drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
It’s Friday and after a workout you're heading out to hang with some friends. But you may want to reconsider getting blitzed. This study explains why. Ten male and 9 female lifters were recruited. Each trial consisted of 6 sets of 10 Smith machine squats at 80% of their 1RM, 2 minutes rest between sets. Ten minutes post workout, subjects consumed either an alcohol or a placebo. Muscle biopsies of the quad were taken pre-exercise, 3 hours post, and 5 hours post. Phosphorylation of mTOR, S6K1, and 4E-BP1 was recorded: pathways that trigger muscle anabolism and protein synthesis following training. Basically, they tell the body to pack on more muscle.
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The Results
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Women: The signaling to produce more protein and build muscle while consuming large amounts of alcohol following a workout doesn't seem to be affected much. While this shouldn't encourage you to drink, it does offer some relief knowing that your protein synthesis and hypertrophy shouldn't be significantly affected.
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Men: Sorry, guys, we aren't as lucky. Training before heavy drinking does alter these signaling pathways. So all that effort in the gym may lead to less hypertrophy if followed by drinking.
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Well, that sucks. But if you do lift weights before drinking, the workout may at least act as damage control. While there won't be an increase in amplification of the signal to tell muscles to grow above baseline, the training done before may keep it from dropping below baseline. So working out and drinking afterwards is better than skipping the workout and just drinking. In a different study, drinking whey protein limited the bad effects of alcohol. So while abstaining is best, if you're going to drink then at least have a workout and a protein shake to counteract as much of the negative effects as you can. Note: The amount of alcohol in the study was substantial: 1.09 grams per kg of fat-free mass. For someone about 175 pounds and 15% body fat that's about five shots of Vodka.
•
The Results
•
Women: The signaling to produce more protein and build muscle while consuming large amounts of alcohol following a workout doesn't seem to be affected much. While this shouldn't encourage you to drink, it does offer some relief knowing that your protein synthesis and hypertrophy shouldn't be significantly affected.
•
Men: Sorry, guys, we aren't as lucky. Training before heavy drinking does alter these signaling pathways. So all that effort in the gym may lead to less hypertrophy if followed by drinking.
•
Well, that sucks. But if you do lift weights before drinking, the workout may at least act as damage control. While there won't be an increase in amplification of the signal to tell muscles to grow above baseline, the training done before may keep it from dropping below baseline. So working out and drinking afterwards is better than skipping the workout and just drinking. In a different study, drinking whey protein limited the bad effects of alcohol. So while abstaining is best, if you're going to drink then at least have a workout and a protein shake to counteract as much of the negative effects as you can. Note: The amount of alcohol in the study was substantial: 1.09 grams per kg of fat-free mass. For someone about 175 pounds and 15% body fat that's about five shots of Vodka.
