How much do you think alcohol consumption has affected my gains?

[IrishMark100]

Hi, I'm a newbie bodybuilder. Been doing it for 5 mths. Have seen some growth- about 9lbs

Feel my efforts in the gym, the type of exercises I'm doing, my diet etc all are spot on.

One area of concern is my past alcohol intake.

My question is : The fact that I've been going out most Sat nights for the past 5 months and getting drunk with my mates- how much do you think this has hampered my progress?

I'm tee total now by the way. Since last week. Not touching alcohol again after reading articles about the negative effect it has on muscle gain and fat loss!

any views appreciated!

[Quinney]

Well Mark it's not easy to calculate how much however, your use of the word 'drunk' has more severe ramifications than slowing down your progress due to consuming alcohol. I live in a place where drinking is the national pastime and unless I go on to a pre-contest diet I drink wine every evening. I say drink, because there's a massive difference between drinking with a meal and consuming up to 3 glasses of wine to getting drunks on pints of beer or spirits. Firstly, alcohol is empty calories and so if you're staying as you say on a 'spot on' diet then you're contradicting yourself as the calories you're consuming in getting drunk will a) provide you with no benefit and at the cost of good calories b) likely mess up the next day's diet as you may skip a meal (or training session) or resort to a lesser quality meal because your hungover!? Secondly, as mentioned above you will likely have a negative reaction to training and it is said that you can take up to 3 days to recover from a heavy night on the booze. Bodybuilding is all about discipline, if you can't drink socially without getting drunk then you need to reassess what your goals are, this you seem to have done although going from drunk to abstention can lead to a backlash so be careful with any binges. As you're new to the sport and you've quit, you'll notice the benefits especially with energy and motivation. I still drink on the weekend, only wine as I said but in 3 months I've dropped to 12% bodyfat, increased my lean muscle mass and dropped weight, balance! HTH

[IrishMark100]

thanks for the opinion. I think I've been kidding myself thinking alcohol wouldn't have that much of an impact on building muscle but after reading a few articles on the subject about a week ago I'm def trying my best to quit completely.

I'm actually starting to cut from next week as my body fat % is 20% I want to get it down to about 10-12% so will be doing my best to stay away from alcohol. Then when I go back to bulking later in the year it will be hopefully a near perfect bulk as it will be booze free.

As for goals, yeah- getting a better physique more important to me than enjoying the beers with my mates so just need to be more disciplined. Will drive on nights out now and drink water. That's means I'll be fine as I'd never drink and drive.


So going tee total - that's the plan anyway.

[Austere]

It's not as if drinking will somehow destroy muscle gains, but beer tends to be fairly calorie-dense, sooooo...

[jf83]

Hi, I'm a newbie bodybuilder. Been doing it for 5 mths. Have seen some growth- about 9lbs

Feel my efforts in the gym, the type of exercises I'm doing, my diet etc all are spot on.

One area of concern is my past alcohol intake.

My question is : The fact that I've been going out most Sat nights for the past 5 months and getting drunk with my mates- how much do you think this has hampered my progress?

I'm tee total now by the way. Since last week. Not touching alcohol again after reading articles about the negative effect it has on muscle gain and fat loss!

any views appreciated!

What you drink also makes a difference. Be careful with the "mixers" such as juice or cocktail mixers, they come loaded with sugar. I rather have my drinks ...say Vodka or Whisky on the rocks or with soda water (not tonic). Drinking this way will spare you of a lot of calories. Also stay away from flashy cocktails like Pina Coladas, Long Islands, Mojitos, they are mostly mixed with soda, evaporated milk and tons of sugar, as I said before, stick to the basics (straight vodka, whisky, etc). Beer has a lot of carbs since it is made out of wheat so I try to stay away from it as well.

[BHaupt21]

I'm no nutritional expert or anything, but IMO drinking one night a week and you mention not every saturday night, for the last 5 months should not have that much effect on your weight/muscle gain. If you are on a good diet and a good workout program, having some drinks 1 night a week isn't going to do anything.

Now if you're getting hammered and eating a bunch that might, but maybe just trying drinking until you throw up!! j/k.....drink responsibly, it's not worth it...

[IrishMark100]

I'm no nutritional expert or anything, but IMO drinking one night a week and you mention not every saturday night, for the last 5 months should not have that much effect on your weight/muscle gain. If you are on a good diet and a good workout program, having some drinks 1 night a week isn't going to do anything.

Now if you're getting hammered and eating a bunch that might, but maybe just trying drinking until you throw up!! j/k.....drink responsibly, it's not worth it...

bhaupt- I was getting hammered. Not throwing up cause that's for kids but was drinking a fair bit in one night. That's the problem. Cutting that out now so hopefully will see better progress!!

[bobjenkins777]

I looked like Arnold then I drank an appletini and now I'm skinny fat again :-(

But serious one beer a week isn't going to effect anything will it? I seriously doubt. But op didn't say how much he was drinking

[Quinney]

I forgot to mention that alcohol is a diuretic and dehydrates your system a great deal which again isn't beneficial to bodybuilding and training!

Like you I never drink and drive but I've learnt not to be teetotal as I do end up craving a binge, hey! it's a human failing!!!

Last week for me was a rest week i.e. after 3 months I do this and have a week off work. Anyway, I ate restaurant food everyday, twice a day and drank at least 1.5 bottles of wine a day, and maybe some shorts. The result was that my body rejected the abuse, and I felt terrible and thus I couldn't wait to get back on the diet this week, I was really trying to loosen up for my girlfriend who's a runner and doesn't have to be overly careful about her diet! This week I've spent 4 days with detox symptoms, sweating out the alcohol etc, it really shows the negative side when your body is usually clean, something the average guy wouldn't notice as they don't control or even know what the eat and drink. However, when back on the scales Monday and in the gym, there was no change except that I felt stronger and rested. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the odd departure is okay, your body will deal with it but getting hammered repetitively will hinder your gains!

[jalton]

I forgot to mention that alcohol is a diuretic and dehydrates your system a great deal which again isn't beneficial to bodybuilding and training!

Like you I never drink and drive but I've learnt not to be teetotal as I do end up craving a binge, hey! it's a human failing!!!

Last week for me was a rest week i.e. after 3 months I do this and have a week off work. Anyway, I ate restaurant food everyday, twice a day and drank at least 1.5 bottles of wine a day, and maybe some shorts. The result was that my body rejected the abuse, and I felt terrible and thus I couldn't wait to get back on the diet this week, I was really trying to loosen up for my girlfriend who's a runner and doesn't have to be overly careful about her diet! This week I've spent 4 days with detox symptoms, sweating out the alcohol etc, it really shows the negative side when your body is usually clean, something the average guy wouldn't notice as they don't control or even know what the eat and drink. However, when back on the scales Monday and in the gym, there was no change except that I felt stronger and rested. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the odd departure is okay, your body will deal with it but getting hammered repetitively will hinder your gains!

Very good advice... I quit drinking completely recently when I started to lift heavy. The extra energy and gains were amazing. Plus I noticed a change in my attitude and body fat % dropping. I think the alcohol affects your body to properly intake vitamins and nutrients.

[cmarlo]

I looked like Arnold then I drank an appletini and now I'm skinny fat again :-(

But serious one beer a week isn't going to effect anything will it? I seriously doubt. But op didn't say how much he was drinking

My sisters bf is about 6'1 and 236 lbs of muscle , so I always take his advice. One beer wont effect your weight gain or loss, cause it's mostly about calories in vs. calories out. Obviously it would be better if you just cut that beer out completely (health wise, im a nursing student haha) but it wont effect your weight loss or gain.

[AssassinCrazy]

Lets be honest though..nobody drinks just one beer a week, either you drink or you don't. If you have a active life, high activity level in terms of strength training and conditioning, drinking wont hurt your goals in the big picture. The fact is when you wake up with a hangover, you eat different, sleep different, lack of motivation etc. If that becomes a habit then like someone else said you need to re-evaluate what are your goals.

If you have enough discipline to party and have fun once on the weekend, then you will be okay. Don't fall into the habit of drinking just on Fridays, then it becomes fridays and saturdays, then it becomes thrusday, friday and saturday...I am sure you get my point.

[TLavish88]

so wine is better than beer eventhough wine has a higher alcohol %??

Im drinking 2 beers after I finish this big ass bowl of chili. Should I switch to wine instead since i hear its good for you, and you dont develop a beer belly?

[RRS73]

I quit drinking shortly after I started working out. I fought a serious drinking problem, and got dragged into the gym to sign a membership when my wife drove me there in April 2008. I couldn't fit into size 39 pants at the time.

I used to enjoy social drinks up until 2 years ago, and have now quit. If you have time and energy to drink, you might want to consider training harder. I'm so beat after working out, that I don't have the energy or the desire to piss away my gains over alcohol.

[Black66label]

As you just keep your drinking to the weekends then i don't see alcohol hindering your gains. I go out drinking on the weekends with my gym trainer friends and these guys are rocked! As long as your drinking on a daily basis your fine. What will kill you is say you got to club and afterwards its 2 in the morning and everyone wants to go eat to wear off the buzz so they can drive home. It's easy to stuff your face with crap food when your buzzed.

[ChrisMNilson]

It shouldn't hinder any of your gains at all. Id be more worried about getting your needed sleep during days you do strenuous workouts. The basic concept is still calories in vs. calories out. So as long as you get all your macros and your still at a caloric deficit, you could drink liquor up to a certain point and not gain weight. What you need to worry about is if your already over your calories for a day and you drink hardcore, then your going to store fat your energy use later on. So youd have to diet eventually to get rid of it.

[KhoraskGTR]

Hi, I'm a newbie bodybuilder. Been doing it for 5 mths. Have seen some growth- about 9lbs

I was reading a post in the nutrition section today that claimed one of the fastest ever recorded muscle gains was 18lbs/year... so 9 pounds in 5 months (considering its ALL muscle, which is probably isnt) is great...

if all of the above is accurate id say the alcohol has affected u quite minimally

[Quinney]

Ultimately there is no hard and fast rule. We are (or should be) all responsible and intelligent enough to know that excessive alcohol is no good, and drinking all the time will hinder your gains as you're substituting empty calories for good calories, deficit or not. I advocate personally a balance i.e. I will drink Friday to Sunday but in moderate amounts and nothing Monday to Friday. I may not end up ripped to shreads but I also enjoy the balance of my life, the competition days in the past its nice to be fit,strong and lean but also able to live a normal life when friends comes around for a meal or a BBQ.