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How alcohol can set back your fitness goals

January 7, 2014 By Trainer Kelly | Heads up: Buying via our links may result in us getting a commission. Also, we take your privacy rights seriously. Head here to learn more.

Why is this here?  Well, looking your best is in part finding clothes that fit. The other part is truly being fit. Living a healthy lifestyle plus dressing well is the ultimate combination. More about our trainer at the end of the post.

You work hard at staying fit and take pride in the way you present yourself to the world. Yet when you hit the bottle hard (or even a little for some), you may not be hitting your fitness goals as quickly or at all. What you are drinking may be causing adverse effects, even if you are doing everything else (conscientiously eating, lifting, doing cardio)  “correctly”.

Why are you drinking?

Some holiday workplace parties are still happening, and what better way to quickly get comfortable at your office party than downing a drink quickly?  The weather’s crummy, it gets dark early and you feel bored and stuck inside.  Why not throw back a couple while watching Netflix?  What better way to relax after a long, hard workday than with a drink or two…or three?

I’ve had many conversations with clients and friends about the way alcohol affects their workouts, their weight, even their motivation. Below, I’ve quickly broken down why alcohol may be affecting one or all of these for you.

Burger and BeerI’ll take fries with that… and another burger… and another beer…

How Booze Affects your Workouts

When drinking, you likely eat more than you usually do. Inhibition does not end at the lampshade on your head, but instead it usually ends with your face in the fridge. Both can cause indigestion and sluggishness. Whiskey gut + core workout = not a fun time. Fogginess and/or headaches can make you not work out as hard as you usually do (not finishing sets, or cutting the time short). Worse yet, is skipping your workout entirely. The best thing you can do for your body after a night of drinking is to get up and get moving.

How Booze Affects your Weight

First of all, the calories. Alcoholic drinks contain a lot of empty calories (your body gets almost absolutely no benefit from what you are consuming). And the calories from the drinks aren’t the only ones you’re likely ingesting. Alcohol can also make you eat more than you usually would (as mentioned above). Many of us have gone out for a night on the town, and right before we crawl into bed we tear the refrigerator apart. Or, on the walk home we stop by a fast food place. Someone who normally eats smart and clean can often become a victim of the Fourth Meal.

And it’s not just calories. Alcohol can mess up the normal, inner workings of your body.Your body processes alcohol first. It wants to get it out of your system as quickly as possible. After that, it’s on to processing the likely unhealthy items you’ve been consuming (no one ever had beer and baby carrots… and enjoyed it). Alcohol also causes inflammation of your organs (specifically, liver). Your body does not respond to things as well when your organs are inflamed.

Consuming a lot of alcohol can also affect the way your body absorbs nutrients. When you are lacking in a certain nutrient, possible outcomes are fatigue and depression, etc. This is obvious, but feeling fatigued and or depressed will not help you stick to your workout routine.

Motivation DrinkThis fun juice is just empty calories

How Booze Affects your Motivation

You likely didn’t sleep as well after a night of drinking. This combined with above said things is going to make waking up early to get in your workout a huge stretch. This can turn into a bad routine if you’re drinking regularly.  The fix? Make sure that you plan your workout times and stick to them. You’ll only workout once hung over (hopefully) before you realize it’s just not worth it.

Enjoying a glass of wine or a beer here and there can be fun and relaxing. Try just consuming alcohol when you go out and not on a daily basis. If you are training really hard for a goal, I would eliminate alcohol completely. It’s easiest if you make sure you don’t have any in the house to tempt you. I’m not saying don’t have fun or enjoy yourself. I’m just saying to be mindful of what you are consuming and what it’s doing to your body. Is it worth the potential set back of your hard work? Or the additional struggle it will take you to reach your fitness goals? Keep those questions in mind before you reach for a (or another) drink.

Contributor Kelly Sturdy is a Certified Personal Trainer and Specialist in Fitness Nutrition. While not training her clients or competing in Bikini Class body building competitions, Kelly can be found in her organic garden, possibly talking to a chicken or two. For more of her articles, click here.

Burger photo credit: Anthony DeLorenzo  Drink photo credit: Willrad

Filed Under: Etc. Tagged With: Men's Health

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Comments

  1. drocpsu says

    January 7, 2014 at 3:39 PM

    wise words.

  2. easyenough says

    January 7, 2014 at 4:50 PM

    This is a great post and an interesting issue. In my experience, the carrier of your alcohol, is usually somewhere between 60 and 97% of what you are drinking, can make a big difference on the fitness impact of your drinking. Many of the natural beverages like beer and wine have lots of different residual sugars that are metabolized differently by the body (even by different people) in addition to the different alcohols secreted as waste by yeasts and bacteria. Also, different kinds of alcohol (ethanol, methanol, etc.) in different forms seem to have different impacts on one’s overall metabolism. For one crazy example, alcohol in some studies increases insulin production in your pancreas. Increased insulin production can actually make you loose weight (it can also cause you to lose consciousness). I guess my point is, it’s complicated. If you care about your fitness, don’t drink or drink in moderation, and don’t drink anything with lots easily metabolized sugar (like most beers, cider, many cocktails, etc). Also don’t believe the “calories” you see posted – they get those by using a calorimeter (a furnace that measures energy) instead of by using a human body, which is what we care about. Use something like glycemic load instead… getting off soapbox to get a drink…

  3. kryogenix says

    January 7, 2014 at 5:14 PM

    People who don’t drink are boring, and uninteresting. In fact, I won’t associate with anyone that is a teetotaler.

  4. Bruschetta says

    January 7, 2014 at 5:21 PM

    I approve of this article!

  5. Zachary Glotfelty says

    January 7, 2014 at 6:55 PM

    Can’t I just be drinking because I like the taste of beer made by monks?

  6. Scott says

    January 8, 2014 at 6:32 AM

    Thanks for this comment. Apparently a number of people agree with your comment since there are a number of upvotes. As someone who avoids alcohol for medical reasons, it’s good to know that people think this way about me.

  7. theYeti says

    January 8, 2014 at 6:46 AM

    How’s the weather up on that high horse?

    Edit: don’t trust? Really?

  8. Skibum says

    January 8, 2014 at 6:49 AM

    I know a girl who was in a relationship with an alcoholic, and now she doesn’t drink. I know a guy whose sister drank herself to death, and he doesn’t drink. I don’t drink more than a glass or two of wine when I’m out because I’m not 21 years old, I’m married, and I have a job.

    Saying you work out and try to dress well to pick up women is fine. Here’s a tip – being wasted isn’t a great way to pick up anybody, guy or girl. And saying you don’t trust nor would ever be friends with somebody who doesn’t drink is just ignorant.

  9. Geo says

    January 8, 2014 at 7:37 AM

    Next time you need a ride home after a night at the bars, who would you rather have behind the wheel, your buddy that says, “Really, I’m fine to drive. I’ve only had a few.” Or the guy that doesn’t indulge? Who do you trust then?

  10. Patrick Snyder says

    January 8, 2014 at 7:40 AM

    This article is pretty one-sided. While I’ve certainly done sober season for big fitness events, and getting plastered every night will certainly set you back with regards to your goals, it lists none of the positives of moderate alcohol consumption that are coming out of medical research in recent years. Obviously, any consumption by those with prior or family history with alcoholism is not encouraged, but 1-3 drinks a night seems to be the general consensus recommendation for long term health and happiness.

    This was in the “happiness” issue of Outside this month, but you can find similar information in just about any news source:
    “Turns out that moderate drinkers—people who imbibe no more than 14
    alcoholic drinks a week—are healthier and happier than abstainers. A
    2012 Boston University School of Medicine study tracked a panel of
    middle-aged men and women for 14 years and determined that moderate
    drinkers had fewer chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease
    and cancers, and higher levels of HDL, the good cholesterol. More
    surprising still: the study showed that quality of life actually went
    down among those who curbed their intake. And other research
    demonstrated that beer and liquor are just as good for you as wine.
    We’ll drink to that.”

  11. Patrick Snyder says

    January 8, 2014 at 7:43 AM

    Obviously you’d want the person that hadn’t drank driving you around, but that has nothing to do with what kryo said nor any bearing on the fitness goals that the topic discussed. kryo wasn’t encouraging drunk driving and the author wasn’t discouraging it. So, valid comment, but not an argument for anything here.

  12. Amber Dillon says

    January 8, 2014 at 7:45 AM

    Great points, Patrick! Though, I read this post as more of a self-awareness thing – if you’re not getting the physical results you want in the gym, then it might have something to do with what you’re drinking – not as a “stop drinking all-together” thing.

  13. Patrick Snyder says

    January 8, 2014 at 7:56 AM

    That’s fair. I should note that I have seen marked improvement in my performance when curbing alcohol consumption (though the biggest improvements were in college when I WAS, in fact, drinking too much to begin with). That abstention was to be in peak shape for the “big day,” however, and not to stick to my training routine. I don’t know many people that work out without some goal in mind at all times, so saying to curb your consumption when you have a goal seems to recommend curbing your consumption all the time. That, I think, would generally not be good advice for anyone without alcohol issues. If you have significant problems sticking to your training plan due to alcohol, then you probably have more of an issue with alcohol than the recommendations in this article suggest. However, if you perform well at work, get enough sleep, aren’t irritable, take care of your responsibilities, and can get your workout in, drink up! It might save your life.

  14. Geo says

    January 8, 2014 at 7:57 AM

    I’m sorry but my comment has everything to do with what kryogenix said. He said he doesn’t trust people that don’t drink and I’m just pointing out the utter absurdity of that comment.

    If anything, his comment has no bearing on the topic of the article. It never anywhere says to stop drinking all together. It only points out the adverse affects alcohol has on your fitness goals. Yet out of nowhere kryogenix basically says people that don’t drink are basically boring and somehow untrustworthy. How exactly is that related to fitness?

    For the record, I drink alcohol. Maybe more than I should sometimes. But I would never begrudge someone that chooses not to. As a few other posters pointed out there are many reason why someone would not drink and none of those reasons make them any less interesting or trustworthy.

  15. Amber Dillon says

    January 8, 2014 at 8:09 AM

    I agree! I love a few glasses of wine during the week. I suppose it’s more of a personal thing. For some people, “curbing” their drinking might lead to quitting completely, or it might mean dropping down to one drink a night, instead of three. You’re right, though, if it’s not having a negative impact on your life – sleep, job, gym – then you probably don’t need to curb your intake.

    Mmmmm, wine.

  16. Patrick Snyder says

    January 8, 2014 at 8:31 AM

    Good point. I kinda skimmed over the part in his comment about “trust.” For the record, I find his comment pretty tactless and obtuse.

  17. southy says

    January 8, 2014 at 8:44 AM

    Very true – and there’s more:
    1) Beer makes an excellent post workout recovery drink for endurance athletes
    2) Drinking 14+ glasses of wine per week reduces your susceptibility to the common cold by 40%
    3) Moderate consumers have a longer life expectancy than teetotalers.

  18. BYC says

    January 8, 2014 at 9:05 AM

    This article appears to be more of a warning against binge drinking, which I completely agree with. There’s really nothing worse than working out hard and eating healthy all week, to throw it all away on one night of 10+ drinks and a late night trip to McDonalds. On top of that you wake up hungover and don’t want to do anything productive. I personally don’t need a drink every day, but I don’t see any issues with it as long as you still eat healthy, exercise, and do whatever tasks you were originally going to do.

  19. diversification says

    January 8, 2014 at 10:43 AM

    made by double monks.

  20. Zachary Glotfelty says

    January 8, 2014 at 11:58 AM

    That was beautiful.

  21. kryogenix says

    January 8, 2014 at 12:23 PM

    I’ll reply to myself, as there a lot of comments on my post. The “trust” comment, I figured most, or at least some of you would get. “I never trust a man who doesn’t drink” is a famous quote from John Wayne. I also don’t drink and drive, so those comments are moot. I take a cab, to and from the city when I go out, so no idea where that came from. I also said, “in my own personal opinion”, so it is how I personally feel. I dont want to be out with someone who doesnt drink when I am at a bar or lounge, I dont want to associate with you in that setting. I was honest. I work out and try to be stylish to pick up women.

  22. Brent says

    January 8, 2014 at 4:35 PM

    I’m with you. Plenty of my bosses and co-workers share the same mentality. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t drink at all. Do I quit for months to drop weight yep but someone that doesn’t drink raises my eye brow. I have friends that are recovering alcoholics but instead of staying away all together they learned self control and moderation which I feel are much more important than quiting altogether. Cheers! I’m going to have some Macallan.

  23. Anthony says

    January 9, 2014 at 6:18 PM

    I’ll drink to that!

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