Have you ever wondered if drinking alcohol is killing your gains and hurting your ability to build muscle? If so, then you’re definitely going to want to watch this video. We’re going to talk about whether or not alcohol has as a detrimental effect on muscle growth as you might think.
When it comes to alcohol and body composition, we can’t just look at alcohol and building muscle, but also at alcohol and losing fat. In both cases, alcohol has a role to play. You might think that the answer is simple enough in that drinking is always going to play a negative role, no matter what. Well, you might want to change that way of thinking after watching this video.
Now, if you are looking to lose fat, there are some things you need to be aware of when it comes to drinking alcohol. As it turns out, if your caloric intake is kept constant, there is likely no effect that alcohol will have on keeping fat off. Here’s the the thing, though; it’s not so easy.
Sitting at 7 calories per gram, alcohol sits closer in its caloric range to fat than it does say protein or carbohydrates. Not only that, but alcohol is not very satiating. What this means is that you are likely to consume more calories from drinking than you might think. Imagine how many protein shakes you can drink in one sitting versus how many alcoholic drinks you can in a single sitting and then compare the caloric intake. Alcohol also halts the metabolism of fats and carbs as it prioritizes the processing of the alcohol. This means that those fats and carbs are more likely to be stored by the body in the form of body fat.
When it comes to drinking alcohol and body fat deposition, I think I have a huge advantage because as someone that doesn’t drink, I don’t have to worry about these factors when it comes to staying as leans as I do. So if getting as lean as possible is your ultimate goal, then I would invite you to explore the option of avoiding drinking alcohol all together.
But what if you don’t want to abstain from drinking alcohol like I do, what then? In that case, I have a few recommendations that can help you stay lean without having to give up drinking. First, make sure you are eating lower calorie-dense but higher fiber foods. Decrease your fat intake on days where you know you will be drinking as well as decreasing the number of calories you are getting from non-protein sources due to alcohol’s blunting of muscle protein synthesis.
What about building muscle? Well, when you consider drinking alcohol and working out, you have to consider how much you are drinking. As it turns out, 1-3 drinks is not going to have much effect on building muscle, as long as you are not getting drunk (more on that later). On top of that, it’s been shown that there is a small increase in testosterone as well. Don’t get too excited though, it’s not enough to make a clinical difference, but at the same time, it illustrates that it isn’t going down (which is obviously a good thing when it comes to building more muscle).
Where alcohol and building muscle becomes a problem is when the drinking comes to the point of excess (getting drunk). We can’t really quantify how many drinks this is because every person’s tolerance is different based on a multitude of factors including size and what type of alcohol is being consumed. Since we can’t put a specific number, we’ll just use the bench mark of intoxication.
Heavy drinking effects muscle growth in two significant ways that you are going to want to be aware of. First, drinking in excess has been shown to drop testosterone levels acutely. Knowing how important testosterone is to building muscle, any significant lowering of the hormone is going to be a problem if you are looking to grow more muscle. Not only that, but heavy alcohol consumption also affects how protein is processed by the body. Alcohol has been shown to have a blunting effect on muscle protein synthesis which means that your body is not converting the protein you are eating into new muscle.
So, is drinking alcohol killing your gains? Well, like in many other instances, it depends. You have to be mindful of how much you are drinking as well as what food choices you are making when you are drinking alcohol.
If you are looking for a complete workout program and a step-by-step meal plan to build ripped athletic muscle, be sure to head to athelanx.com via the link below and use the program selector to find the program best suited to your goals.
Fore more videos on how to build muscle and the best way to recover between workouts, be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel below and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
Build ripped athletic muscle here – http://athleanx.com/x/my-workouts
Subscribe to this channel here – http://bit.ly/2b0coMW
Chris Wright
*NOTIFICATION SQUAD GIVEAWAY* – Alright guys, I’m giving away a complete 30 Day Workout program to 100 lucky clickers within the first hour this video is published! Remember, this is NOT THE FIRST 100, but those randomly selected within the first hour the video is published. Click the link to see if you’ve won. No strings attached!
https://giveaway.athleanx.com/ytg/drinking-and-gains
If you don’t win, no worries, you’re not going away empty handed. Just be sure you have your notifications turned on so you can get to my next video quickly and try again. Good luck and thanks for being a loyal subscriber…
Jeff, can you please give us a “SORE IN 6 MINUTES! BICEP WORKOUT!”
Good to have a control group. 10 points
beer has more calories then taking two shots of tequila
Hi Jeff I’m 15 and I don’t why whenever I run the area around my toe like what you call it tendons start to hurt. Even sometimes when walking.
Please just don’t pronounce my name. Everyone gets it wrong.
@Steven g ok bro I will keep trying thanks for telling that you won!
Recovering alcoholic here. Found out I had fatty liver disease. Was hitting the gym while drinking with the ax1 program and was seeing no gains and was losing zero weight. Finally had to go to the hospital for my liver and was told I had to stop drinking or risk liver failure.
Fast forward 8 months later and I’m at my second month of AX1 after detoxing my body, eating right, and completely quitting alcohol. I’ve finally been able to see that hard to lose weight around my abs, flanks, back and chin go away and finally put on enough muscle to be a solid 225.
Quitting alcohol and eating clean with the AX1 meal plan changed my life.
Thanks for your help, Jeff.
awesome share…glad u were lucky but telling your story i am sure helps motivate others as well
Very nice man, can I ask your height?
I quit smoking and drinking this New Years, dropped lots of fat, gained muscle, feel way better
Choice is yours
@IL TONI I’m 6 ft
I’m currently undergoing alcoholism treatment and came across this. Thank you, Jeff.
Good luck : )
May god help u
Respect! I lost many friends over the past two years to alcohol. All of them at least 20 years my junior. Good on you for taking that path.
Question for Jeff – if you spend a fair amount of time doing other physical activities besides lifting, how do you prioritize lifting? For instance, going climbing 3x a week or playing a sport, etc…
Depends to some extent how you feel. If you feel super exhausted and are lifting below what you normally can then that’s a sign you are over-training. Generally if you are doing strenuous physical activity which targets certain muscle groups to a greater extent you would want to avoid training those same muscles in the gym that same today or maybe if it was really strenuous even the next day as well.
If the sport or activity is more cardio based like most are, then you should be fine lifting in conjunction with sport without having any worries.
Just focus on your deads, squats, bench and some pullups/rows. I was still relatively muscular doing those half assed and grappling 4-5 times a week
Do full body on your lifting days
@Joe Joe that’s a good answer. You could also prioritize the muscle groups in the gym that don’t take as much of a hit from climbing. I imagine climbing involves a lot of back, core and arm work, so maybe prioritize chest and legs or whatever else
@Einstein Von Däniken in my experience climbing is mostly forearms. Some back and legs are involved but it is mostly grip strength
The drinking probably also affect your recovery which explains why he had such a sudden drop in lifting performance not just a stop in future gains. My resting heart rate is significantly increased after days of even moderate drinking (2-3 drinks in multiple hours, not even a buzz). Probably amplified by the fact that typically drinking comes with a later night and less sleep.
Not only less sleep, but much worse sleep.
Jeff don’t give in to peer pressure. Drinking personally lost its novelty very quickly to me. I drank during some sad and miserable years of my life but as soon as I got back in the gym and started caring about my diet again I stopped. Because I had goals and wanted nothing to hinder them so I could give ut my best effort at all times. Drinking just never felt worth it after that. Don’t drink, Jeff. Not worth it in my honest opinion
Thanks for the comment. Gotta do what we can to get to 2500.
Living drug and alcohol free is a lifestyle to be encouraged.
While it’s usually just playful conversation and teasing, I wish the norm wasn’t to try and convince the sober people to have their first beer.
Excellent content, you two!
Yeah, I didn’t really like the joke. It’s already normalized and hard for people to stay sober due to social pressure. (Or even drinking less.) Not impossible, but why make a hard, health positive thing, harder for people?
@tng og if Social pressure is driving you to drink, then you have deeper issues with Self Actualization. Seriously are we 15 years old again with our worries of what others “think” about us?
Right when Jesse broke out the Doritos, the idea for a new video hit me. What does Jesse eat on a typical day? I’m assuming it’s not as strict as Jeff’s nutrition. With the impressive gains Jesse has made, it would be interesting to get that insight.
He’s an ectomorph. He can probably eat whatever he wants. His challenge might be eating enough macros for his metabolism.
@Dome Piece 11 That has been my lifelong struggle
Im sure ive watched a video of Jeffs typical day eating. I remember he said he eats
Ice cream every night.
Back in my early years, when I partied to much the night before, I could feel the alcohol coming out of my pores the next morning working out. So that stopped my drinking a lot at 35 as part of my lifestyle now, so down to only two drinks on Friday & Saturday’s. Now at 64 my dedication of staying fit has kept me even more motivated with Jeff & Jesse’s videos. Thank you guys!
Don’t drink, Jeff
You’re a phenomenal role model and it’s not worth it to drink. Let Jesse be the irresponsible example
I stopped drinking in January. I wasn’t an alcoholic. Only drank once to twice a week, but my whiskey pours were probably 4 drinks worth in one. I have a fairly high tolerance naturally. This one change in conjunction with doing slightly more cardio has helped lose about 1-2 lbs per week in just over a month. And my mental state and motivation to eat healthy has greatly improved, as well as not feeling as sluggish the day after. I think I’ll stick with only drinking on very special occasions a few times a year, if that. The weekend drinking habit has already been broken, so I’m not seeing any reason to start drinking again.
35, never had a sip of alcohol my entire life. People ask me how all the time, but it’s like I don’t know man, NOT doing something is insanely easy. I don’t even think about it.
Don’t take the sip, Jeff. Keep the streak going. It’s effortless and dumbfounds drinkers, totally worth it.
I don’t even consider it “abstaining” because that implies you’re somehow holding yourself back. Drinkers don’t realize we don’t even have the urge.
Thanks for the comment. Gotta do what we can to get to 2500.
You’re lying.
The human ability to self-deceive is astounding.
I guess people keep chasing the high they get from drinking, and they can never forget how it feels. If you have never drank, you cannot even imagine what it feels like, so no effort is needed to abstain. There is nothing there to abstain from.
But WHY? You can drink moderately You know? You don’t need to get drunk and there are numerous health benefits of drinking moderately.
As a part time alcoholic i appreciate the honest and profound answers you give here. I always wondered how much exactly it does an impact. Reduced alcohol to a minimum a week for two months now and my gains are getting better, also the strength.
Even if I never drank much in my life, when I started to completely avoid alcohol I noticed a remarkable improvement in my workouts and overall energy.
Thanks for talking about this topic, Jeff!
Jesse had me rolling doing the drinking and eating on the set. Good for you Jeff for being drug free. I smoke some green often. Im sure it affects me in a ton of negative ways. Learn something new all the time here. Was fun to watch. Great video
Jeff, in July 16’ at 352lbs as a beer drinker I started to educate myself on health and fitness watching your channel. I drank until Oct 16’ and had three drinks since. Lost 128lbs now at 224lbs. Thank you for all you do. BTW all four of my sons now watch you.