Impact of Alcohol on Fitness

Alcohol can be a fun way to indulge in the social scene, but unfortunately, it comes at a high cost to your fitness plan. Especially if you are trying to lose or maintain weight, the calories add up fast. Don’t believe me? Check the caloric content of a few popular alcoholic beverages:

-Cosmopolitan (8 oz.) = 151 calories
-Bud light (12 oz.) = 110 calories
-Budweiser (12 oz.) = 146 calories
-Shot of 100 proof liquor (1.5 oz.) = 124 calories
-Shot of 80 proof liquor (1.5 oz) = 97 calories
-Pina Colada cocktail (4.5 oz) = 245 calories
-Vodka & Cranberry (8 oz) = 250 calories
-Rum & Coke (8 oz) = 240 calories
-Merlot red wine (5 oz) = 123 calories
-Pinot Grigiot white wine (5 oz) = 123 calories
-Champagne (4 oz) = 85 calories

Some of those 8 oz. drinks are more calories than one entire meal. Not to mention the fact that when most people drink, they have more than one drink. Before you know it, you’ve just gulped down 500 calories. Most beers contain high amounts of carbs (or sugar), which is stored mainly in the abdomen. I guess you can figure out why it's called a “beer belly.”

According to the Marin Institute for preventing alcohol problems, alcohol has more calories per gram than sugar and tends to be stored as fat in the abdomen. Along with contributing to weight gain, the Marin Institute reports that alcohol interferes with cardio-respiratory fitness by causing the heart and lungs to work less efficiently. It may also damage muscle groups and cause dehydration.

South Florida fitness trainer, Doug Jackson adds, “Not only is it easy to consume too many excess calories when drinking alcohol; alcohol also puts the body in a state not conducive for fat burning and muscle building. Alcohol intake spikes insulin levels, which can lead to fat storage, and then can quickly drop a person into a hypoglycemic state where they continue to crave sugary drinks and junk food.”

Fitness may be jeopardized when surplus amounts of alcohol are consumed but many other health risks come into play, and extreme bingeing can even cause death. Young people ages 18 to 25 have the highest prevalence of binge (39%) and heavy (14%) drinking. At age 21, a peak rate of 48.2% for binge and 17.8% for heavy drinking occurs, according to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

If fitness and health are not good enough reasons to keep your drinking to a minimum, these scary statistics might. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that each year, students between the ages of 18 and 24:

• 1,700 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.
• 599,000 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol.
• More than 696,000 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking alcohol.
• More than 97,000 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.

Keep your fitness in check by limiting yourself. If you're a female keep it to one - two drinks and if you’re a male just two or three drinks. Wake up feeling better knowing you didn’t drink your workout away (and without a hangover!)