Drinking After a Workout: What to Know about Alcohol After Exercise

They often contain fruit juices, sparkling water, and other non-alcoholic ingredients, which can help you get the carbs you need for your recovery. A mocktail can be as simple as sparkling water with bitters or more complex. Many people are still happy to imbibe at employer-sponsored happy hours, holiday parties and corporate events. This is because what is alcoholism alcohol slows the natural recovery process from your workout session by elevating your cortisol levels, decreasing your testosterone levels, and inhibiting protein synthesis (1). Drinking after work is a common social activity across various professions. It’s often seen as a way to decompress, celebrate team achievements, or simply transition from work mode to personal time.

How About Some Beers After Work?

Overindulgence can lead to inappropriate behavior and impaired judgment, tarnishing your professional reputation. If you find yourself regularly drinking to get through the workday, it might be time to reassess your relationship with alcohol and seek support if necessary. While we do not and have never made any specific health claims, recent medical research largely suggests that lower ABV options carry lower long term health risks.

Alcohol After Workout: What You Need to Know for Recovery

This does not imply that alcohol consumption has any benefits following a workout, though,” says Wylie. If you have specific goals — for example, to build muscle — and you’re looking for effective and efficient ways to achieve this goal, it’s probably best to abstain from drinking right after a workout. But aside from celebrating the end of a training season, tough race, or long day, you may wonder whether drinking alcohol after working out serves a purpose. What’s more, some events, such as Tough Mudder (an obstacle-based mud run) and the Marathon du Médoc in Bordeaux, France, offer alcoholic drinks either at the end of or throughout the course as part of the overall experience. One might assume that perhaps a light beer is the best way to end a long day in the office but in fact, it was found that over 1 in 10 workers say they drink shots during afterwork drinks. This may be why 14% of respondents admitted that, on at least one occasion, they’ve acted inappropriately during afterwork drinks.

Is Olive Oil Really a Healthy Cooking Choice?

• Think of the ocean, the urge is a huge wave, you know it’s big and it’s strong but it will subside if you hang in there.
• They’re also 2.5 times more likely to have alcohol subsidised at work social events than in the public sector (23% vs 9%).
• Drinking beer after exercising is so popular that races like 5Ks and marathons often have beer for purchase near the finish line.
• While there can be peer pressure to drink from your coworkers, it’s important to remember that drinking is not required.
• Still, to be safe, most of the experts The Takeout consulted suggest putting uniform, low, and hard limits on your alcohol intake, even if you work for a company that embraces getting twisted at parties or happy hours.

“So, after waiting an hour or two, you may find you don’t want that alcoholic beverage after all,” she goes on to say. Suzie Wylie, a former professional Muay beers after work Thai fighter and Registered Nutritionist at the London Clinic of Nutrition, focuses on the importance of keeping yourself hydrated if you do decide to drink alcohol after exercise. If you find that you can’t control your drinking, or know a loved one who is struggling with addiction, know that there is help out there.

Busting 5 common myths about water and hydration

“If alcohol-free beer encourages people to rehydrate after a workout, then that’s a good thing,” says Schoenfeld. But the study revealed the average after-work booze session lasts almost two hours, adding substantially to an already-long day on the job. It has also become a substitute for networking and brainstorming; a third of American workers think drinks after work is good for team bonding. Happy hour has also become a substitute for networking and brainstorming, with a third of the American workers surveyed saying that getting drinks after work promotes team bonding. According to the study, most workers spend about two hours drinking after work, which can extend their day to 11 hours.

Top Is It Ok To Drink Beer After a Workout Good Bad Related Articles

However, drinking beer after a workout can affect your post-workout recovery. Research from 2019, conducted by researchers at the University of Stavanger in Norway, found that when employers or supervisors initiate drinking, employees feel obligated to participate. And among people in the UK, half of those surveyed by researchers at the University of Stirling in Scotland admitted to being pressured into drinking alcohol by colleagues and family. It also showed that generally, men felt coerced into drinking more often than women, with men 20% more likely to be encouraged into drinking by their colleagues and 37% more by their bosses.

For most people, waiting at least 1 hour between finishing your workout and having your first alcoholic beverage is a good minimum to aim for,” she says. Those in the professional class also struggle with substance abuse, possibly fueled by after work drinking. Those with professions such as office workers, lawyers, doctors, accountants, and management, may also find themselves struggling to control their drinking habits.

When You Drink Beer Every Night, This Is What Happens To Your Body

• A few surveys conducted in recent years have found that at least one in ten people who drink at work functions believe they ended up doing something embarrassing, or even harmful to themselves or others, at these sorts of events.
• One found polyphenols in beer reduced post-workout inflammation, but that study was conducted using non-alcoholic beer.
• This does not imply that alcohol consumption has any benefits following a workout, though,” says Wylie.

You’re better off chugging something alcohol-free to aid in rehydration. One study indicated that consuming a lot of alcohol — like, 10 drinks — slows MPS. This is important for obvious health reasons, but also because you worked too damn hard to just drink away your #gainz. Nevertheless, the amount of alcohol consumed makes a difference.

Traveling and Adventuring: Your Path to Staying Young, Fit, and Healthy

Whatever the timeline, if you do decide to booze it up, Mayer says serving size is the biggest thing to keep in mind. Two related studies from the Journal of Clinical Investigation compared the rate of liver protein synthesis in people consuming alcohol in different quantities. When your muscles are already dehydrated after your workout, drinking alcohol will only dehydrate them even more, ultimately preventing those muscles from rebounding and repairing the way you need them to in order to see fitness gains. In addition to skipping alcohol, make sure to get enough sleep and rehydrate after every workout. This may result in better muscle recovery and, over time, better performance in the gym. If you’re serious about fitness and want to make the most of your workouts, skip the post-workout beer and consider trying a non-alcoholic beer, a mocktail, or a recovery drink instead.