If you are pressured by your buds, bros, mates, and amigos to drink then you’re clearly not jacked enough.
The solution to drinking for anyone dedicated to the iron is easy.
Step 1 - Increase your neck size
Step 2 - If you’re not on a diet, have
a drink or two. Well all know
what moderation means. Just
actually use moderation.
I’ve known people who started off using alcohol
as a social crutch who have become alcoholics.
Sure, it doesn’t always lead to this but as a rule of thumb you should strive to be dependent on as few a list of substances as possible.
And getting a big neck takes less time than getting big arms.
[quote]Rocky101 wrote:
Lack of sleep and poor nutrition will have a worse effect than a few drinks. As long as you can drink without getting hungover and sick you should be fine. I know I have broken PR’s after a weekend of drinking(only drink in the evenings not the whole weekend). Everything in moderation[/quote]
Personally i still believe that while that is true, you did get new PR’s… if you hadnt been drinking, your body would have made new neural pathways or hypertrophied myofybrils or replenished cPh Stores quicker, leading to better recovery and more growth.
Just because you didnt notice it, doesnt mean shit - i dont notice one workouts results… only 20+ workouts show a millimetre of difference!
[quote]Artem wrote:
I can relate to you. I’m only in High School, but pressure to drink and smoke and whatnot is still very present. All I can say is props to you for making such a big change.
Somebody said that drinking hard liquor is worse than beers. Is that true? Is taking shots of Vodka worse than drinking beers? What has a bigger calorie/alcohol percentage ratio?
Has anybody worked out stoned? I never have for fear of wasting a workout taking 5 minute rest breaks listening to music and slacking in my lifts. How is it? Working out on X… it’s either gonna hurt like shit or feel amazing…[/quote]
As a younger, more reckless man i have worked out in a variety of states. On sleeping tablets, drunk, stoned off Heroin, coked up… name it.
I had my troubles… but now i dont smoke, hardly ever touch alcohol and sure dont touch drugs… took 13 years of my life.
You kids who are worried about working out stoned or drunk… you keep it up, you look to make yourselves bigger, stronger and fitter than you partying counterparts. It is worth it in the end, and they will only have to quit everything they started in school 10,20,30 years down the line.
While you will have been making gains all the way along!
[quote]SHSU_rugger wrote:
I’m about ready to give up drinking all together. I was a arrested last friday night 2 days before my birthday while trying to walk home from the bar. They copped me a PI and I spent the night in the hooscal, if I was you I’d let it go all together. It makes you hungry for shitty food, grows your gut, and stimulates estrogen production. Honestly it’s just not worth it anymore.[/quote]
[quote]Joe Brook wrote:
You kids who are worried about working out stoned or drunk… you keep it up, you look to make yourselves bigger, stronger and fitter than you partying counterparts. It is worth it in the end, and they will only have to quit everything they started in school 10,20,30 years down the line.
While you will have been making gains all the way along!
Joe[/quote]
Yep I agree with this 100%, Ive given up drinking for the past three months once Ive gotten into training. Since that time, I started training in early February, Ive gone from 155 pounds to around 180-185 presently. I think the lack sleepless/foodless/drunk weekends has worked tremendously. To top it off Im still putting on mass, its not all muscle, but it aint just fat, eating clean and Ive never felt better or stronger. The less bad things you do to your body the better it will serve you, by getting hammered regularly, you are hurting your self and setting your self back, two steps forward one step back if you like.
Not drinking is better for you. The fact that the people who do still drink don’t seem to notice the effects means shit. the people who stopped for a decent length of time all notice the benefits and that is the base for the case.
BUT what i will say, is that when young, if you really want to drink… go for it, you have the recovery and it wont effect youTOO much (still a little), but IMHO, after late 20’s to 30’s… a choice needs to be made, as recovery after a heavy night sets you back days in training, and the hangovers get worse.
Quitting smoking (anything at all) and cutting drinking dramatically were the best decisions i have made in regards to my health, fitness and bodybuilding goals ever.
Alcohol is poison and a toxin. That is a fact. Im not anit-alcohol I love to have the occasional drink. It does hinder gains. The body does not respond too well to a toxin. It hinders gains, I don’t want to wast time looking up a bunch of scientific evidence to prove that it is better not to drink. There is no argument here and if you want to argue about it then keep drinking.
People who look for a reason for it to be good for you or for it to “not be bad” for you just want to keep drinking, that’s all. You can’t be a bodybuilder and even a social or casual drinker. Every top level amateur and professional bodybuilder I’ve met will drink maybe 2-3 times a year and it might only be like 3 beers or 3 shots at a time and thats it.
If you want to drink have some red wine with dinner every now and then. Not only is it hearth healthy it has been proven to be a slight aromatase inhibitor which means more Vitamin T floating around to be used in your body.
However, you can gain plenty of muscle and still have fun. For me, if I gave up everything that wasn’t assisting my training I would find life to be boring. I train hard and from time to time go out and have fun.
[quote]Wilba wrote:
Clearly drinking is not good for your body.
However, you can gain plenty of muscle and still have fun. For me, if I gave up everything that wasn’t assisting my training I would find life to be boring. I train hard and from time to time go out and have fun.
If you don’t have a problem with booze it’s fine.
[/quote]
I think that depends how much you love the sport of bodybuilding and at what level you are at.
I know many top amateur competitors that hardly ever drink. I was a top teen competitor and plan to be a top amateur and professional bodybuilder someday. I drink maybe 2-3 times a year. I still go out a lot and have fun. I might have a diet coke or something so people might even think I’m drinking when I’m not. In my opinion and experience I actually have more fun now going out and staying sober than getting sloshed like I used to. lol
Idk if your a hardcore bodybuilder, bodybuilding is your life, and you want to have the best physique possible, you can see where you’d be against alcohol 99% of the time. If your just your average gym goer who wants to have a nice physique to get some pu$$y then thats another story. Not being negative to people who are lifting just to look better, to them a drink on a weekend is no big deal. To people who are and plan to compete at a high level someday, that drink is a big deal and should be avoided. lol
All this IMO of course…
I can probably find the link again if I really need to search but I read that alcohol slows down the bodys ability to burn fat. It is also harder for the mitochondria in your cells to convert the calories to be used for energy thus making it easier to put on fat. It’s catabolic and lowers testosterone levels. It is anti-building muscle. Everything about it is anti-bodybuilding.
For the john who wants to just look good nekkid and pull and have girls grab their arm and go “oo-hoo… you work out lover…?” then more power to ya, have a pint on me!
But for me, i know i for 1/ cant just have one drink, so it ends up ruining my workouts, and 2/ i know if i am to be where i need to be in a year, then i havent got time to get pissed-up!
Of course if you are a hardcore bodybuilder and bodybuilding “is your life”. If you read what I wrote again you will see that I am comming from a different perspective.
But like others have said there is the Arnold argument.
First of all- to the OP, don’t lie or make up some stupid shit about being a diabetic, training for some event you really aren’t training for, etc. Some stupid advice if you ask me.
Just go out and nurse a few beers, drink some water, etc. one night a week. You are in college. Let’s say you go out from 9pm-2am. Having 6 beers over that span aint going to do much to harm your gains imho if you are working out hard, eating right and getting good rest the other 95% of the week.
Alcohol in excess obviously hurts progress in the gym. Gerdy’s distinction between those who just want to get bigger/stronger and look good nekkid vs. those that are planning to compete against the top 0.001% of physiques in the world, then you need to keep all aspects of diet in check. Arnold did drink beer though.
Drinking alcohol is unhealthful. Everyone knows this. One also knows whether or not they want to do it; if one does, then drink, if one does not, then do not drink.
Certainly don’t pretend you are a diabetic, however, that’s just ridiculous. If you don’t want to drink, say fuck-all to the people that try to make you feel bad about it. They’re morons, anyway.
Obviously drinking is bad for you especially if you are the type of person that takes your body to its limits, but if you’re like many and have a semi-rowdy social life, I don’t see the problem with drinking in moderation. I’ve always been a believer that anything done to an extreme can be bad, even something like training.
Sure, you ultimately may make better gains, but at what opportunity cost? If those types of social events aren’t your thing anyways, then shit, stay clean and you’ll be happy. But if that appeals to you, I say indulge some, but train hard and eat well. I think especially when you’re in college like many of us you can get away with it and really have the best of both worlds. Just my two cents coming from my own experience.
In a bodybuilding forum when the question is asked about alcohol and training the answer should be avoid at all cost.
All the other reasons about moderation, etc is the person’s choice. Will it affect them to a serious degree that your avg person will even notice. Probably not. So consume at your own risk.
Physiologically the body will not build muscle or burn fat with alcohol in their system.
Use at your own risk!
I’m done now somebody pass me a cold one to get rid of the headache from this thread. lol just kidding.
