alright, in frustration of having to discuss this matter over and over and over again for people lacking the discipline to not drink while doing a cycle, i'm going to just make a list of all the issues associated with drinking while on a cycle or even just drinking and how it negatively affects the body in general. that way i can save the link to this post and save myself from posting about this issue time and time again, which by the way i'm quite disappointed in their being such a need to. well, here we go...
1. Alcohol negatively affects protein synthesis - this is a known scientific fact guys and one that is obviously a big hinderance to our goals considering decreased protein synthesis means decreased muscle recovery and growth. though you may blow it off thinking it's effects can't be that dramatic, think again. alcohol can decrease our bodies ability to synthesize protein by up to 20%.
2. Alcohol adversely affects growth hormone and igf - this applies not only to exogenous, but endogenous gh and igf as well, and the effects are quite significant, particularly on igf. alcohol can lower igf levels by as much as 30-40%.
3. Alcohol causes dehydration - in order to break down the alcohol, the kidneys must filter a large amount of water. considering our muscles are made of 70% water and water plays a huge role in muscle recovery and growth, this is obviously a big problem. for those mistakingly thinking the dehydrating effect isn't that significant, here's something to think about... Alcohol can cause up to a 3% loss in body weight from water loss in a 4 hour period.
4. Alcohol lowers testosterone and increases estrogen levels - this occurs due to alcohols increase in our bodies aromitization process. now, anyone with even a basic knowledge on testosterone and estrogen would know this is a very unfavorable effect on our bodies. long story short, it's effects include reduced muscle growth/recovery, increased fat storage, and other feminization effects.
5. Alcohol depletes our bodies of vitamins and minerals - the most prominent of those being the b vitamins (b-6,b-12, etc), vit a, vit c, phosphorous, calcium, and zinc. Obviously lacking in these nutrients can seriously hinder muscle growth, recovery, and even maintenance.
6. Calories from Alcohol are primarily stored as bodyfat - best said in this quote "carbohydrates found in alcohol are not converted into glucose and are used to make fatty acids that are stored as fat typically in the liver which eventually alters the metabolism of proteins and the liver’s function leading to fibrosis and cirrhosis (irreversible liver damage)" (article 3). . nuff said.
7. Alcohol negatively affects our bodies kreb's cycle - this is our bodies ability to burn fat as an energy source. so if our body doesn't burn fat as an energy source, the alternatives are blood glucose, muscle glycogen, and muscle protein, the third of which of course us bb's try to avoid at all costs.
8. Alcohol negatively affects our REM sleep - this occurs even in minor alcohol consumption (2-3 drinks). it negatively affects the duration of our REM sleep, it's quality, and the overall time we're in REM during our resting period. see article 5 below for more info.
9. Alcohol decreases our bodies immune system - considering gear can lower our immunity systems as it is, alcohol can increase our chances of getting sick or getting infections even more, and quite dramatically, even in small amounts. obviously being sick means less time in the gym, or at least a decreased ability to recover while working out.
10. Alcohol increases cortisol production - cortisol is one of the worst chemicals we can have floating around in our bodies as far as negatively affecting our muscle mass. if you don't know what cortisol is and why you want to avoid increasing it's production, just do a wikipedia search about cortisol and you'll see why. basically, it will break down muscle mass into amino acids as a stress response.
well, there you have it. even those who use the justification of moderate alcohol consumption can see that even at low levels of consumption, it can still have a dramatic impact on your gains. if the above information and the links provided below don't convince you to try to stop the drinking and find other things to do to enjoy your weekends, then honestly i don't know what to tell you.
maybe a good follow-up to this thread should be one giving a list of alternatives to drinking on the weekends and other ways to go out and have fun?
article 1 - alcohols effect on protein synthesis - http://ajpendo.physiology.org/cgi/co...act/277/2/E268
article 2 - effects on gh and igf - http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi...tract/35/2/148
article 3 - several good pieces of info on the negative effects of alcohol - http://www.athletics.mcgill.ca/sport...article_id=613
article 4 - alcohols aromatization effects - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...92570f68613e73
article 5 - http://www.mindandmuscle.net/mindand...hp?artID=99959
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Originally Posted by Bojangles69
