more aggressive when drinking?

walt0r

I get rages sometimes when drinking. I just got in another bit of hassle a few weeks ago and it ended up costing me a big chunk of cash (in order to stop it going to court). I've been in a fair few fights over the last few years of college, but some have been very bad. One cost me 5000e and others were close to court. Basically I had been quiet enough until recently when I started lifting hard again. I've been seeing a pattern of this for a while. I'm grand and mellow when not training hard but then I get some sauce into me and I'm a walking lunatic.
Basically I know what you're all going to say, it's the drink. But then why can all my friends go out and they're as relaxed as **** and I'm always the one on edge. I've decided to cut my college drinking to a bare minimum this year. It really has to be a combination of both. But I'm not gonna give up lifting, I'd rather give up the sauce completely (which is unlikely). I just have to learn to moderate.
Are there other lifters of you out there with this problem or am I the only one?

PeakOutput

i had a friend like that...........i was the only one he never punched when he was locked as he knew id give him one straight back where as the rest of our group would sympathise with him and say sure he is only drunk so he seemed to have no respect for them(not saying this is you)

drink definitley has this affect on some people he was grand until he had more than 4/5 pints then anything could set him off if he wasnt punching his mates he was crying on their shoulders.

in the end he joined the army and gave up drink completely until, for some reason, the times he would come out with us.

im rambling now anyway basically you know there is a problem so fix it. if i was your mate and you were acting like this id be having serious doubts about going out with you and you dont want that.

Colm_OReilly

I know what you're all going to say, it's the drink.

There's you answer there. People respond differently to different stimuli, and clearly you react badly to alcohol.

Now, and I'm saying this with the utmost concern, perhaps there's some latent issues that come out when drinking? I've found for the majority that drink doesn't get people to do things they don't want, it just kills their inhibitions.

If you need an outlet for aggression why not try an MMA class. After getting humbled a few times there you might be less likely to start any trouble.

Hope this helps,
Colm

Dragan

Some people are just dicks with drink in them, but as Colm it's normally stemming from something, so maybe have a look into an MMA class and check it out?

Eventually your going to run into that guy you start with who puts you down and keeps you down dude, or even worse your gonna hurt someone who simply does not deserve it.

t-ha

Just another physiological phenomenon to throw into the mix (although it still comes back to the same thing) is that alcohol lowers your blood testosterone levels. When this happens your pituitary gland starts pumping out a hormone called luteinizing hormone (LH) to stimulate your testes to make more testosterone. As the alcohol continues to eliminate blood testosterone your body keeps making more and more LH. The mental effects of LH though, are very similar to testosterone (territorial, horny, unlikely to back down etc.) and may be one of the reasons why you feel more aggresive when drinking.

The thing to remember though, is that every guy will have this same reaction to alcohol, yet most keep a reasonably sensible attitude on them all night and manage to stay out of trouble. If you aren't doing that then it still comes back to you having aggressive urges anyway that you just don't express normally?

At the end of the day no-one likes being out with the guy who is always getting them into fights or thrown out of bars, so at least go via the moderation route asap and if there is something else bothering you then try and work that out seperately.

Just as a parting thought, are we just talking beers here? I know that some people go wierd on whiskey or other specific drinks?

Jesus Wept

I think people that turn into d!ckheads and are violent when they drink are showing their true personalities, which they manage to surpress when not under the influence.

Solution: Don't drink.

Vegeta

well when you start lifting again your confidence may rise and you may be thinking "i'm a big old bastard and could probably beat most people in this pub in a test of physical strength".

Then you throw a few beers on to this and suddenly you are fighting someone.

One of my friends in college who lifted weights also got illusions of granduer when he was drunk and went around trying to lift people up and over power them in different ways.


*Note to self avoid walt0r at any boards beers or other social event.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

rubadub

I lost weight and so get pissed on far less. I do not notice me being any more aggressive. Are you still eating the same amounts?

I have a mate who does a a fair bit of GAA training, sometimes he comes from training to the pub and can be pissed on 4 pints, he is 6'3'' about 14stone. Never aggressive though.

Solution: Don't drink.

That is easier said than done. Many will not give up the drink and want it as part of their social life. I do not want this to turn into a legal discussion but there are other recreational drugs out there, many which people would consider less harmful than alcohol. Cannabis is known for its relaxing effect, you will never see a stoned guy being aggressive. Taken in small threshold amounts along with drink it can be very relaxing, it also reduces your appetite for the drink. If I am out on a long session I will have a few smokes to tone down my drinking, otherwise I find myself fishing down pints later on, and getting way too pissed.

Of course smoking is not a healthy way to ingest it, you could eat a small amount, this will come on slowly over 2 hours, and last for a good few hours. If it is a small/threshold amount you will not be too effected by it (i.e. not out of your mind, you might have the odd giggle more than usual), but it will have a calming effect.

I have a mate who gets fairly abusive with way too much drink (not fighting, just loud foul language that would get us thrown out), we sometimes take him out for a smoke just to calm him down, works a treat.

Also drinking pints of water in between pints is a good idea. You do not have to "skip a round", I just order my beer and a pint of water, fish it down in seconds and then sip into the beer.

mdma also would create a more emphatic, calm mood, again at threshold doses you would barely notice much side effects.

Esse85

Slightly off topic because this guy doesn't lift weights.

I had a friend like this before, after one incident he said enoughs enough and he decided to see his GP about his uncharacteristic behavior on drink. The GP referred him to a specialist and after a number of sessions with the specialist, they got to the root of the problem and found out why he was being aggressive after drink.
The guy worked on addressing his inner issues and now only drinks in moderation and he's a happier chap to be around.

Find the root of the problem and take it from there.

walt0r

Well, I used to do a lot of kickboxing when I was younger and I never got in trouble then. But then again I didn't drink as much. I think I need to find an outlet for something alright. I reckon MMA would be the place to go, I've thought about it for a while now.

PeakOutput

rubadub wrote:

That is easier said than done.

thats all in the head otherwise i agree with what you said

edit; except for recommending mdma i draw a line at hash

edit;2 1500th post.....im such a loser

Vegeta

I never get this.

Most people here are disciplined enough to work out regularly and eat correctly but wont give up the sauce.

I have never had a legal drink in my life. i.e. gave up drinking at 17

Its easier than you think.

PeakOutput

Vegeta wrote:

I never get this.

Most people here are disciplined enough to work out regularly and eat correctly but wont give up the sauce.

I have never had a legal drink in my life. i.e. gave up drinking at 17

Its easier than you think.

yep i agree i drink because i enjoy it but i drink relatively rarely and regularly go out with my mates and not drink which they just cant understand. iv also given it up for 8 months while saving so i know it can be done when i actually want to. i dont mind drinking coz u enjoy it but if it causes you problems and you do nothing about it or you talk about how much you wana stop but don't i dont have much time for that

CerebralCortex

Vegeta wrote:

I never get this.

Most people here are disciplined enough to work out regularly and eat correctly but wont give up the sauce.

I have never had a legal drink in my life. i.e. gave up drinking at 17

Its easier than you think.

Me too but I never really started drinking. Not drinking is simple and it also means I have maintained a good physique without much effort except clean eating and recently some gym time.

"Beer its the solution to and the cause of all life's problems"

kmick

The fitter you are the more the drink will affect you. My suggestion is this when you go out follow these simple rules.
1) Never ever ever ever mix your drinks - start and finish with the same drink.
2) Drink bottles - even though they will get you merry they wont get you as drunk as drinking pints.
3) Have a 'FAKE' every now and then if you feel you are getting aggresive - my 'FAKE' is a soda water and lime. If anyone asks its a vodka and lime.
4) Beer is better than spirits and of all the spirits stay away from whiskey.
5) One of these days - even though it seems from your post that you have probably won most of your little bouts - you will come up against someone stronger, more sober, quicker and more violent than you. He may even have a knife. You will lose the fight and maybe more. Wise up now before you become a stat.

Dragan

kmick wrote:

4) Beer is better than spirits and of all the spirits stay away from whiskey.

While i agree with the theory behind this i don't agree with the point as it is stated.

I would suggest you simple "find your drink" and stick with it. Me, i like Jack Daniels and when i am in the mood to get drunk i need a lot of it to do the job. When drunk on Jack Daniels i am no different from the normally me, just a little drunk is all.

Now then, get me that drunk on pints, or sambuca and it's a bad night all round. It took me about 2 weeks to figure this out after i "started drinking" and since then i stick with what i know does not mess with my brain chemistry.

PeakOutput

kmick wrote:

The fitter you are the more the drink will affect you.

can you explain this please? i would of thought that the fitter you are the easier it is for your body to deal with the alcohol..........personally i dont get as bad hangovers as i did a year ago when i was not excersising.


ot; there is a lot of talk of alcohol having a lot of calories in it. as far as i know things are giving their calorie count by how good they are at burning as a fuel. alcohol is a very good fuel therefore would have a high calorific value fair enough but my question is. besides getting drunk what does your body actually use alcohol for. surely your body does not use alcohol for energy or for anything at all and therefore it will not store it it will just get rid of it out of your body as fast as possible and therefore it will not increase your bf. i understand that this thinking is probably wrong im just looking for the reason why its wrong.

Sangre

Vegeta wrote:

I never get this.

Most people here are disciplined enough to work out regularly and eat correctly but wont give up the sauce.

I have never had a legal drink in my life. i.e. gave up drinking at 17

Its easier than you think.

They won't give it up because they don't want to give it up. Quite simple really.

p.s. you can drink legally under 18.

t-ha

kmick wrote:

3) Have a 'FAKE' every now and then if you feel you are getting aggresive - my 'FAKE' is a soda water and lime. If anyone asks its a vodka and lime.

...not having a go here, I just think it's a sad reflection of Irish society if you have to lie about having a non-alcoholic drink.

Huggles

kmick wrote:

3) Have a 'FAKE' every now and then if you feel you are getting aggresive - my 'FAKE' is a soda water and lime. If anyone asks its a vodka and lime.

Why not say its soda water and lime?

Vegeta

Sangre wrote:

They won't give it up because they don't want to give it up. Quite simple really.

Then why complain about its effects

p.s. you can drink legally under 18.

really please explain, that's news to me

PeakOutput

Vegeta wrote:

really please explain, that's news to me

its only illegal to sell/provide drink to someone under 18 unless its their parents.

once you have the drink and your not in a public place you can drink it quite legally

Vegeta

PeakOutput wrote:

its only illegal to sell/provide drink to someone under 18 unless its their parents.

once you have the drink and your not in a public place you can drink it quite legally

jesus that's mental, I never knew that.

Cannot believe this is true.

PeakOutput

Vegeta wrote:

jesus that's mental, I never knew that.

Cannot believe this is true.

its the same with illegal drugs its sale or intent to sell that is illegal not the actual consumption of it

Leon11

Waltor,

I'd say wise up. Drink less, stay away from the doubles if it's getting you rowdy. Eat a lot before you go out. I've seen plenty of "big" blokes getting dropped by regular joe's with one or two quick shots.

Fact is group social life in Ireland revolves around alcohol and anyone who claims otherwise is talking pure bull**** in my opinion.

10 people are hardly gonna go to the cinema to socialise.

PeakOutput

Leon11 wrote:

Fact is group social life in Ireland revolves around alcohol and anyone who claims otherwise is talking pure bull**** in my opinion.

that is true but just because it is true in general does not mean it has to be true for you......if you dont want to drink badly enough you wont and your social life won't suffer in the slightest unless your an idiot.

Leon11

I know it's only true if you want it to be, sure I can go out and not drink if I don't want to, I've done it plenty of times when I've had important matches coming up. I enjoy alcohol though and at my current age I believe there is very few other real alternatives to group socialising. Anyway I've gone off-topic so I'll stop now:D

BrianD3

I find that alcohol has a much greater effect on me if I've been training hard 24 hours or less before drinking. For example I've often trained hard on a Sunday morning and then had a glass of wine with my dinner a couple of hours later. Only one glass of wine and I really notice an effect.

I don't get aggressive though, just really groggy etc.

Many years ago, long before I took up weight training I had a greater tolerance for drink but when I did get pissed I was an aggressive drunk.

Nowadays I hardly drink at all - except for the wine as mentioned.

Sangre

Vegeta wrote:

Then why complain about its effects

People like to complain. Anyway, for most the cons of drink don't out weigh the pros. The same applies for people who have decided not to clean up their diet or exercising, for them the pros outweigh the cons. Doesn't mean they're not going to moan about being fat bastards.

its the same with illegal drugs its sale or intent to sell that is illegal not the actual consumption of it

Well not quite, possession is also illegal. You can't consume without possession. Although possession for personal use will normally carry a much lower penalty.

PeakOutput

Sangre wrote:

Although possession for personal use will normally carry a much lower penalty.

really? i know there is a limit but i thought if, for example, you had less than an ounce of hash it was grand. you learn something new every day

Sangre

No, from 1977 Misuses of Drugs Act, s3

(2) A person who has a controlled drug in his possession in contravention of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

The 1984 acts specifies the penalties for cannabis.

( a ) where the relevant controlled drug is cannabis or cannabis resin and the court is satisfied that the person was in possession of such drug for his personal use:

(i) in the case of a first offence,

(I) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £300, or

(II) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £500,

Has your dealer being spreading lies?

Anyway, this is WAY OT.

PeakOutput

Sangre wrote:

Has your dealer being spreading lies?

iv never bought drugs in my life i bum off my mates and then offer them money but they never accept.

back ot; op try and go out one night with no drink and make a consious effort to do the exact same things you would while drinking(besides the fighting) you prob will feel a bit wierd at first but you soon get over it

Odysseus

To the Op it would appear to me that the alcohol is only facilitating your aggressivity, there is an old joke in psychoanalysis that the super ego is that which dissolves in alcohol. I deal with a lot of this in my work, I would really suggest that you consider some form of psychological therapy.

rubadub

PeakOutput wrote:

thats all in the head otherwise i agree with what you said
edit; except for recommending mdma i draw a line at hash

That is fair enough, I am just throwing it out as an option. Some people can get a good supply of cannabis, i.e. straight from a grower or their own plant so they know what is in it, unfortunately you do not know where the majority of chemical drugs have originated from. And "irish hash" is full of all sorts of crap too- not recommended.

I am only talking threshold doses here, not heading out raving, even though it is cooked up in an illegal lab a 1/4 of the average E is probably doing less harm than 5 pints.- maybe not. It is a shame that current laws reduce peoples choice for pure substances.

I just think it's a sad reflection of Irish society if you have to lie about having a non-alcoholic drink.

It is, but I wouldnt take it too seriously, I think it was a light hearted comment, to avoid light hearted jibes from your mates.

I hate getting into the "round culture"- esp. as I usually drink strong lagers while others can be on spirits that contain only 1/2 the alcohol "per round"

i know there is a limit but i thought if, for example, you had less than an ounce of hash it was grand.

You will read of people done for 0.5g of hash- usually it is a known dealer who has evaded arrest up to that point. If you have 1oz on your person and it is a first offence and you are "respectable" it could be a caution. If that 1oz is cut into 10 "deals" and you are a scumbag you are going down big time.

The cops usually only bother with kids & dealers. People smoke in the beer garden in my local in full view/smell of the local sergeant who couldnt care less. Nobody is stoned out of their heads or even laughing too much..

4) Beer is better than spirits and of all the spirits stay away from whiskey.

debatable- spirits diluted to beer strength will almost always be a purer drink than beer- less hangover and easier on the liver. But with the price of mixers all my mates split a 200ml bottle of coke, sometimes over 4 people, so they are drinking close to 20% drinks. You should keep up the water to dilute it down that way. Also stick to diet mixers which increase alcohol absorption meaning you need to drink less overall. Of course you must be fully aware you will be pissed on less. (maybe not advisable for the OP!)

walt0r

woah a lot of replies here. Well, basically my social life revolves around the sauce. I'm a student in Galway and we go out regularly. This year will be different though as it's my final one and I'm going to try and chill it a bit.
Basically, I don't have the time to respond to everybody who gave me advice, but Odysseus - I understand what you're saying with regards the ego. It's not the drinking that's the problem it's my ****ing cockiness when I'm scalded...it only really tends to come out when I'm REALLY pissed and I rarely can get that drunk. I tend to stick to beers as shorts dont agree with me. Although I might mix the pints, start off on guinness and end on lager...sometimes I have a few whiskies and I think therein lies the problem. The whiskies/shots put me (like a lot of other people) into a bit of a stupor.
I've decided to take up MA again as an outlet. I'd been planning this for ages but never got around to it, now I will because I'll be going out less. It will also maybe give me some discipline which I've seemed to lose lately. Thanks for the replies, I'd write more but I just don't have the time tonight, exam in morning.

maxi-twist

walt0r wrote:

I get rages sometimes when drinking. I just got in another bit of hassle a few weeks ago and it ended up costing me a big chunk of cash (in order to stop it going to court). I've been in a fair few fights over the last few years of college, but some have been very bad. One cost me 5000e and others were close to court. Basically I had been quiet enough until recently when I started lifting hard again. I've been seeing a pattern of this for a while. I'm grand and mellow when not training hard but then I get some sauce into me and I'm a walking lunatic.
Basically I know what you're all going to say, it's the drink. But then why can all my friends go out and they're as relaxed as **** and I'm always the one on edge. I've decided to cut my college drinking to a bare minimum this year. It really has to be a combination of both. But I'm not gonna give up lifting, I'd rather give up the sauce completely (which is unlikely). I just have to learn to moderate.
Are there other lifters of you out there with this problem or am I the only one?

Yeah,happens all the time im quite the agro when drunk,but only if i have redbull for some reason. get about 8/9 beers into ye and you wont really have the same problems.

Actually now that i think of it its more been about me not backing down rather than actually starting a fight. e.g. someone knocks into me on a dancefloor i say sorry they say **** off, then it escalates. I wont really back down though.

PeakOutput

maxi-twist wrote:

e.g. someone knocks into me on a dancefloor i say sorry they say **** off, then it escalates. I wont really back down though.

nothing wrong with not backing down imo as long as you didnt start the trouble in the first place

nesf

Vegeta wrote:

I never get this.

Most people here are disciplined enough to work out regularly and eat correctly but wont give up the sauce.

I have never had a legal drink in my life. i.e. gave up drinking at 17

Its easier than you think.

Why give up alcohol? Taking it to excess is a problem but a few pints/shots/glasses now and then isn't going to put you firmly on a path to ill-health or anything. Good for your heart too.

nesf

PeakOutput wrote:

nothing wrong with not backing down imo as long as you didnt start the trouble in the first place

I disagree. Sometimes you really should back down, like when not doing so will get you and your mates into a fight over something trivial.

PeakOutput

nesf wrote:

I disagree. Sometimes you really should back down, like when not doing so will get you and your mates into a fight over something trivial.

ye i agree in general but i know at least for me i get pissed of having to all the scumbags around dublins **** so sometimes i just cant do it

smellslikeshoes

Think you should cop on. Judging by how you bit the head off someone in another thread its not the drink thats your problem, you have anger issues.