Beer is very popular among the strong half of humanity. Beer is also loved by some athletes, although practically everyone knows that alcohol is not harmless to health and for athletes even more so. And yet most bodybuilders practice drinking a glass of beer, especially on Sundays. How bad it is, or maybe it’s good – it is necessary to understand this issue.
Any alcoholic beverage contains ethanol. Besides, the main property of alcohol is the provision of an inhibitory effect on the receptors of the central nervous system. Alcohol ethanol, contained in alcohol, has a psychoactive effect.
Any bodybuilder should know that any alcohol and bodybuilding are incompatible due to the negative impact on muscle mass and strength. According to scientific studies, the negative effect of any alcohol on a person who is regularly trained is as follows:
1. The use of any alcohol to the state of easy intoxication is equivalent to skipping one exercise.
2. The use of any alcohol to the state of strong intoxication is equivalent to the effect on the muscles of a pass for almost half a month of training.
3.Sistematicheskaya use of any alcohol, including beer, at least 0.5 liters per day leads to a 100% reduction in muscle growth.
All these negative effects on muscle mass are due to the physiological processes taking place in the cell, under the influence of the alkaloids. In healthy, training men after a single use of a glass of beer, testosterone levels dropped significantly and the level of the estrogen hormone increased. This is since the beer contains hops, which is an activator of the increase in estrogen in the body of a man. Accordingly, by raising the level of female hormones, the body reduces the content of the male hormone testosterone, because of which the strength decreases. In this regard, we can conclude that beer and bodybuilding. Like any other alcohol is simply incompatible.
In addition to reducing testosterone, alcohol affects the release of growth hormone, which is responsible for the growth of muscle mass. The growth hormone shows a minimum content for at least two days after taking alcohol.
Another negative factor of the effect of alcohol on the body is fat formation. Especially affects the process of formation of fat cells drinks containing yeast, in particular beer. Besides, do not forget that any alcoholic beverage is a high-calorie product.
All these facts are a direct refutation of the popular belief that it is possible to combine beer and bodybuilding. Allegedly beer along with sour cream helps to increase muscle mass. From all the above, it follows that this opinion is erroneous. And for a serious training person, the use of any alcohol is a way to regress.
Beer and sports
Since beer refers to an alcoholic beverage, its use adversely affects the results of sports training. For bodybuilders, it is dangerous to reduce the speed of muscle mass gain, decrease in strength characteristics, and slow the recovery process. Based on research conducted by scientists, we can safely say that:
- drinking beer, when you feel a slight alcoholic intoxication, is equivalent to skipping one workout;
- in the case of apparent intoxication, the reduction of force data should be expected, and the recovery process may last a couple of weeks;
- if the beer is consumed regularly, even after a day, it leads to stagnation and a decrease in the growth of muscle tissue by 100%.
Effects of beer intake in bodybuilding
In bodybuilding, as in any other sport, the use of beer leads to the manifestation of negative effects, for example:
- the level of testosterone decreases and this leads to a slowdown in muscle growth, since any alcohol and beer, including, stimulates the secretion of catabolic hormones;
- the level of potency decreases, as the level of testosterone decreases and the level of cresol increases;
- the level of estrogen increases, as the female sex hormones are contained in the beer, and this leads to the deposition of excess fat, reduced potency, fatigue, slower muscle growth, reduced strength data, the appearance of gynecomastia, and other problems;
- the superfluous fat is postponed also thanks to the high caloric content of beer;
- normal sleep patterns and recovery process are disrupted;
- deteriorates the quality of sperm.
From the above, it should be concluded that beer in bodybuilding hurts the training process. As for the positive qualities, they simply do not exist.
Nonalcoholic beer in bodybuilding
Naturally, the use of beer, especially alcohol-free, reduces the harmful effect on the body of athletes, but not completely, because high caloric content and high estrogen content remains.
In this regard, it can be argued that non-alcoholic beer negatively affects the body, by depositing fatty tissues.
There is another factor that has a significant impact – this is the quality of both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beers. Especially it concerns the domestic manufacturer, because sometimes the beer prices are rather doubtful, which indicates their low quality. As for European countries, the situation here is somewhat better and the quality of food products is controlled accordingly. Despite this, even high-quality beer is not recommended for athletes, if they want to achieve high results in sports.
Dependence on beer
Do not discount the fact that alcohol has a narcotic effect on the human body. Dependence on beer is not a fictitious myth of fighters for a healthy lifestyle, but a scientifically proven phenomenon. Therefore, do not forget not only the negative effect but also that excessive beer craze leads to dependence on this drink. This dependence is difficult to track since retraction is carried out gradually and is practically not noticeable for the athlete. First, he drinks a cup a month, then a cup a week, and, finally, the athlete starts practicing almost daily beer.
Knowing the results, we can safely say that the use of beer, including non-alcoholic beer, deprives the athlete of any chance of high sports results. Unfortunately, this problem has a broader concept, since alcohol affects not only sports performance, but also normal family life harms the financial situation. Therefore, not only on weekends but also on holidays it is better to give preference to juices or compotes.
To correctly combine alcohol and physical activity, you should adhere to the following tips:
So, beer versus bodybuilding – is it possible to combine, and if so, how?
- You can’t work out for two days after drinking beer, this period it is very easy to crush the muscles;
- Do not to drink alcohol for a couple of days after a hard workout, as this eliminates the positive effect of the workout plan;
- Choose some foods that contain amounts of protein so it can reduce the bad effects of beer on muscles.
- Drink a lot of mineral water use ascorbic acid to restore water balance the next morning after beer.
Conclusion about beer and bodybuilding: It will do more harm than good, so if you want to maintain your health, many doctors recommend a pause of two days between workout and drinking beer.
Is beer helpful for me building muscle?
The normally happening flavonoids in beer jumps can expand bulk. Also, as you most likely are aware, more muscles equivalent to quicker digestion.
Will my testosterone decreases by drinking beer?
Beer contains phytoestrogen and prolactin that increases estrogen levels which is indirectly proportional to testosterone means it decreases testosterone level.
What happens if I drink alcohol, will I lose gains?
It is better to have protein first after you work out, you need to drink more water and protein to build muscles but drinking alcohol doesn’t kill your gains.