Alcohol has a big reputation in the gym world. Some people act like one drink erases a workout. Others say it doesn’t matter. The truth sits in the middle.
What It Does to Muscle Growth
A study had trained guys do a workout, then gave them either just protein, or protein plus alcohol. Even with the same amount of protein, the alcohol group built less new muscle. Alcohol seems to get in the way of the signal your body uses to build muscle. This effect was worse with more alcohol. One drink probably won’t do much. A heavy night of drinking after training will.
The Bigger Problem: Everything Else Alcohol Wrecks
Sleep — Alcohol messes with your sleep even in small amounts. Deep sleep is when a lot of your recovery happens. Growth hormone, which helps you recover, drops after drinking.
Hydration — Alcohol makes you pee more, which isn’t great for recovery.
Bad food choices — Drinking nights usually come with bad food choices, which adds up over time.
Hormones — Drinking heavily and often is linked to lower testosterone over time. The occasional drink isn’t a big deal.
What To Actually Do
A couple drinks now and then won’t ruin your progress if you’re training and eating well most of the time. The real damage comes from doing it a lot — bad sleep, bad food, and the direct hit to muscle growth, night after night.
If you’ve got a big lift or a hard session coming up, skip the drinks the night before. Outside of that, having a drink once in a while isn’t going to undo your training.
Sources
- Parr et al. (2014) — Alcohol ingestion impairs maximal post-exercise rates of myofibrillar protein synthesis following a single bout of concurrent training. PLOS ONE, 9(2), e88384.
- Ebrahim et al. (2013) — Alcohol and sleep I: effects on normal sleep. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37(4), 539–549.