Fitness and alcohol…typical thought process for the gym rat is that it’ll negatively affect strength and performance…or at the very least give you a beer gut.  Most of us aren’t crazy quasi-monks living in a monastery living in the Himalayan Alps…and even though we may try to ANYTHING that tastes good, ultimately turning down the finer things in life turns out to be a lost cause.  Most of us like to tip the glass every so often.

If you’re a beer person, alcohol can taste pretty darn good.  Some of us love various types of wine.  Japanese whiskey is quickly becoming the next big thing in the US.  And, half of you wouldn’t be able to land a date if it weren’t for beer goggles…

But, the ultimate question…how much does alcohol really effect our goals?  We did some research and found some “interesting” results.  The bulk of our meta-data, we found that the vast majority of the peer reviewed research found that alcohol consumption in various degrees had little to no negative effects on biological or physical measures of fitness. 

Even in the areas that negative effects were observed, it was more likely found when drinking alcohol immediately after working out.  Oddly enough, it was typically in men, not women.

Bottom line, there was little to no effect on the following bio markers: blood glucose levels, testosterone, estradiol, sex hormone binding globulin, force production, power, creatine kinase, heart rate, lactate, muscular endurance, and soreness.  There was a minor negative effect on protein synthesis. 

So, moderate alcohol consumption after exercise doesn’t seem to be (necessarily) a bad thing.  Cognitive function was effected negatively, but that was kind of the point. 

Here’s one study for you, completed at Penn State.  Done with mice, they gave the alcohol group the equivalent of 10 drinks per day for 14 days.  Muscle protein synthesis in the alcohol group was only slightly lower than the control group.  In fact, they found that resistance training can counter, or even nullify the negative effects of alcohol on muscle.  BUT…but but but, this experiment did involve mice, so keep that in mind.

Bottom line, I’m not giving a blank check to heavy drinkers.  Anything beyond a small amount of alcohol probably isn’t ultimately good for you, nor your long-term health.