Alcohol and Performance

Alcohol is the most abused recreational drug in society and is the one most used by athletes. It is well known to cause poor judgement, decreased reaction time and decreased fine motor skills which is why we don't drink and drive. In addition, it effects our heart function, our ability to regulate body temperature and it can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

Research states that 88% of intercollegiate American athletes use alcohol. Moreover, collegiate athletes are much more likely to binge drink compared with non-athlete students. It's speculated that maybe the competitive behavior of athletes is not just on the court or field but also in social activities, such as drinking.

So, what can alcohol do to performance? Lets go over some facts:

• Athletes that drink alcohol once per week have been shown to have twice the risk for injury. 
• Moderate alcohol consumption has been shown to lower force production.
• Chronic alcohol use can cause substantial weight gain. Which in turn can slow you down.
• Alcohol use can decrease aerobic ability as well as decrease sustained power output. In fact, one study showed that drinking 24 hours before an event caused 11% decrease in performance which could be the difference between being first and last.
• Alcohol hurts recovery by interfering with muscle protein synthesis (building and repairing muscle) as well as glycogen re-synthesis (restoring our glycogen stores so that we have stored fuel for exercise). One study showed that even if you consumed alcohol with protein after exercise you would still have lower rate of muscle protein synthesis.
• Alcohol can interfere with our ability to regulate core temperature, therefore, lowering our ability to tolerate training no matter what the temperature is (even in an air-conditioned facility).
• Alcohol influences our psycho-motor skills which means it can decrease balance, reaction time, visual search and recognition, memory as well as accuracy of fine motor skills. Now imagine a quarterback that has all these problems.
• Alcohol shortens our time in deep sleep (REM). Lack of deep sleep causes a decrease in performance as well as a decrease in human growth hormone (HGH) secretion. HGH helps us build and repair muscle. (Stay tuned for a blog on how sleep effects performance in the near future).
• Alcohol is a diuretic (promotes production of urine) which means it can cause dehydration. Dehydration in turn can cause a decrease in performance.
• Alcohol may continue to effect your performance 2-5 days after you drink, depending on how much you drank.

If you're an athlete that wants to improve PR, excel and/or win, you must think about what you are willing or not willing to do. Make sure you fuel right for performance and limit or avoid alcohol. Since social interaction with friends many times includes alcohol, be smart about it and consider following the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines:
"Pre-event - Avoid alcohol beyond low-amount social drinking for 48 hours.   

Post exercise - Re-hydrate first and consume food to retard any alcohol absorption"

Cheers!