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Old 07-28-2005, 10:29 AM
WhiteNProud WhiteNProud is offline
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I work out a lot, and take a lot of supplements and i eat good. Im pretty well built and i keep getting stronger and bigger as my program continues (MAX-OT). The thing is i also drink quite a bit. I work out 5-6 days a week very hard for about 30-45 minutes, but after that i usually go out and have a few beers (anywhere from 2-7). How badly is this going to effect my results?
I know alcohol inhibits muscle growth, but will it prevent me from getting to a certain point or make me plataue sooner then i norm. would.

Any info on alcohol and weight lifting or muscle growth would be appreciated.
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Old 07-28-2005, 01:14 PM
Darkhorse Darkhorse is offline
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Well, results will certainly slow down, but that's a choice you're going to have to live with.

Alcohol is empty calories. It doesn't have any nutrients, but does have a caloric value of 7 calories per gram. In just one shot (1.5oz) of 80 proof vodka there's nearly 100 calories. For those of you trying to lose fat, forget it if you are drinking. Not only will the high calorie content of alcohol have a negative effect on your total calorie intake, but it also slows down your metabolism by disrupting the Kreb's cycle. Since the Kreb's cycle isn't working correctly, fats cannot be broken down. In short, your body is trying so hard to digest and metabolize the alcohol, that fat burning stops all together.

Alcohol consumption also hurts muscle growth. Not only due to hangovers lowering your workout intensity, but it actually lowers protein synthesis by 20%. Twenty percent! There are several reasons why it does this. For one, it dehydrates your muscle cells. As many know, hydrated and even over hydrated muscles (like when you take creatine) allows for a much higher anabolic environment. Because your cells aren't holding as much water, it becomes much harder to build muscle. The second reason why alcohol can severely hurt muscle growth is because it blocks the absorption of many important nutrients that are key to muscle contraction, relaxation and growth including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron and potassium.

OK, so I above I lied, there's actually a third way that alcohol slows down protein synthesis, I just wanted to dedicate a big part of this article to it. For those of you that don't already know this, ALCOHOL LOWERS TESTOSTERONE AND INCREASES ESTROGEN! Yes, you read that right. In one particular study, men's testosterone levels were measured before and after consumption of alcohol. At the most intoxicated state, testosterone levels had dropped to an average of 25% lower. It was also interesting to note, that when blood alcohol levels were the highest, testosterone was at its lowest. Alcohol has also been shown to cause a quicker aromatization of androgens into estrogens, which would explain why heavy drinkers often get gynecomastria (bitch tits) over a period of time. For those of you taking andro (and I'm sure you already know my views on andro) I would absolutely avoid alcohol since you already are in risk for gynecomastria with the high androgen levels in your blood. By drinking, you are further putting yourself in risk for aromatization. We should also note, that in a study done with rats, alcohol reduced Insulin like Growth Hormone-1 (IGF-1) by up to 42%. That's a huge drop in IGF-1.

So you said you're taking alot of supplements. If you're taking creatine, the alcohol will make every scoop redundant. If it's 2-3 beers, I don't think it matters.

This is how I think of it. Right after weightlifting on, your muscles need to be fed. You eat your protein, creatine, baked potato, whatever. Later on your muscles still need to be fed. Feeding them with beer....I don't think they'll like that.
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Old 07-28-2005, 04:49 PM
verbatimreturned verbatimreturned is offline
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good article, and alchohol just isnt good for you if your trying to progress....if you havent been convinced aready by 0311's post
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Old 07-28-2005, 06:49 PM
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I just drink soda lol too much but im getting off it slowly.
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Old 07-29-2005, 03:21 PM
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Anything that inhibits your training/workouts is out for me. I personally am negative on alcohol for more reasons than just effects on muscle growth.
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Old 08-02-2005, 03:53 PM
WhiteNProud WhiteNProud is offline
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Yea i know its not good, but i like to drink

Thanks for the feedback. I have been trying to cut back, and am trying not to drink during the week. It is hard though when you are used to drinking a lot, and everyone around you is drinking too (there not working out like i am though) so they have no reason to slow down. I on the other hand do, and i know if i want to see more seriouse results i need to cut it out of my routine.

Wish me luck.
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Old 10-24-2005, 10:12 AM
SLDCHC SLDCHC is offline
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I'm big into training myself, so going out drinking all weekend is out for me. I just find it pointless to bust your ass at the gym to get no where. once and a blue boozin' aint so bad...but try to focus on other activities
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Old 10-24-2005, 12:58 PM
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Yeah, but going to the gym and boozing it up later has to be better than just boozing it up...
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Old 11-07-2005, 09:21 AM
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ONE OF THE METABOLIC hallmarks of chronic alcohol abuse is the negative nitrogen balance resulting from a net catabolism of skeletal muscle proteins (34). An imbalance in protein metabolism, when prolonged, leads to the erosion of lean body mass (LBM) and the proximal myopathy commonly observed in alcoholics (29, 42). It has been estimated that 40-60% of all alcoholics exhibit skeletal muscle disease (42). The maintenance of muscle protein stores is essential because decreases in LBM are causally linked to increases in morbidity and mortality (22). Although alcohol affects all muscle groups to some extent, the fast-twitch type II fibers appear to be particularly vulnerable (29, 42). Available evidence suggests that malnutrition per se does not cause the myopathy, but deficiencies in the nutritional status may exacerbate the disease (4).

Chronic ethanol consumption increases whole body rates of leucine turnover and oxidation in fed rats (3), suggesting the presence of a reduced rate of protein synthesis and/or an increased rate of protein degradation. However, whole body measurements represent the sum of many vastly different organ systems (e.g., muscle and nonmuscle protein synthesis and hepatic secretory protein synthesis) and provide little information concerning individual processes or tissues. However, when the in vivo rate of protein synthesis was measured with the flooding-dose technique (8), acute alcohol intoxication, produced by the intraperitoneal injection of ethanol, markedly decreased the rate of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle, heart, intestine, bone, and skin (34). Moreover, chronic alcohol feeding of rats has also been demonstrated to reduce protein synthesis in skeletal muscle (33).

Although the alcohol-induced decrease in muscle protein synthesis has been recognized for a number of years, the mechanism for the impairment has been largely unexplored. In this regard, Preedy and Peters (33) demonstrated that chronic alcohol consumption produces relatively rapid and large decreases in the amount of total RNA in skeletal muscle. Because the large majority (>80%) of total muscle RNA is ribosomal, these data suggest that at least part of the alcohol-induced impairment in protein synthesis occurs secondary to a reduced number of ribosomes. However, the decrement in protein synthesis in this early study was greater than the decrease in RNA, indicating an impairment in translational efficiency as well. Translational efficiency reflects how well the existing protein synthetic machinery is functioning. Translation of mRNA involves a complex series of reactions, which can be categorized into three phases: initiation, elongation, and termination (5). There are no data pertaining to alcohol-induced alterations on various steps in the pathway of translation. Translational efficiency can be regulated by alterations in either peptide-chain initiation, elongation, or both. Because other catabolic conditions have previously been determined to impair translation initiation, the purpose of the present study was to determine whether chronic alcohol consumption in rats alters specific steps in the initiation process.
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Old 12-16-2005, 02:07 PM
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sup im new i really need to look good and i want to be the kinda guy that tries to take his shirt off as much as possible and shit like that. aboutme...

im 15 yrs old and about 6ft-6'1" and around 178-182lbs and my BFI is around 17-20%. i race motocross for a living in the 250 A class (semi pro) and my mom owns a few Curves for women over here in PA thats how i get my BFI thanks to this omitron thing we have a few of for guys to.

by my 16th bday in sept 6th coming up i want to weight around 190 or gain 10lbs of raw ripped muscle mostly on pecs and back and arms i need a 4 pack at least to.

i basicaly wanna look like 50 cent but white lol


i would think any consumption of alchoal will really limit you.
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Last edited by Stunt4Life; 12-16-2005 at 02:12 PM.
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