Alcohol And Exercise - Facts and Reality.

Alcohol And Exercise – Debunking Some Facts

As the weekend nears, you probably will think about going out and having a few drinks with friends or co-workers. The thought of relaxing and wind down has its social merits.

There are some things, however that you must keep in mind.

Do small amounts of Alcohol affect your muscular output?

Research has proven that small amounts of alcohol will increase muscular endurance and strength output. However, the benefits are very short lived. After 20 minutes or so, problems will surface. Alcohol will, over the next few minutes reduce your strength, endurance and aerobic capacity. Even with short term use, nerve muscle interaction will be reduced resulting in a loss of strength. Remember, alcohol is a poison that will really harm your body if you aren’t careful.

Long term effects on the body.

Over longer periods of time it will make your body loose the ability to metabolize fat, and diminish muscle growth. Additionally, alcohol will affect your nervous system and brain. Long term usage will cause severe deterioration of your central nervous system.

Once alcohol reaches the blood cells, it will damage them. Alcohol users, often suffer inflammation of the muscle cells. Over time, some of these damaged cells will die affecting muscle contractions. Drinking alcohol also causes muscle soreness after exercise. Hence, it will take you a lot longer to recuperate.

Alcohol will also interferes with your heart and circulatory system ability to function properly. Anytime you drink, your heat loss will increase, due to the alcohol simulating your blood vessels to dilate. The loss in heat will cause your muscles to become quite cold, therefore becoming slower and weaker during your muscle contractions.

It also leads to digestive and nutrition problems as well. Alcohol causes a release of insulin that will increase the metabolism of glycogen, which spares fat and makes the loss of fat very hard. Additionally, due to alcohol interfering with the absorption key nutrients, you will eventually become anemic and vitamin B deficient.

Excessive Drinking Effects.

Because your liver is the organ that detoxifies alcohol, the more you drink, the harder your liver has to work. The extra stress alcohol places on your liver will cause serious damage and even destroy some of your liver cells.

Since alcohol is a diuretic, drinking large amounts will put a lot of stress on your kidneys. During diuretic action, hormones are secreted. This will lead to heightened water retention, loss of Potassium and frequent cramps. No one who exercises wants this to happen.

If you must drink alcohol, you should do it in moderation and never drink before you exercise, as this will impair your balance, coordination, and judgement.