can lead to unnecessary fat gain, but that is the least of your worries.

Read this: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson11.htm it should be obvious after that.

mloc

I think basically the point is the less drinking you do the better.

If you enjoy going out and drinking, feck it, you might as well enjoy yourself. Yes, it will have a negative effect on your workouts, but its not going to kill them completely.

I've cut down in drinking a lot recently as I'm doing finals, but since the age of about 19 I've found it very hard to train "the next day", so I've been training more and I've been gaining more. I'm not going to cut it out completely. To me, at the moment, that would be an unrealistic thing to try to do. And that doesn't bother me.

Again the point is, keep it down to a minimum, but you still gotta have some fun.

davyjose

I would just like to add a few more words to this. I've been working hard since the New Year, didn't have a beer in all that time. Decided to treat myself to a night on the tiles on saturday. Cue sunday morning and my ankle the size of a beachball. Just back from the hospital - not broken, but torn ligaments will take a number of weeks before I can start to train again :eek: So listen to this: THE DRINK IS EVIL!!!

mloc

Ha you got off easy! I went 8 weeks unable to walk and a further 8 weeks unable to train because of a knee injury sustained whilst... intoxicated. Probably would have happened anyway, I'd imagine.

Beelzebub

Alcohol is a poison.
Every time you drink you are damaging your body.
If you care about your health you won't drink alcohol whether you train or not.

g-punkteffekt

Reyman wrote:

Why?

What's the point wrecking yourself?

Because I really love drinking, the feeling of being drunk, I love it. I think it's wonderful. Anyway, yes I'm not much use with weights if I've been drinking a lot the night before, but I'd usually do maybe 20 mins cardio on a saturday or sunday even if I was hungover, it's better than nothing. During the week I train as good as anyone else, and I'd still be considered very fit, I train with weights 4 days a week in the gym, cycle 8km each way to work every day, do 20 or 30 mins hard cardio on a cross trainer 5 or 6 times a week, I don't eat any processed food and have a good diet...
The majority of young people these days seem to be binge drinkers, have bad diets, and don't exercise much or at all.

davyjose

Beelzebub wrote:

Alcohol is a poison.
Every time you drink you are damaging your body.
If you care about your health you won't drink alcohol whether you train or not.

Yes but we live in a country that willingly makes it difficult to socialise without drinking. And for 99% of people, you have to accept that they will drink fairly regularly. I guess that's what the thread is about.

Yeah I got off lightly enough - nearly hugged the doc when she told me it wasn't a fracture

Shrimp

Ok guys, we are kind of labouring the point....

Bottom line...

Alcohol, in any amount will undoubtedly lead to hindering the performance and recovery of any act physical or mental.

davyjose

But Shrimp, don't you see, everyone knows that? But the problem is that most people want to be able to do both - drink and work out. And it's about finding a balance. Not drinking is a decision that anyone can make, but only a few can keep.

Shrimp

That's what separates success from failure.

Sangre

Beelzebub wrote:

Alcohol is a poison.
Every time you drink you are damaging your body.
If you care about your health you won't drink alcohol whether you train or not.

What about studies that say moderate red wine is good for the heart?

Anyway, I don't see how people are wiped out for 3 days after a night out. Most days I could manage a moderate gym session the next day. Perhaps its my young, virile body that allows it and you're all a bunch of pensioners.

I wouldn't see it as if I'm going to drink why bother working out, I see it as if I'm going to drink I'm going to work-out even harder.

That's what separates success from failure.

Of course, top professional athletes never drink, ever.

davyjose

Shrimp wrote:

That's what separates success from failure.

I find that is just absolutely unfair. For a start most professional athletes do drink. Not every weekend (nor do I, and I can assure you there are people out there in better shape than me who also drink a lot more), but now and again. I got the recipe for a turbo shandy (2 parts lager, 1 part smirnoff ice - tasty rocket fuel;) ), from a Josh Lewsey magazine interview - a man who has tasted success as well. Ricky Hatton, after training for a world title for 12 weeks (and subsequently winning, i.e succeeding), said in his post-match interview, "I can't wait to get reacquainted with my good friends Arthur Guinness and Dom Perignon."
But the attitude of your statement reminds me of those people who earn a hundred grand plus, a year but work about 80 hours a week, i.e. they never allow themselves the rewards of their exploits. Now I'm not saying that every guy busts his ass in the gym every day so he can impress the ladies with his six pack, but I do absolutely disagree when somebody turns around after killing themselves and denies themselves a reward. Now in some cases that rewrd might come after 12 weeks, and in some cases it might be once a week (not everybody is Ricky Hatton).
You only fail if you don't succeed in your goal. And most people's goal is just to get themselves in decent shape.

t-ha

Sangre wrote:

Anyway, I don't see how people are wiped out for 3 days after a night out. Most days I could manage a moderate gym session the next day. Perhaps its my young, virile body that allows it and you're all a bunch of pensioners.

After a serious night out drinking my gym performances can be affected up to 3 days afterwards (i.e. I might feel alot better after 1 day, but I won't be back pushing my limits for a good while after that). I don't know what age you are, but definitely I think I could handle the drinking aftermath alot better 5 years ago. I wouldn't even contemplate doing a serious workout the day after a night out - it would asking for an injury. It is possible that we're talking about different levels of pushing yourself in the gym, or drinking your ass off though?

Anyway, my opinion on this is that alcohol affects gym performance alot, reduces testosterone, dehydrates you etc. On the flip side, it's fun and (presumably, or else you've got issues) a sociable thing to do. Once you have the facts, now you make the decisions. Personally I still go out drinking sometimes, on account of it being fun - but there's no way I'd get slaughtered every weekend.

Also, as someone else mentioned, there's damn all else to do around here?!

Shrimp

Sangre wrote:

Of course, top professional athletes never drink, ever.

Not on season they dont, or when training.

davyjose.. I think you are trying to read into my character too much. It's not about me.

maxi-twist

Shrimp wrote:

Not on season they dont, or when training.

Brian O Driscoll was well known for his drinking in the "on" season.

Dragan

Guys, I think it's a bit foolish to assume that top level athletes do or do not drink during there on season. I think it's also foolish to assume that drinking automatically is a bad thing.

Much like anything else balance in important and I personally see no issue with having a few social drinks every now and then. I think if I look back at the last year or 2 my "going out" pattern looks like about once ever 6 weeks or so….just to give an indication of how often I drink and a benchmark for where I am coming from.

The simple fact is however, that if you are training for a specific event, or a competition or if you are on a diet to lose weight then it is a very, very good idea to give up the drink, as casual as it may be for the duration of your prep/diet.

SprostonGreen

maxi-twist wrote:

Brian O Driscoll was well known for his drinking in the "on" season.

Bryan Robson and Norman Whiteside used to get leathered nearly everyday in the 80's.

thirtyfoot

SprostonGreen wrote:

Bryan Robson and Norman Whiteside used to get leathered nearly everyday in the 80's.

Whiteside retired when he was 25, a physical wreck.

empirix

thought he done in his cruciate? Back then it was an injury that was end of days for the majority of sports people unfortunate to be afflicted? And just to point out, many of the great footballers were infamous for their off field antics - the most bizarre(i think) was the great Socrates who smoked 60 - 80 fags a day!!

Just pointing the above out, i don't endorse it

MAYPOP

Just to add my €0.02 to this....you can still go out to the pub and have a good night without drinking! Not to mention change from €20, a clear head the next morning, option to drive therefore avoiding taxi/nitelinks etc........

Not drinking doesn't have to mean sitting at home watching Winning Streak on a Saturday evening!

Shrimp

Exactly maypop.. I dont drink, and I go out loads and it's never a problem ever. Just as good night as anyone else, in-fact probably better as some people can hardly walk at the end of a night.

Degsy

I like a few drinks of a weekend,i tried total abstinance for a while and i was miserable as hell.Now,i dont have a six pack admittedly but then i'm 36 and i'm unlikely to see my abs ever again so i dont mind that aspect of it too much.The trick with regard to drinking affecting your training is to know how much is going to **** you up for the next day.If you're up till 4 am every friday and saturday night,your sleep and recovery paterns are goig to suffer and your workouts will be decidedly lacklustre,assuming you bother going at all.Then there's dehydration,it kills your progress stone dead and greatly increases your chances of injury.

Dragan

Degsy wrote:

i dont have a six pack admittedly but then i'm 36 and i'm unlikely to see my abs ever again so i dont mind that aspect of it too much.

Randy Couture ( aged 43 )

justsomebloke

Degsy wrote:

I like a few drinks of a weekend,i tried total abstinance for a while and i was miserable as hell.Now,i dont have a six pack admittedly but then i'm 36

ye it is just the drink that is making you not have a six pack;)

seriously as with everything else moderation and prioritising your goals are the key.

Degsy

jsb wrote:

ye it is just the drink that is making you not have a six pack;)

seriously as with everything else moderation and prioritising your goals are the key.

That and my allergy to cardio..:D

Working on it!!

bugs90

Beelzebub wrote:

Alcohol is a poison.
Every time you drink you are damaging your body.
If you care about your health you won't drink alcohol whether you train or not.

I know some people take fitness/health more seriously than others but this is just preaching!!
There are a lot worse things you could be doing than going for a few pints are the weekend...

I_and_I

gary the great wrote:

Is the drink just going to destroy all my hard work?

YES

rubadub

I_and_I wrote:

YES

hmmm... he said all his work, by reading some of the posts here you would think if he has a few pints a week he may as well not do any training at all, since it will have absolutely no effect at all. Sure it might affect it but if he insists on drinking surely he is better off training too, than not.

If the OP had come on saying he has some disorder in which he must drink 5 pints per day I think many posts would have been different, and got responses more to the point he wanted. He already said he didnt want a lecture on his drinking

It is having a counter effect, I suspect he is not a profesional athelete, and like a huge amount of people he trains simply to stay reasonably fit and at normal weight.

Yes the drink might lower the testesterone, but the training has increased it, so it is could be at the same level as if he didnt drink at all. i.e. if he didnt train at all I would imagine it would be at an even lower level.

I have seen this said about creatine too, that alcohol reduces its effects so there is no point taking it while drinking. But again I would imagine if you did take it you would be better off than not taking it at all.

Small amounts of alcohol per day are said to be good for health, another aspect commonly overlooked is the stress relief effect of a few pints, probably since it is pretty impossible to measure.

I_and_I

Actually the fact is he might be better off not working out at all before drinking, when you work out you break down the muscle tissue and it needs to repair itself in the following days, if you drink large amounts you dehydrate your muscles which prevent them from repairing properly which will leave you worse off than when you started.

rubadub

I_and_I wrote:

Actually the fact is he might be better off not working out at all before drinking, when you work out you break down the muscle tissue and it needs to repair itself in the following days, if you drink large amounts you dehydrate your muscles which prevent them from repairing properly which will leave you worse off than when you started.

Well that is interesting and more to the point of what the OP was asking, rather than just answers like "stop drinking".

davyjose

I_and_I wrote:

Actually the fact is he might be better off not working out at all before drinking, when you work out you break down the muscle tissue and it needs to repair itself in the following days, if you drink large amounts you dehydrate your muscles which prevent them from repairing properly which will leave you worse off than when you started.

I find it hard to believe that everyone in the world with decent muscle mass and low enough Bodyfat with a good level of fitness doesn't have a few pints now and again. Actually I know this to be ABSOLUTELY not true. Of course these people might be able to build more muscle/lose more bodyfat/get fitter if they didn't drink, but for many it's not worth the trade. So it's about getting the balance right - having a social life (and unfortunately that's not always easy to do without having a few sups) and maintaining a healthy fit body to a reasonable level.

I_and_I

davyjose wrote:

I find it hard to believe that everyone in the world with decent muscle mass and low enough Bodyfat with a good level of fitness doesn't have a few pints now and again. Actually I know this to be ABSOLUTELY not true. Of course these people might be able to build more muscle/lose more bodyfat/get fitter if they didn't drink, but for many it's not worth the trade. So it's about getting the balance right - having a social life (and unfortunately that's not always easy to do without having a few sups) and maintaining a healthy fit body to a reasonable level.

Thats true but the OP asked would there be any point in working out the same night you go out drinking, and the answer is no. I don't abstain from alcohol all together I like a few pints every three weeks or so. I try to leave it about two days after any workout, which upsets my routine hence the three week gap.:)

rediguana

I agree with "Rubadub". To listen to some of the rest of you, I think additional sanctimoniousness, not testosterone, is the primary product of your workouts.

mloc

Each to thier own I guess, I do know a few guys off hand who are sub 10% body fat and lift heavy (> 130kg bench for starters) who drink, like any one else. Maybe not as often, but they do drink and often quite a lot.

justsomebloke

rediguana wrote:

I agree with "Rubadub". To listen to some of the rest of you, I think additional sanctimoniousness, not testosterone, is the primary product of your workouts.

LOL, funny cause it's true

Dragan

Well maybe i'm a freak then and can enjoy a workout and a few beers in the same day and get nothing but stronger!!!!

Guys, having things down 90% of the time is the important thing.

slicus ricus

I cant believe some of the stuff being said here! Theres no need for anyone to be giving up drink - while training is an important element of my life, there are other important elements as well. One of the more important is the social element - i like to go out with mates, have a few drinks with them and have a good night and see nothing wrong with that. I also like to have a kebab after the club closes up, and again see nothing wrong with that. I train hard in the gym 4 times a week, keep a strict diet, and work hard professionally as well, and apparently i shouldn't have a few drinks at the weekend. You cannot be serious?

One night out a week where you let your hair down and indulge is no harm, particularly when you're doing the right things the rest of the time.

Dragan wrote:

Guys, having things down 90% of the time is the important thing.

Spot on, Dragan!