Jeff Hertzog

The Negative Effects of Alcohol

First Published Sunday, September 7th 2008; 5:00 AM

A question asked frequently:

"Does alcohol have any significant negative effects on building muscle (or building strength and power)?"

The answer to this extremely common question is yes! Excessive consumption of alcohol will have a fairly significant negative effect on your workout performance and on your resulting strength and size gains. You should definitely be aware of how this drug (yes, alcohol is a drug) is affecting your gains:

1) It negatively affects protein synthesis.
2) It lowers testosterone and increases estrogen.
3) It dehydrates you.
4) It disrupts your sleep.
5) It depletes your body of vitamins and minerals.
6) It increases fat storage.

If you are looking to build and maintain as much strength, power and/or muscle mass as you possibly can, you really should limit your alcohol intake and save it for special occasions or follow my lead and not consume any at all!