Today’s topic will cover an issue that anyone who has ever enjoyed a couple of cocktails and follows a regular exercise routine will relate to. Alcohol and exercise will always interact for many reasons: Guilt from having one too many will force someone back into the gym before they are ready; alcohol is mainly marketed toward sports and leisure (sometimes I participate in a sport I don’t enjoy just for the ensuing beer-infused camaraderie); lastly some exercise enthusiasts will view alcohol as a reward for their hard work and discipline during the preceding time period. The motivations to consume alcohol are endless, but I specifically want to address its affect on exercise. Will alcohol affect exercise performance? How about on subsequent days to its consumption? How to lessen or subdue these reactions? I’ll attempt to look into each of these questions to help everyone who drinks get the most out of their workouts and out of life.

As a trainer, I have lost count how many times I have received a call on Saturday or Sunday morning from a client cancelling their session because of excessive partying and drinking the night before. I have also lost count of how many clients have come to the gym hungover or, even in some cases, still partially intoxicated. It’s hard to expect much from someone who’s looking at you with red eyes and pillow impressions still on their face, but it happens. I have always said that if you;re not well, exercise will do more harm than good.

Although this seems like a logical statement, people will always want to test their limitations; I know because I’ve done it all my life. The effects of “excessive” alcohol consumption are well documented but it’s worth skimming over some of them here. Alcohol influences brain function by first affecting the brain’s frontal lobes, the reasoning centers and sedating the inhibitory nerves.

Higher levels of alcohol then affect the centers of speech, vision, motor control and eventually consciousness. Most of us have felt these effects, where everything and everyone becomes more desirable (or are we just less inhibited?). In the stomach, alcohol causes over-secretion of acid and histamine leading to inflammation (gastritis) and ulcer formation. Alcohol also causes inflammation of the liver cells, even in occasional users, which can be detected in blood tests that show an increase in release of enzymes from the liver. In some people, long-term drinking leads to cirrhosis, irreversible scarring of the liver.A lot of people are misguided or uninformed when it comes to alcohol.

 Studies are regularly surfacing touting the benefits of regular alcohol consumption. These studies are usually refuted or disproven as more reliable data comes forth. Few substances demonstrate the perils of poor study design as alcohol. With confounding hidden variables and bad judgments made by the designers, very little can be taken seriously from most of this research. Just the other day, on the news, there was a report advising everyone to drink beer for the vitamin B content. This is a falsehood; in fact, alcohol acts to displace vitamins from the body.

First, it causes intestinal cells to stop absorbing thiamine, folacin and B12. Liver cells lose their efficiency in activating vitamin D. Kidneys excrete an increased amount of magnesium, calcium, potassium and zinc, robbing your body of stores of these essential minerals. This obviously make exercising and recovery much more difficult . Besides, you’d have to consume about 11 beers to obtain the amount of B vitamins in a bowl of cereal.The brain will not function as quickly nor the muscles as skillfully with alcohol in the system.

 Recent research indicates that consumption of even moderate amounts of alcohol following eccentric-based exercise (weight training or running for example) magnifies the normally observed losses in dynamic and static strength. Therefore, to minimize exercise related losses in muscle function and expedite recovery, participants in sports involving eccentric muscle work should avoid alcohol-containing beverages in the post-event period.Alcohol can accentuate exercise fatigue by increasing lactic acid production. It also dilates blood vessels and diverts circulation to the skin

 Consuming alcohol the night before an activity can hinder your performance by causing dehydration and loss of minerals and electrolytes. And a bad hangover can make even the simplest task seem monumental. If you think a few gallons a water and a multivitamin is the cure, think again. If you must do chin-ups while hungover, be prepared to run to the bathroom in a frenzy, mid-set, to succumb to the sickness. Trust me, it’ll shut your workout down in a hurry and don’t even ask me about deep squats with a hangover.

I’ve noticed this many times myself and with clients – exercise the day after a party is ALWAYS a bad idea.

With regards to body composition, a dehydrated, depleted body will yield a higher percentage of body fat than its well-hydrated counterpart. Alcohol also stimulates excess levels of plasma cortisol, which can have harmful immunosuppressant effects and major anabolic consequences. In short, alcohol may slow down or prevent an optimal environment for muscle building and may encourage its breakdown. It tends to make obese people more obese by decreasing total body fat metabolism by nearly 80%.

It’s not my place to tell people whether they should drink alcohol or not, but rather help people make informed decisions for the betterment of their health and to maximize the results from the training I give them. I firmly believe that 24-48 hrs should pass before vigorous activity should be attempted after drinking 4 or more alcoholic beverages. This may be even more pronounced if you are over 25 years of age and if the drinking coincides with an unusually late night. Partying and drinking are fun and a major part of our social dynamic but it comes at a price to the body, both short term and in the long term. Enjoy drinking in moderation to ensure that you get the most out of life and feel great day in and day out. If you must binge, drinking large amounts of water before, during and after a binge can prevent and treat symptoms. Just be prepared for the ensuing laughter of your friends when you order an ice water with your Guinness. You’ll have the last laugh come morning.

As I write this latest blog entry, I find myself grimacing with every movement I make – why? Because I have delivered myself a nice dose of DOMS this week. Anyone who has ever exercised or exerted themselves in a manner they are not accustomed to is familiar with that debilitating feeling left in the involved muscles for many days following. In fact, as a trainer, I have felt my ears burning as a result of the suffering I’ve imposed upon many a trainee over the years. Well, at least I take my own medicine and now feel compelled to share some of my thoughts; since that’s all I can do as my body is utterly useless today.

Let me start by explaining what “DOMS” stands for, for those who aren’t familiar. DOMS is the acronym for “delayed onset muscle soreness” and is the pain or discomfort often felt 24 to 72 hours after exercising. It generally subsides within 2 to 3 days.

DOMS typically causes stiffness, swelling, strength loss, and pain in the muscles. The exact cause or mechanism is unknown, though most studies suggest that it is caused by the breakdown of muscular fibres. Whatever the root cause, I can tell you that the more de-conditioned you are to a particular activity, the more pronounced your soreness will be. This why people who first start an exercise program or are new to weight training typically exhibit high levels of DOMS for up to several days post exercise. If they were under the guidance of competent supervision this effect could have been minimized, unfortunately many people end up very sore and are turned off exercise forever. There are also those who are pain seekers; individuals who equate high levels of stiffness and physical agitation with achieving an effective workout – “No Pain No Gain” right? So, whether you embrace the pain or avoid it, everyone wants to know one thing – should I train a sore muscle?

Like most topics in health and fitness, this is a contentious issue amongst trainers and exercise enthusiasts alike. I’ll present some common views for and against, then offer my own two cents which, as always, will be firmly grounded by logic and common sense.

Reasons to train a sore muscle:

Proponents of this protocol will be quick to cite studies claiming that complete metabolic recovery occurs after 48 hours so why wait and potentially lose valuable training time. They also believe that the body is a very simple “stimulus-response” system, capable of sending more resources where more resources are perceived as being needed, thus it will eventually adapt to this harsh environment yielding a more profound training effect. Another popular belief is that through exercise you will flush recovery aiding nutrients to the damaged muscles, thereby increasing recovery.

Reasons NOT to train a sore muscle:

This is more of a traditionalist protocol and why programs training the muscles 1-2x/week are the dominant choice on the gym floor. It tends to make sense and the path most people will naturally follow. Proponents of this method believe that the body not only needs time to recover but also for repair, which can take a lot longer. If you are in a perpetual state of breakdown, stagnation through over training will not be far behind.

These are just a few arguments for either side. Where do I stand? Well, 20 years of experience in the fitness world and 35 years of wisdom leads me to believe everything in life falls somewhere in the middle so I say it depends. I am always bemused when I read blogs and articles from “fitness experts” that tell you to train through soreness. What does that mean? How much soreness and what type? What kind of training is being done? What level of conditioning is the trainee at? These black and white answers are completely useless. I guess most people just need to be told what to do. Most people are so out of touch with their own body that they live there entire life without knowing what they are truly capable of. They need a guru to lead the way and, like sheep, they will follow. You see, exercise is always a delicate balance between what you force your body to do and what it will tolerate. You can only push it so far.

The only way to train a muscle every 24-48 hours is with a short, low volume approach. This will certainly allow for less soreness and is fine for beginners. But what about intermediate and advanced who require less frequency and more volume and variety in their training? Many things must be considered when deciding whether to train a sore muscle, but remember to use common sense. If it hurts to train it, and this affects your lifting proficiency, you greatly increase your chance of injury. If the soreness is mild enough not to do this, then try it and evaluate for yourself. Just remember, if you abuse the muscle, the body can shut down if it perceives you are exceeding its recuperative abilities. You may find yourself sick and exhausted – try training through that!