Alcohol is a solution mixed with lots of things that is available in different mixed wine case, but this couldn’t play well with tiredness, hunger, and dehydration. There are 90 calories in a glass of wine, 220 calories in a beer and 350 calories in a margarita glass. So if your goal of the exercise is to reduce weight effectively, and you are taking alcohol after work out; it’s useless as you are building muscle and alcohol is enough to baffle the process.
Usually, people who do exercise regularly are more tend to drink as compared to people who don’t do exercise. People who go to the gym and then head towards bars, they need to understand what does alcohol has to do with their body if they take alcohol after exercise.
It is really important to understand the effect of alcohol if you do casual or competitive exercise, and you want to take it after the workout. If you take too much alcohol after a workout, it could put off obtaining the reward from the exercise.
Here we have four reasons to avoid drinking alcohol after exercise;
- Energy Level is Low
While doing exercise, your body is naturally shooked up by the blood sugar, which is produced by the liver the moment it releases the glucose into your bloodstream. Intake of alcohol reduces the ability of your liver in the production of all such important essential sugar required by your body, and this means nothing but you are functioning on empty, which is very dangerous.
There is one more reason for not taking alcohol after doing your work out, and that is this drink is workable in reducing the production of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). This ATP is the key source of energy for one’s muscle cell, which is much needed for the biochemical reaction that’s needed for muscle compression. The more you move your muscles, it consumed more ATPs.
- Impact on Sleep Quality
Getting good sleep at night is very important for the best possible for work out, and drinking alcohol right after your session you van disturb your sleeping ability. You may drift off after taking alcohol easily, but according to studies, you can reduce the quantity of Rapid Eye Movement (REM). It means that you will be up in the morning feeling a bit drowsy and your energy level is slightly down.
Human Growth Hormone (HGH), this hormone is responsible for muscle repairing and building; and alcohol after exercise can affect this HGH badly.
- More dehydrated
Alcohol is a common source of diuretic, that’s the reason when you wake up you feel thirst. Your energy levels, endurance, body temperature everything can get affected by the dehydration caused by alcohol taking after doing your regular exercise. And this is going to be not good news if you have planned a hard work out or some of the physical games.
Your body’s electrolytes, including magnesium, calcium, and potassium, are used up when you are dehydrated. These electrolytes are vital for maintaining fluid balance in the body and also muscle coordination and action performance as well. This dehydration can also deplete all water-soluble vitamins like Vitamin C, B12 and B 6. The dehydration not only causes depletion but also makes you’re prone to sickness and play an important role in diluting your body’s ability to function mannerly.
- Risk of Complications
Intake of alcohol can increase the flow of blood, and also slow down the healing duration of swelling around the soft tissues of injuries like sprain and cuts. Additionally, alcohol can lead to more damage, as you are not able to treat bruises with care.
If you do not have any particular injury; and you take alcohol before or even after doing your regular exercise, this can affect your body’s ability to recover from any illness or disease. Alcohol is responsible for reducing testosterone that is vital in developing muscle.
What do you drink after exercise?
It is highly suggested to take a mixture of carbohydrates and electrolytes after exercise to boost up the recovery. Chocolate milk and sports drinks are available to assist muscular repair and dehydration.
One can also take a combination of plain water and foods that contain these vitamins, but the intake of plain water only couldn’t help in relieving muscle pain.
Some general health effects of taking Alcohol
As we all know that alcohol is high in calories, there are seven calories in each gram, and it’s a form of pure fat. And if you are doing exercise to manage your extra weight, you are taking in unwanted calories through this drink.
You can get your sleep disrupted by taking alcohol because the growth hormones are released during sleep time, and only the alcohol is responsible for disrupting our sleep.
Drinking alcohol can increase the heart rate, and this is what you can significantly notice up to two days if you took too much of alcohol.
How to manage your alcohol intake
- Enjoying drink is a part of socializing these days which cant be avoided. But following the listed below suggestions can help you in managing alcohol intake;
- You need to plan, where are you and who will be in your group. And how much time you are going to spend with those people.
- After taking exercise, if you eat carbohydrate-rich food, you are responsible for refilling muscle fuel storage. And if you eat well before taking alcohol, you would not take much of the drink.
- You can work on drinking slowly; this can help in cutting down the alcohol intake. You can put down your glass between sips, and don’t drink in gulps.
- You can exchange your alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic; you can drink faster if you feel thirst, particularly after work out. So start with a non-alcoholic drink to satisfy your thirst before taking an alcoholic drink.
- If you want to avoid alcohol at the party, keep yourself busy. You can go for dance to swim in the pool, but don’t just sit and have a drink.
- Last but not least, do avoid rounds; as rounds tend you to drink alcohol at a faster pace. By chance, if you get stuck in such a situation, better go for non-alcoholic drinks.
- Make your habit of keeping yourself hydrated before going to bed; drinking water in between alcoholic drinks in the evening is one of the best options.
Conclusion
It is all about some of the consequences that you can face if you take alcohol and other drinks after a workout. So you should avoid taking alcohol after you come out of the gym, there is nothing good in taking these drinks. But to be a hindrance in achieving your goals, do enjoy a couple of protein shakes upon after leaving the gym that is healthy and help in gaining back the energy.
