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Alcohol and Exercise: A Painful Combination
By Brent Brookbush NSCA & IFPA CPT, ASCM H/FI, NASM CPT/IFS/SFS
With so many bars and clubs in Hoboken, alcohol consumption in this town may be slightly higher than the norm, and
with six gyms within one square mile so is the percentage of people who actively workout. From my perspective it seems
the two most popular pastimes in Hoboken are drinking and exercise, this may be a clash (hint of sarcasm). Alcohol exerts
no beneficial influence on exercise.(5) We have all experienced the Sunday morning drudgery of a trip to the gym with a
hangover. Generally you feel weaker, may not be able to lift as much weight or last as long on the treadmill, but none-the-
less determined to continue an exercise routine.
Although, all the causes of a hangover are unknown, we do know some of the contributing factors. Do not forget that
alcohol is a drug and part of a hangover is experiencing a mild reaction from an overdose of alcohol. It takes time for the
body to metabolize and excrete the toxins, unfortunately much longer than we would like. Some of these toxins are known
as congeners. They can be found in varying amounts in different types of liquor, usually more so in darker liquors. This may
be evidence that darker liquors cause worse hangovers. Alcohol also acts as a diuretic. The diuretic effect of alcohol is
thought to be due to the inhibition of the release of the anti-diuretic hormone (ADH or Vasopressin), this hormone normally
causes the kidneys to conserve fluids. This results in the formation of concentrated urine. In the absence of this hormone
(ADH), the kidneys do not allow water to be reabsorbed back into the body, and this can lead to dehydration. This causes a
loss of total body water and may possibly lead to the excretion of electrolytes and minerals essential to muscular function.
For example, the electrolytes, potassium, chloride, and magnesium are essential to muscle contraction and nerve
conduction.(1) The excess alcohol also interferes with your brains ability to perform routine functions, such as controlling
sleep patterns. Generally, a contributing factor to a hangover is a lack of quality sleep.
Alcohol has obvious effects on exercise and weight gain , however, research in this area has to be reviewed carefully with
several precautions kept in mind.(5) First there are varying reactions to alcohol ingestion, not only among individuals, but
within an individual depending on the circumstances.(5) Second, it is virtually impossible to conduct double-blind placebo
research with alcohol because subjects can always tell when alcohol has been consumed.(5)
Ingestion of alcohol can exert a deleterious effect upon a wide variety of motor skills.(2,3,5) Studies have shown an increase
in reaction time, a decrease in hand-eye coordination, accuracy, balance, and complex motor coordination.(3,5) Many
individuals take for granted the complex motor coordination and balance that is involved with a standard dumbbell press, or
even worse, a squat. With motor function impaired you increase the chance of making a mistake, and although on most
occasions you would stumble through your workout with out a glitch, with slower reaction times your body will be unable to
compensate for times when weight is slightly uneven or you lean back a little too far doing a squat. The decrease in complex
motor coordination is also going to decrease the efficiency of the systems of muscles involved in a single lift. This may
decrease the amount of weight one can lift. In cases where a night of drinking is followed by sport, or a sport is played while
drinking (Im talking to you softball players), the decrease in hand-eye coordination in conjunction with the motor skills
previously mentioned is going to have an affect on performance. A lack of balance and reaction time could increase your
risk for a fall, and a decrease in accuracy could cause a person to bring harm to others, significantly increasing the risk of
injury.
Alcohol also acts as a diuretic as we discussed above. Water affects athletic performance more than any other nutrient, as
dehydration impairs almost every physiological function. (1,2,6,7,10) Your heart will elevate 8 beats per minute with each
liter of water lost, with a corresponding decrease in cardiac output of 1 liter per minute.(7) This means your heart is working
harder and getting less done. This in turn contributes to a higher rate of perceived exertion and less nutrients and oxygen
reaching hard working muscles. The dehydration caused by acute alcohol consumption also causes a reduction in central
blood volume and a decrease in blood pressure.(7) This could lead one to a light-headed feeling, or even fainting. Dehydration and the corresponding drop in blood volume, sweat rate, and blood flow to the skin limit the bodys ability to
transfer heat from contracting muscles to the skins surface where heat can be dissipated to the enviroment.(2,6,7) This will
cause a faster rise in core body temperature which could lead to heat injury, and ounce again adding ones perceived rate of
exertion. To clear up one myth, working out with a hangover is not going to make you feel better, and in most cases it will
increase the dehydration caused by alcohol consumption and will eventually make you feel worse.
The importance of rehydrating your body after alcohol consumption cannot be stressed enough as your body cannot adapt to
dehydration.(2) Chugging water is preferred to sipping as the fluid volume of the stomach has the greatest influence on
gastric emptying.(6,7) When gastric volume is maintained at 600ml or more, most individuals can still empty more than
1000ml of fluid per hour.(7,10) Complete restoration of a fluid deficit cannot occur without electrolyte replacement
(primarily sodium) from food or beverage.(7) This should probably occur in a meal before your workout as the rate of
gastric emptying is proportionately slowed with an increase in carbohydrate concentration above 8 percent. During a
workout a person should -concentrate on drinking cool water as it is ideal for fluid replacement, and humans typically drink
insufficient volumes of water to offset sweat losses.(3,6,7,10)
Studies have also shown alcohol to have an affect on resting glycogen stores.(7) It is believed that alcohol may decrease
glucose output, decrease the potential contributor of liver gluconeogenesis (as your liver is busy metabolizing the alcohol),
creating a decline in blood glucose and stored muscle glycogen and leading up to hypoglycemia.(7) This means it causes a
decrease in the fuel most important to exercise, and this reduction in blood glucose and the following hypoglycemia is going
to contribute the lethargic feeling of a hangover.
For readers on a weight loss program it is important to note that alcohol, with 7 calories per gram, has nearly as many
calories per gram as fat (9 calories per gram). In a study done on 31 year old men and women alcohol was one of leading
predictors of abdominal obesity.(8) As discussed in previous articles, The Truth About Weight Loss, and Ketogenic
Diets: To Carb or Not To Carb
excess calories will inevitably be stored in your fat cells. Roughly 3,500 calories in
excess of your total caloric burn will equate to a pound of fat. This could be 3500 extra calories in one day, or over a week,
or even just an extra 120 calories per day over the course of a month. Listed below are some estimates of the caloric content
of different alcoholic beverages, try to equate the amount of calories in just one weekend of binge drinking.
Drink
Caloric Content
Coors Light or Bud Light 12 fl oz
110 calories
Budweiser and Coors Extra Gold 12 fl oz
150 calories
Whiskey Sour 6.8 fl oz
249 calories
Margarita 7 fl oz
280 calories
Martini 4.5 fl oz
279-378 calories (depending on proof of vodka)
Wine (Burgundy) 4 fl oz
92 calories Wine (cabernet sauvignon) 4 fl oz
88 calories
Wine (Carlo Rossi white) 4 fl oz
80 calories
All values were taken from Food Counts, reference 9

Chronic alcohol consumption has been linked to a multitude of health problems. Studies have shown an increase in resting
and exercise blood pressure.(3) It may also provoke arrhythmias, generalized skeletal myopathy, cardiomyopathy,
pharyngeal and esophageal cancer, and brain damage.(3,5) In two separate studies chronic alcohol consumption was found
to contribute to osteoporosis and fatigue fractures.(11,12) However, liver damage seems to be the most prominent.(1,5) The
most frightening statistics involve the shear number of people who abuse alcohol in the United States. There is an estimated
10,000,000 adult problem drinkers with an additional 3.3 million in the 14-17 age range.(5) Alcohol is associated with more
than half of all traffic fatalities and more than one third of all injuries.(5)
In conclusion, the numerous concerns involving alcohol and exercise should encourage people to second guess there
decisions involving the two. Alcohol has no positive effect on exercise, sport, or weight loss activities. Knowing that
abstinence is not a realistic suggestion, the hope is to encourage a reduction and more forethought in decisions involving
alcohol.
Special thanks to Antonia Periclou, PhD for helping me understand the bodys response to alcohol, with out her information
I could not have helped you, the reader.
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1. Essentials of Strength and Conditioning / National Strength and Conditioning
Association;