RIO Fitness Chicago® Exercise & Nutrition Blog

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Happy YOU Year! To see the happier and healthier you in 2013, we must eliminate some things from your life. Today's elimination is ALCOHOL. Alcohol is one of the three quickest ways to gain body fat (along with stress & over-consuming calories) because it has empty calories, increases the fat producing hormone cortisol, and decreases the fat burning hormone testosterone.

If you're a woman, there's some serious long term effects more than one drink a day/more than seven drinks a week can cause other than the immediate body fat gain. Remember, being healthy is not an 8-12wk program that we stop, it's a daily lifestyle of being active & eating right.

The real problem with drinking, even just two drinks a day for women, is the toll it takes on the inside of your body, not the outside. If you have more than seven drinks per week, it actually reduces bone mass. Since women are already at a higher risk of osteoporosis than men, reducing bone mass even more makes a woman more prone to falls and at higher risk for fracture/injury.

Studies clearly show, too, that more than one drink a day makes you more prone to breast cancer. The European Cancer Conference recently reported that the risk rises 10 percent for women who have between one and two drinks a day, compared with women who have less than one, and the risk increases by 30 percent at more than three drinks per day. And don't think you lower the risk by drinking wine instead of beer or something harder. The same research says any kind of alcohol ups the risk. Uterine-cancer risks go up at two or more drinks per day, as well.

Alcohol lowers testosterone levels in the body. When testosterone is lowered, estrogen levels increase, which in some cases cranks up cancer risks.

Alcohol does have some health benefits, such as wine lowering risk for dementia, heart disease, and certain cancers. Moderate drinking also seems to raise HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, while decreasing blood pressure. It may even cut the risk of type 2 diabetes by improving the body's sensitivity to insulin.

BUT, if you're worried about the risk of diabetes and you're eating right, for example, adding alcohol won't do much more for you. The same goes for cancer: Ditching cigarettes, eating more fruits and veggies, avoiding too much sun exposure, keeping your weight under control, and getting regular exercise pack a lot more prevention than a bottle of wine.

Here are the effects of drinking & the benefits of not drinking on your mind, body, energy levels, cardio & strength performance, etc.:

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Last week we at RIO® issued a 30 day no alcohol challenge to YOU! In case you haven't started, here are the effects of drinking & the benefits of not drinking on your mind, body, energy levels, cardio & strength performance, etc. May not seem easy to go without it, but if you want to see a drastic improvement in how you look & feel, YOU can do it!

Hydration

1-2 Days After Drinking

Since alcohol consumption is very hard on the kidneys, drinking will have a negative impact on your body's hydration. Your body's water will go to the kidneys to metabolize the alcohol when it should be used to help process other substances!
Hydration is key to performance in sports or weight lifting because water is needed in all energy-creating reactions. It can take the body awhile to become re-hydrated, so I suggest if you are out drinking, have a glass of water as well, to maintain proper hydration.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Since you have not consumed alcohol for the past 1-2 days, you are not seeing any of the negative effects of dehydration. Processing all of the substances in your body is easy, because alcohol is not limiting this at all.
Your performance in your sport or weight lifting routine is steadily improving because you are not hitting any roadblocks due to dehydration.

Mind function

1-2 Days After Drinking

Alcohol diminishes the function of the mind through various processes. It affects many of the hormone functions in the brain within 1-2 minutes of consumption. Besides that, alcohol intake slows glycogen metabolism. This means the brain receives less glycogen, so it doesn't have much energy.
Since the mind plays a large role in any exercise to aid in motivation and focus, decreased mind function due to alcohol should be avoided!

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Since you have not had any alcohol in your system in the past day or two, your mind function is at its normal level. Your workouts will probably feel much better than they did coming a day or two after drinking!

Protein Synthesis

1-2 Days After Drinking

Anabolism, or protein synthesis, is negatively affected by alcohol. Alcohol hurts the absorption of protein in the body, just like it hurts the absorption of any other substance. Because less protein is being turned into muscle tissue, you are not growing to the fullest! This decrease in protein synthesis doesn't just slow down growth, it also hurts recovery, because less protein is going to repair muscle tissue.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

With improved recovery and protein synthesis, you might not see a sudden change, but in time the increased growth and recovery will really make a difference!

Cardiovascular Performance

1-2 Days After Drinking

Alcohol's blood thinning effects might help the heart somewhat, but don't be mislead - alcohol's negative effects on the heart are more numerous than its positive effects.Decreased cardiovascular activity can make recovery in lifting and sports more difficult in between sets or drills.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Since you have not been drinking in the past day or two, you should feel like you're in better shape. This is because the heart is functioning better!

Strength Performance

1-2 Days After Drinking

Because of many of the aforementioned processes that alcohol can have a negative impact on, strength performance takes a hit as well. When you are not properly hydrated and recovered, how can you expect to perform at optimal strength levels?
Diminished mind function can also be a very bad thing when it comes to strength performance- you might not have the same level of mental focus, as you did while not on alcohol.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Since you haven't had any alcohol in your system for the past few days, all of these effects can be avoided. You can finally realize your full potential since alcohol is not hiding it.

Energy Levels

1-2 Days After Drinking

Alcohol tends to limit the metabolism of other substances in the body. One of these substances is the carbohydrate. By limiting carbohydrate metabolism, muscle glycogen levels are limited. This means that fatigue sets in earlier and endurance, strength and speed are compromised.

As I mentioned before, the negative impacts on cardiovascular function also have a negative impact on the body.

1-2 Days After Not Drinking

Without having consumed alcohol over the past 1-2 days, you should notice an improvement in energy levels. Those long sports practices or workouts will probably seem shorter, and of better quality!