Fitness Level and Alcohol Tolerance

coolpaddy

Hey,I joined just after Christmas and started going about 4-5 times a week. I altered my diet slightly to cut out all junk food. My diet before that was relatively healthy. I weigh about 75kg give or take and I'm 5'10 so BMI could be class as healthy. I do about 30 mins cardio and 40 mins resistance when I do go to the gym. I'm happy with the progress I'm making. I've toned up a bit and I'm slowly building muscle mass. I don't weigh myself regularly so I couldn't tell you how much weight I've lost but I've definitely lost a bit of body fat. I still go for drinking one night a week most weekends. However, I've noticed recently the fitter I get the less tolerance I have to drink. I used to be able to handle my drink OK but the last few times I've gone out I've noticed I'm pretty drunk after just 4 pints. I've also ended up having to go home earlier than usual because I've been so drunk.Has anyone else experienced this before? Has it something to do with losing body fat?

SBWife

Only in Ireland is 4 pints preceded by only! It's almost 8 standard drinks unless you are a very heavy drinker or very very big you should definitely be feeling this. The other think you may be doing differently is drinking faster, if you've cut back significantly you might be so excited when you get that first pint that your downing it much more quickly.

cojomo2

I don't care what is classified as a 'standard drink' in my book a pint is one standard drink, who the hell orders a half pint!!

Anyway, OP, for me, if I go off the booze for a few weeks its sure has this effect on me. I've been active for a long time now but if I remember, when I started working out for the 1st time , my tolerance declined like you mention.

However I don't notice it anymore, I weigh the same as you and run about 35 k a week plus cycle a bit too, still drink about 9-10 guinness/beamish on a night out. I do notice however, if I skip dinner or have a snack on the move instead, I will also feel tipsy after 3-4 pints..

coolpaddy

OP here.I don't think the amount I drink has changed or the speed at which I drink a pint. I think I'm going to have to learn to drink a lot more slowly. On the upside, I'll save money on a night out. Every cloud :pac:

Orando Broom

SBWife wrote: »

Only in Ireland is 4 pints preceded by only! It's almost 8 standard drinks unless you are a very heavy drinker or very very big you should definitely be feeling this. The other think you may be doing differently is drinking faster, if you've cut back significantly you might be so excited when you get that first pint that your downing it much more quickly.

Sorry to burst your pristine bubble but in Ireland four pints for the averge male drinker is like throwing a thimble of water into a barrel of sawdust. Now I can bring you up a wooly jumper if you are remaining on the high moral ground for the evening.

Pray for my blackened soul, would you?

Orando Broom

coolpaddy wrote: »

Hey,I joined just after Christmas and started going about 4-5 times a week. I altered my diet slightly to cut out all junk food. My diet before that was relatively healthy. I weigh about 75kg give or take and I'm 5'10 so BMI could be class as healthy. I do about 30 mins cardio and 40 mins resistance when I do go to the gym. I'm happy with the progress I'm making. I've toned up a bit and I'm slowly building muscle mass. I don't weigh myself regularly so I couldn't tell you how much weight I've lost but I've definitely lost a bit of body fat. I still go for drinking one night a week most weekends. However, I've noticed recently the fitter I get the less tolerance I have to drink. I used to be able to handle my drink OK but the last few times I've gone out I've noticed I'm pretty drunk after just 4 pints. I've also ended up having to go home earlier than usual because I've been so drunk.Has anyone else experienced this before? Has it something to do with losing body fat?

I don't know the ins and outs but I think if you are training and being active more you are naturally drinking less. Whether a loss of body fat or practice is the cause I know not!

I could drink far more when I was a 12st student and barman than I can now as a 17st nine to fiver.

davmol

I read somewhere before that the body breaks down alcohol more effecticvely ,the fitter you are !if i go off the booze for a bit and go back on it i do drunk much easier.Your body ,when you are drinking ,builds up a tolerance to drink,when you go off it for a bit that tolerance goes.

I dont have links or any super science to back it up ,but thats my tuppence on the matter.

rubadub

coolpaddy wrote: »

Has it something to do with losing body fat?

Yes, a small 6stone anorexic woman will get a higher blood alcohol level than a 30 stone man after the same 4 pints. Those drink driving ads stating limits are averaged out when they say "you can drink 1 pint", this can confuse some people who end up thinking it should be the same for all people. If you see anaesthesiologists on TV you will see them having to weigh people to see how much they need to give.

I am a heavy drinker and noticed I got drunk on far less as I lost weight. If you are drinking less frequently this will also have an effect, even at the same weight, as you build up tolerance over the course of a week. If you are dieting you are likely to have less in your stomach and this can have a HUGE effect too.

If you are dehydrated I expect you would get drunk quicker too, as you would be absorbing it into your system like a sponge. Anecdotally I have heard a fair few mates say they got drunk far faster after football matches.

At least you appreciate you can save money, and are not getting into this stupid macho bull**** about being able to 'handle drink' I knew a lad who would brag about needing over a dozen pints to be drunk. He was quite overweight and would sneak out of the pub eating chinese & burgers during the day. I would have needed that many too if I had such a full stomach.

The rounds culture here leads to lots of overdrinking, so try and avoid it. If you are ever stuck in rounds you could get bottles, spirits & mixer, or half pints, a shot of vodka & coke is only about the same alcohol as a half pint. Or lower alcohol beers such as smithwicks, which is 3.8%.

find a small drop or rise in % can have a larger effect than you would think. You should not simply equate the higher % as having the same % difference in drunkeness, in my experience it usually ends up with me being more drunk.

-Say your body can process 1 pint of 4% per hour, i.e. you could drink 12 pints over 12 hours and you would not feel tipsy, you are constantly sobering up. Now if you drink 2 pints per hour you are really just feeling the effect of 1 4% pint per hour. Now switch to an 8% Belgian beer, your body should only be able to process a half pint of it and remain sober. So if you drink 2 pints of 8% per hour it is equivalent in alcohol to 4 pints of 4%, and only 1 of them is processed away, while 3 take full effect.

So at first you might guess 2 pints of 8% would get you twice as pissed as 2 pints of 4%, but really could be 3 times the amount.

starviewadams

I did one of those bootcamp classes last week and went out for pints about an hour or so later,I was absolutely locked on 6 pints of Heineken when usually it would take 9 or 10 to have that effect on me.Was wondering why that was,but it must've been down to the dehydration as mentioned above.

dougieruggie

davmol wrote: »

I read somewhere before that the body breaks down alcohol more effecticvely ,the fitter you are !

Bingo, i've heard that before as well. Essentially you get drunk quicker but you recover from hangovers faster as well.

sharkey 25

I'm trying to lose weight and put on a bit of muscle myself. I think I have a high enough tolerance to drink for my size. I would like it to lower as I lose weight. It would be cheaper and it wouldn't have as much of a consequence on my progress. I try to keep alcohol to a minimum , before last sat I hadn't drank for a month. I find alcohol throws of my diet for a couple of days.
Has anyone noticed that they get worse hangovers sine they started training? Any tips to lessen the pain of hangovers?

dougieruggie

Drink a good vodka (zubrowka for example) only mix it with juices.
Have the odd pint of water throughout the night.
Get a good meal in before going out, a good meal before bed and drink copious amounts of water.
Wake up and get another good meal, and copious amounts of water.

Orando Broom

sharkey 25 wrote: »

I'm trying to lose weight and put on a bit of muscle myself. I think I have a high enough tolerance to drink for my size. I would like it to lower as I lose weight. It would be cheaper and it wouldn't have as much of a consequence on my progress. I try to keep alcohol to a minimum , before last sat I hadn't drank for a month. I find alcohol throws of my diet for a couple of days.
Has anyone noticed that they get worse hangovers sine they started training? Any tips to lessen the pain of hangovers?

A friend of mine who was a serious marathon runner (US Olympic qualifier good) used to drink whiskey straight, maybe some ice or water. Said it was the most efficent way of drinking for him. I suppose any spirit would work good.

meijin

sharkey 25 wrote: »

Any tips to lessen the pain of hangovers?

Drink less? Or don't drink at all :D:D

Devia

Its true that fitness is a factor. The stream of alcohol to the brain will be more efficient in the fit person. However, the healthier you are the better your liver will be at metabolising your intake and preventing the toxic affects so that kinda counterbalances things. Unless you lost a lot of mass I couldn't see that being a factor. Maybe your diet and when you're eating is something to consider?

sharkey 25 wrote: »

Any tips to lessen the pain of hangovers?

Its mainly just dehydration. Plenty of water before and after alcohol consumption is what I'd aim for. Of course whether you'll be able to function enough to consume water depends what state you're in by the end of the night

BrianD3

I am an infrequent and a very light drinker. I sometimes do a heavy weights session on Sunday morning shortly before dinner (+ red wine) With this I find myself getting noticably impaired after ONE average glass of wine. However I seem to improve very quickly afterwards.

At other times my tolerance is bit more but in general I am a total "lightweight" compared to most women, let alone most men!