The Big Gulp : Effects of Alcohol - Post Workout

As someone who deals in the area of Human Performance & Public Health, on a daily basis I am presented with some interesting scenarios & challenges.  Today is no exception. Upon settling into my daily routine, I get a message from an individual under my "guidance"  (I am told its unbecoming to correct a lady), so by providing "guidance", its not necessarily correcting them, rather, filling in the blanks.

The Message contains content related to the fact that after an intense bout of strength training exercise (key word here is strength, Not Yoga, Zumba, Spin, or other time consuming adult play time activities). Said individual decided to partake in several alcoholic beverages, and became sick soon there after..

Lesson learned here right?, we could simply end this post with " I told you so, and dont do it again"  However, I have several other friends who thankfully due to the time(s) they elect to workout, dont have the opportunity to conduct Post-Workout drinking, if the stars aligned however, I could see this occuring. With that being, lets take the time to address this head on with some science.


Over the last few years, I've spent quite a bit of time trying to unscramble the post-workout puzzle in my own mind. And as a result of my research, I've discovered that immediately after a single bout of exercise, three main physiological events must be manipulated for enhanced recovery. These changes can only be described as "destructive" in terms of both training performance and muscle protein balance.
Before I go on, I want you to keep in mind that by exercise I mean either strength and power training or endurance training.. These three factors are as follows:

1. Glycogen Stores are low
2. Protein Breakdown is increased
3. Muscle Protein Balance is negative

It should be noted here that in addition to the above that Protein Synthesis also goes down after an endurance training session. And Protein Synthesis either goes up or remains unchanged after a strength training session. But either way, Protein Breakdown still predominates.

For those not well versed in physiological jargon, here's a little explanation of each:

Glycogen

Glycogen is muscle energy. Low glycogen stores mean that there's less cellular energy for daily life and certainly less energy for subsequent workouts. In this situation, training and performance suffer.

Protein Breakdown
Protein Breakdown indicates that body tissues (which are made of protein) are being degraded. Increases in protein breakdown can lead to losses of muscle mass.

Muscle Protein Balance

Muscle Protein Balance is regulated by the balance between Protein Synthesis and Protein Breakdown in the following way:

	Muscle Protein Balance = Protein Synthesis - Protein Breakdown

Immediately after an endurance workout, protein synthesis (building) goes down and protein breakdown goes up. This leads to a negative Muscle Protein Balance and a loss of muscle.
And immediately after a strength workout, protein building either stays the same or slightly goes up but protein breakdown goes way up. This also leads to a negative Muscle Protein Balance and a loss of muscle.

As a result of these three post workout phenomena, a failure to rapidly bring the body back into recovery mode (i.e., to increase glycogen stores, to increase protein synthesis, and to prevent protein breakdown), has severeal potential consequences:

Prolonged muscle soreness and fatigue. Poor subsequent performances on the track, field, and/or in the gym.
Symptoms of and or full-flegged staleness and overtraining.
Minimal gains in muscle mass despite a well-designed training program.
Losses of muscle mass and a secondary lowering of metabolic rate can occur if volume and intensity get high enough

Where Does Alcohol Fit into all of this?:

Alcohol is a toxin—a toxin that travels through your bloodstream to
every organ and tissue in your body, thus slowing your body’s ability to heal itself.

Starting with sleep, alcohol causes your endocrine system to be

robbed of a precious chemical called “human growth hormone” or HGH. HGH is
part of the normal muscle-building and repair process and the body’s way of telling
itself your muscle needs to grow bigger and stronger. Alcohol, however, can
decrease the secretion of HGH by as much as 70 percent! Also, when alcohol is in
your body, the production of a substance in your liver is triggered that is directly
toxic to testosterone, a hormone essential to the development and recovery of your
muscles.

Additionally, once alcohol is absorbed through your stomach and small intestine
and finally into your cells, it can disrupt the water balance in muscle cells, thus
altering their ability to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is your
muscles’ source of energy. ATP provides the fuel necessary for your muscles to
contract.

Conclusion:

I am NOT here to say you shouldnt drink.  I drink on the weekends, I workout on the weekends too! However my main point here is to discuss nutrient timing.. Post any strength training event, you need to replace your body with proteins and high glycemic items, going from the gym to the bar, probably ranks high up there in the list of bad decisions, as alcohol has the ability to attach to the carbohydrate receptors, that should be recieving those high glycemic items as I had previously mentioned.   Ill get more into nutrient timing in a subsequent post, but for now, Post-Workout, Ditch the alcohol, and have a protein shake, gatorade, after-glow, core-fuel, have a small meal, then par-take in your evening activities.