Alcohol + Lifting = a no no?

Let me start by saying that I'm not talking about drinking WHILE lifting

I stopped drinking for the most part when I started lifting more seriously because I read that it could drastically affect your progress. The article I read said that drinking enough to be hung over could "set you back as much as a week". I realize that not drinking much is a good thing, but being the designated driver EVERY time my friends and I hit up a party is getting really old. I'd like to cut loose now and then, but I would hate for it to adversely affect my lifting. What do you guys think?

I drink, I just try and keep it minimized.

And we don't know what you call "cutting loose" which makes it difficult to give advise.

Two friends

Friend A cuts loose by going out at 7 to the pub drinks until 11 (4 hours later) and goes home a bit tipsy

Friend B cuts loose by going out at 7 to the pub and drunks unil 11 (16 hours later) and goes home trashed.

Which friend are you? A or B? Maybe a A/B?

you're right, I should have specified. I don't drink very much, but once in a while (maybe every couple months or so) I like to be friend B. Basically I'm just worried that if I get hammered once in a while it's gonna screw my lifting up, that is if the article I read is to be trusted. Some times it seems like there is as much misinformation on the web as there is valuable information, so I wasn't sure if the info given in the article is correct.

Heh if it's every couple months I see no problem with it. I'm a mix of those two and I generally have a long party session once a month or so and i'm just fine.

It'll be something your going have to figure out on your own due to the all the variables.

Coolness. The article was written by a pro bodybuilder so he and I might define "drastic" differently lol. Thanks for input

Enjoy yourself, be sensible

^ Aye.

I generally drink 2-3 times a month. It's all about moderation. At the end of the day I'm still young, I could not go out all year and have maybe 20% more strength and muscle. Or I could go out regularly, have some quality mates, great nights out and meet some decent birds. Those figures are complete guesses but just an example of my logic.

Drinking is bad for you.....but it's fun, so I do it.

I wonder if I'd be huge and shredded and ridiculously strong by now if I didn't drink? I dunno, but I'm doing okay now though.

I drink every friday and saturday night, and I get pretty hammered.

I need my dry martini on tuesday night or i'll quit working out. (joke)

Drinking only really affects my lifting when it prevents me from eating enough on the weekends.

Thirsty thursdays and tuesday night ice.

Being a first year university student, I drank alot. I was still progressing pretty good, but I was missing sessions because I was too hungover. But man did I have a ****ing great time during those first 2 months of school.

I honestly believe that if you can keep your diet good and your training solid, while drinking alot, you can still progress. Afterall, it's just extra calories right

Getting drunk every once in awhile is going to have minimal impacts in your gains.
Unless you are a pro-bodybuilder getting ready for a competition, it's nothing to worry about.

I love pounding beer, but gave it up in favor of lifting. I still have a few beers here and there (esp. on a fishing trip), but otherwise, I gave it up - especially hard liquor. I'm not a light-weight by any means, but to have 2 shots, I can feel it in my system the next day. My sweat reeks of alcohol and I don't care for the feeling I get, so basically, I gave it up.

Originally Posted by rbtrout

I love pounding beer, but gave it up in favor of lifting. I still have a few beers here and there (esp. on a fishing trip), but otherwise, I gave it up - especially hard liquor. I'm not a light-weight by any means, but to have 2 shots, I can feel it in my system the next day. My sweat reeks of alcohol and I don't care for the feeling I get, so basically, I gave it up.

One day there will come a time where I decide to give it up. I'm 27, single, and in party mode all the time right now. So I also love pounding beer and taking a bunch of shots to go along with it. I'm thinking one day I'm gonna settle down a bit, and just have a few here and there like you.

Wait 'til after you've been married a few years, it'll change. My one exception is rum - Tattoo. If I've got a bottle of that in the fridge, I'll have a snort in a diet soda quite frequently.

Wow you started a topic about me! LOL! I have actually changed my drinking habits in order to be more productive on my lifting and especially dieting! It is tough,I am single and have lots of friends that go out all the time! I decided to be pretty strict for a while but as the Christmas holiday approaches and the parties pick up we will see what happens! The nights I have gone out and tried to lift heavy the next day have been complete failures Also hard to maintain a diet when hungover as comfort food is gonna happen! Mcdonalds and Pizza Hut always have worked after a case of Beer night! Also tough to stop that Taco Bell trip on the way home from the bar!!! I don't think a beer here or there is gonna hurt anybody unless it is leading up to some sort of competition!

Drinking isn't bad in itself. Drinking enough that you're hungover and start having bad workouts as a consequence is bad.

Originally Posted by Kastro

Drinking isn't bad in itself. Drinking enough that you're hungover and start having bad workouts as a consequence is bad.

This.

Also most people don't train 7 days solid ? Well at least not 7 solid days of weight lifting. Try to time it so that one of your rest days is the day after you go out drinking, e.g. out Saturday night? Rest day Sunday. Just try to rehydatre and get as much food down as you can on the hangover day.

Originally Posted by rbtrout

Wait 'til after you've been married a few years, it'll change.

Depends on the marriage...some will quit drinking and others will start

Yeah I'm with the majority here in that hangovers are the main thing you have to worry about. I used to drink 3+ times a week and it made it really difficult to get good workouts in over the course of the week. Also take into consideration that beer can add a lot of calories, and thus weight. I have a feeling alcohol in your bloodstream probably hinders muscle growth to a certain degree, even if only by dehydrating you.

If you're drinking 1x or less a week (as the OP is) then the impact on your overall gains will be negligible. So go out there and have fun. Just remember the girls you have drunk one-night stands with most likely aren't marriage material.

I usually drink every Saturday. It usually doesn't affect my workouts at all. The thing that does hurt my workouts is when I stay up till 4 in the morning while drinking. If I get drunk and go to bed by 1 or 2 and sleep till 10 or 11 it doesn't affect my workouts the following week at all. However, if I don't get enough sleep sometimes it throws off my workouts.