It is upon us, New Year’s Eve; one of the largest consumption dates of alcohol around the world! Many will endeavor upon the New Year’s cyclone with a hard party attitude and enough alcohol to obliterate a large bull-elephant. If you’re serious about your fitness and muscular pursuits it’s very doubtful alcohol makes up a large part of your daily consumption if at all; but there is a chance that goes out the window this one night a year. Will it destroy your pursuit? One night of heavy drinking, is it really that bad?
If you’re a serious lifter, be it for bodybuilding or any fitness related pursuit, alcohol is probably not a problem for you; as Dave Palumbo once famously said “would you put low grade gasoline in a Ferrari?” Of course not but on this special night you will be tempted and the effects can be worse than you may have imagined.
So What’s the Damage?
To begin with the obvious you have increased your daily intake of calories and done so with calories that will be burned as acetate; acetate is a toxin which when relied upon by the body burns instead of fat; obviously this alone is bad news bears if you’re trying to keep your body fat low. But it gets worse; much, much worse.
By-Bye HGH:
If your life consist of a fitness pursuit, unless you’ve been living under a rock you understand the importance of HGH. You also understand that it’s at night when you sleep that your body does the brunt of its repair and it is the body’s nighttime release of HGH that is imperative to this process. When alcohol is consumed this creates a problem in natural HGH production reducing the output by as much as 70%. 70%, I don’t know about you but to me this is not small potatoes. Further, it causes us to fall into a lighter sleep pattern, disrupting the REM cycle.
So rest is below satisfactory and HGH production is far below desirable levels; two key components in muscle repair and building. If that’s not bad enough, yet again, it gets worse; much, much worse.
There is one fact that is universally accepted; in order to build and maintain muscle, the more testosterone in your body the greater the results. If you hate muscle then I have great news for you; alcohol consumption decreases your testosterone levels by increasing cortisol flowing in the body directly causing a serious breakdown of your testosterone. Due to the increase in cortisol and its testosterone destroying effect, we then experience an increase in estrogen as well. I know what you’re thinking; sounds great right? No, not so much.
The Nail in the Coffin:
We’ve now enjoyed our hedonistic night of drinking, our HGH and testosterone levels are that of a 194 year old man; are cortisol is through the roof and we have enough estrogen flowing through our system to turn the manly of us into Little Miss Princes. Oh, but we’re not done yet. How many times have you had a few drinks and out of nowhere a trip to Waffle House became the most important venture of your life? Why is this; why do we become so desperate for the most unhealthy of foods after even just a few drinks? It’s simple; alcohol consumption greatly increases insulin in the body, in-turn activating a hypoglycemic state. Are you having fun yet?
Let’s be clear, no one is saying you can’t enjoy a drink or two now and then, especially on New Year’s Eve; that’s up to you but understand the effects. Countless studies have shown that even moderate drinking can slow the body’s performance and throw it out of whack for as long as 72 hours; that’s assuming no more alcohol was taken in during that period of time. So your New Year’s Eve binge does not simply affect you for a few hours; you’re looking at a beat down that has your body internally screaming for nearly half a week. Did I mention alcohol consumption also hinders nutrient absorption and rips away from the body its supply of Vitamins A, B, C, Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium and Zinc; did I mention that? Well, now you know and if you still don’t understand how serious the negative effects of alcohol consumption are on your muscular pursuits, do me a favor; please leave my gym because you’re an idiot.
