The Effects of Alcohol on Bodybuilding

Introduction

As a competitive bodybuilder, I know how important one’s physique can be.  However, as important as it is I’ll still enjoy a drink at a social function every now and then.

Although having a drink every once in a while won’t destroy your physique, consistent alcohol consumption can hinder your muscle gains and wreak havoc on your physique by decreasing fat oxidation, decreasing protein synthesis, and lowering testosterone levels.

For the above reasons alone, if you want to truly maximize your muscle gains and fat loss, you’ll keep your alcohol consumption at a minimum.

Fat Oxidation

Fat oxidation is a catabolic process in which fatty acids are broken down by the body to be used as energy. According to a study published in the American Journal of Physiology, exercise increases fat oxidation at rest without changes to one’s dietary intake ³. Meaning, exercise causes you to burn more fat calories when you’re sleeping, at work, watching television, etc. without having to even change your diet, but this is not the case if you’re having a drink during your down time.  A study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that alcohol decreases fat oxidation and habitual consumption of alcohol favors fat storage and weight gain².  When just 24 grams of alcohol is consumed, which is less than 2 beers, the liver produces enough acetate to decrease the body’s fat oxidation by a massive 73% according to the American Journal of Clinical Research¹. Therefore, it is extremely important as a bodybuilder to limit your alcohol consumption to ensure you don’t inhibit your fat burning capabilities. Additionally, it is important to remember that alcohol supplies the body with extra calories that aren’t required for optimum function.  By consuming alcohol not only does it impair the body’s ability to burn fat as an energy source, but it also hinders the body’s ability to repair muscle tissue.

Protein Synthesis

Protein synthesis is the process of which individual cells construct proteins.  Because skeletal muscle fibers are composed of a number of different proteins, protein synthesis is a vital component to muscular growth.  Weight training causes stress and trauma to the muscle fibers which stimulates the body to increase protein synthesis in order to rebuild/repair the damaged muscle tissue making it larger and stronger this is known as muscular hypertrophy.  However, as little as one beer decreases protein synthesis by as much as 20% for up to a 24 hour period⁴.  This hinders your body’s ability to adequately repair itself thus limiting your muscular growth.  Consistently consuming alcohol overtime would not only limit your body’s ability to grow larger muscles via protein synthesis, but it also limits muscular growth by decreasing the body’s testosterone levels.

Testosterone

When it comes to building muscle tissue testosterone is the king of hormones.   Studies show that testosterone, especially when combined with strength training, increases fat-free mass and muscle size and strength⁶.  In other words, the more testosterone the body has the better the body’s muscle building capabilities.  However, alcohol consumption lowers your testosterone levels; therefore, limiting the body’s capability to increase/build muscle mass. Studies show that moderate alcohol consumption (3-4 drinks per day) reduced plasma testosterone levels in men by as much as 6.8% in a 3 week period⁵.  If you want to keep your testosterone levels high, I’d recommend not consuming alcohol on a daily basis.

Top 4 Reasons Why Alcohol and Bodybuilding Don’t Mix

Here are some of the reasons why bodybuilding and alcoholism do not mix:

#1. Dehydration

When it is used in excess, alcohol reduces the amount of hormone that the body uses to reabsorb water.Furthermore, the increased urination and the occasional vomiting further drain the body of fluids. When your body is dehydrated, there might not be harmony between the nutritional, hormonal and metabolic activities that affect muscle growth. Also, dehydration caused by alcohol affects the performance levels by altering the body’s energy creation mechanism.

#2. It Affects Protein Synthesis

Protein synthesis is the process in which food material turns into muscle. The consumption of alcohol slows down this process. Thus, it inhibits muscle growth and prevents bodybuilders from optimum development.

#3. It Affects the Testosterone

Testosterone is a hormone that plays a crucial role in promoting protein synthesis in the body. It fosters the increment of muscle mass, bone density, and toughness. Not only does alcohol lower testosterone levels in human beings, but also, it raises the estrogen levels and creates a hormonal imbalance in the body. As a result, the muscle is not able to carry out protein synthesis, and the muscles may not grow.

#4. May Increase Body Fat

Alcohol contains a lot of calories with no nutritional value. On average, alcohol has seven calories per gram. Excessive consumption of alcohol means consumption of more calories, which hinders body metabolism by reducing the amount of fat the body burns for energy. When the body is trying to get rid of the fat in alcohol, it interrupts other processes like absorption of nutrients.

The Bottom Line

This article wasn’t meant to deter you from drinking completely, but meant to educate you on how alcohol can affect your physique.

A drink every now and then won’t destroy your physique, but habitual alcohol consumption can definitely spoil some of your hard efforts in the gym by decreasing the body’s ability to burn fat and repair muscle.

When it comes to building a superior physique maximizing your efforts in the gym is critical.  If getting the most out of your gym efforts is vital to your personal goals, then you’ll keep your alcohol consumption at a minimum.

Although, it is a societal norm to drink and let loose from time to time, the consumption of alcohol may undo all the previous hard work. As explained in this article, alcohol affects the performance of the body and the general muscle growth.

However, this is not discouraging bodybuilders from indulging in alcohol. For training days, little or no consumption of alcohol is highly encouraged to allow the body to recover and achieve optimum performance and full growth.

The Effects of Alcohol on Bodybuilding:  References

1^Siler, S.Q., Neese, R.A., & Hellerstein, M.K. (1999). De novo lipogenesis, lipid kinetics, and whole-body lipid balances in humans after acute alcohol consumption. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 70, 928-936
2^Paolo M. Suter, M.D., M.S., Yves Schutz, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Eric Jequier, M.D. The Effect of Ethanol on Fat Storage in Healthy Subjects N Engl J Med 1992; 326:983-987
3^Calles-Escandon J, Goran MI, O’Connell M, Nair KS, Danforth E Jr. Exercise increases fat oxidation at rest unrelated to changes in energy balance or lipolysis. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 270: E1009–E1014,1996.
4^Hong-Brown, L. Q., Frost, R. A. and Lang, C. H. (2001), Alcohol Impairs Protein Synthesis and Degradation in Cultured Skeletal Muscle Cells. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 25: 1373–1382. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2001.tb02361.x
5^Sierksma, A., Sarkola, T., Eriksson, C. J. P., van der Gaag, M. S., Grobbee, D. E. and Hendriks, H. F. J. (2004), Effect of Moderate Alcohol Consumption on Plasma Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate, Testosterone, and Estradiol Levels in Middle-Aged Men and Postmenopausal Women: A Diet-Controlled Intervention Study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 28: 780–785. doi: 10.1097/01.ALC.0000125356.70824.81
6^Bhasin S, Storer TW, Berman N, Callegari C, Clevenger B, Phillips J, Bunnell TJ, Tricker R, Shirazi A, Casaburi R (July 1996). “The effects of supraphysiologic doses of testosterone on muscle size and strength in normal men”. N. Engl. J. Med. 335 (1): 1–7.

About Julian Brown

JulianBrownTraining.com      Julian is the co-owner of The Yard Fitness, an established fitness writer, a professional natural bodybuilder, a fitness & sport nutrition specialist, and a certified personal trainer. He began strength training at the young age of fourteen to improve his sports performance and hasn’t looked back since. Julian is a graduate of Grambling State University, ACE & NASM certified, and he has over a decade of personal experience in strength training.