Training Benefits of Alcohol

Don’t know about you, but I’m wanting to justify the use of alcohol in my “healthy lifestyle”. Yes, yes, it has its bad points, but so I figure there must be some good points as well.

Here are a few theories of mine:

  1. Muscle relaxant - Helps to relieve tension in muscles postworkout, that they may begin the healing/growing process. Physiology experts opinions?

  2. Recovery delay - Hmm, perhaps the inability to build muscle while the body is clearing alcohol helps to cause that much more extra training stress? Let 'em suffer a little while longer, eh?

  3. Endorsed by Arnold - Not only is there that comment in Pumping Iron about how “milk is for babies, when you grow up you drink beer”, but there are stories of the gang from Gold’s taking a keg out into the woods for a long night of squatting and humping the bimbos that would tag along.

What do you think?

nah, i dont think so.
drinking is very catabolic

There are none. Doesn’t mean no one should ever drink.

Oh, there may be mental benefits in letting loose a little and having a good time. But no physical or physiological benefits at all.

[quote]Kailash wrote:
Don’t know about you, but I’m wanting to justify the use of alcohol in my “healthy lifestyle”. Yes, yes, it has its bad points, but so I figure there must be some good points as well.

Here are a few theories of mine:

  1. Muscle relaxant - Helps to relieve tension in muscles postworkout, that they may begin the healing/growing process. Physiology experts opinions?
    [/quote]
    Muscle relaxants have not been shown to improve recovery time from injury or exercise. In fact, inhibiting the muscular function in this manner may lessen the ability to recover, as general movement (read: submax exercise) of muscle helps them recover over complete rest (or in this case just less movement).

It doesn’t work like this. I remember a lot of studies looking at anti-inflammatories and exercise showed that they inhibited muscular adaptation, basically prolonging the damaged state. Once treatment stopped the muscle fully adapted, though to a lesser degree compared to the non-AI groups.

Basically the alcohol would prolong the damaged state of the muscle, but not further damage it. The end product would be a lengthened time to recovery and a lessened adaptive response.

[quote]
3. Endorsed by Arnold - Not only is there that comment in Pumping Iron about how “milk is for babies, when you grow up you drink beer”, but there are stories of the gang from Gold’s taking a keg out into the woods for a long night of squatting and humping the bimbos that would tag along.

What do you think?[/quote]

Arnold took steroids. If you take steroids you too can drink beer and look good nekkid.

JC

Thanks, James, that was what I was looking for… or, uh, not looking for… Damn. Well, maybe I’ll just pretend you said it all worked, heheh… Nah.

Guess then I’ll cut back. [My body says] Thank you for crushing my dreams! :slight_smile: