Downing a cold beer or two after a grueling 5K or sipping some mimosas with your friends after a Sunday sweat sesh may sound like a fun idea. But, will drinking alcohol after workouts wipe out all the good you just did? Will it set back muscle recovery? Give you the kind of hydration you need? These are important questions to ask—especially since research shows physically active people can be robust drinkers.
One study found that men and women who drank weekly were more apt to be classified as physically fit than those who didn’t drink. What’s the alcohol/exercise connection? Researchers theorize that the physically fit may be more likely to drink because many like to celebrate their athletic wins (or soften their losses) with an alcoholic beverage. They also note the emergence of “drunkorexia,” in which some people—particularly women—engage in more exercise to offset the extra calories drinking provides.
8 effects of post-workout drinking
How much alcohol affects you post-workout depends on a lot of factors, including what kind of alcohol you drink and how much you consume. But overall, experts agree, beer after workouts is a less-than-ideal recovery drink, in these eight ways.
1. Dehydration
Because both alcohol and exercise deplete your body of fluid (alcohol can increase the need to urinate; heavy exercise produces sweat), pairing the two can lead to dehydration.
But not all alcoholic beverages are created equal. Researchers have found that beverages with an alcohol content of 2% or below (some light beers fit this bill) don’t necessarily cause dehydration when consumed after exercise—but when the alcohol increases to 4% (about what’s in your average beer) or more, it can promote fluid loss via excess urination.
“Since your system needs to stay hydrated for your muscles to rebuild themselves efficiently, this is a reason to avoid drinking alcohol after a workout,” notes John Mendelson, MD, chief medical officer with Ria Health alcohol treatment and professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco.
What’s more, “Rehydrating after one alcoholic drink can take drinking up to twice as much water, and that’s not even counting whatever is needed to rehydrate from the actual exercise itself,” adds Kelli Santiago, MS, RD, board certified sports dietitian and clinical dietitian at University Hospitals of Cleveland.
2. Inadequate muscle recovery
Exercise causes tiny tears in your muscles that need to be repaired with protein (called muscle protein synthesis). But alcohol can interfere with protein production, leaving your muscles sore and damaged.
“Alcohol can significantly decrease muscle protein synthesis, even when consumed in conjunction with protein. This results in poor recovery, increased soreness, and decreased lean muscle mass gain,” says Diana Nguyen, MS, RD, performance dietitian with the United States Army’s Special Operations Command and member of the board of directors for the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association. “Consuming five-plus alcoholic drinks in one night eliminates training effects for three days, and having five-plus alcoholic drinks in two consecutive nights eliminates training effects for five days—regardless of [the alcohol] source.”
3. Impaired sleep
It’s a well-known fact that alcohol can interfere with your sleep, especially restorative REM sleep. But fatigue isn’t the only byproduct of that lack of shut-eye. During sleep, your body produces human growth hormone (HGH), a hormone necessary for muscle repair and growth. In fact, says Nguyen, when alcohol disrupts sleep, it can reduce secretion of HGH by as much as 70%.
4. Nutritional imbalances
When exercisers refuel with alcohol instead of carbohydrates, protein, and electrolytes, they’re depriving their bodies of the energy sources they need for peak performance and recovery. And don’t think a carb-heavy drink, like beer, will replenish what you need. “Although alcohol primarily contains carbs, it’s metabolized and stored as fat so it doesn’t help with refueling or rebuilding muscle,” says Santiago.
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5. Higher cortisol and lower testosterone levels
One study found that alcohol use after exercise increased cortisol (a stress hormone) and lowered testosterone (a male sex hormone). Excess cortisol can inhibit the protein synthesis your body needs to build muscle, and without adequate levels of testosterone, it’s hard to build muscle bulk and strength.
6. Possible weight gain
Most alcoholic beverages are calorie-heavy. Even a light beer can clock in at around 100 calories. So if you’re exercising to help with weight loss, you won’t be doing yourself any favors by hoisting a glass after a workout.
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7. Worsened existing conditions
“Some people, particularly those who have a history of seizures or neurological disorders as well as heart arrythmias, need to be very careful,” says Alberto Augsten, Pharm.D., a board-certified toxicologist with Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Florida. “When you combine these conditions with alcohol and increased exercise, you can get dangerous electrolyte imbalances.”
8. Medication interactions
That goes double for people taking medication to manage a chronic condition. “I’d also tell people taking certain medications, such as benzodiazepines like Xanax, to be cautious,” says Dr. Augsten. “Mixed with alcohol, these drugs can be sedating.” This can be especially problematic if your workout zaps you of energy.
What about using alcohol before a workout?
While drinking alcohol after a workout can impair recovery, drinking it before a workout impacts performance. “Consuming alcohol before a performance can delay reaction time, impair coordination (thus affecting balance) and impair accuracy. It’s impossible to perform at your best after drinking alcohol,” Santiago says. “Don’t take away all the hard work you put in with training on a couple drinks!”
Are some alcohols less risky than others?
All alcohol has an impact on performance and recovery. But if you want to imbibe with your teammates or friends after a workout, choose a beverage with a low-alcohol content. For example, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 12 ounces of beer contains about 5% alcohol, 5 ounces of wine has 12%, and 1.5 ounces of spirits is 40% alcohol. One caveat: “Drinks with higher ABVs [alcohol by volume] may cause more damage since the dosage of alcohol is higher,” says Santiago. “However, just as much damage can be caused if you’re drinking a lower ABV beverage but in higher amounts.”
Therefore, a beer may be safer than having a cocktail or glass of wine after workouts, but you should still limit the amount of any alcohol you’re drinking around exercise.
Bottom line
Having an occasional post-workout beer or drink with some friends after a gym session is generally okay for most people, but drinking alcohol before, during, and after exercise can— depending on how much and how often you drink—do more harm than good.
“I haven’t seen any studies that show a benefit,” says Dr. Augsten. The best course of action? Talk to your healthcare provider about how alcohol can affect your post-workout recovery—and if you do indulge, do so responsibly and in moderation.
