Have you ever thought about the effects of alcohol and how it can affect fat loss and muscle gain?

Now before I begin this is not me saying do not drink alcohol at all, we live in the UK. We are a nation that is notorious for socialising and getting a little wild….

But if you are serious about losing fat or gaining muscle this blog will make you think about your approach to alcohol a little differently.

Now let’s look at it from a fat loss perspective, you’ve stuck to your deficit all week and smashed it.

You go out on Saturday and end up sinking 10 pints and a donner kebab at the end of the night.

The next day you feel like crap, so what do you do?

McDonalds breakfast, every bit of chocolate in sight, order another takeout…… you get the point. 

You’ve now gone from being in a deficit to now staying at maintenance or even into a surplus.

You repeat this process every week and end up spinning your wheels.

Look where the issue started, the alcohol.

What needs to change is a few things…

First of all, limit the number of times you go out and get absolutely shitfaced.

Secondly, remember you can have a couple of pints. It doesn’t have to be 10.

Thirdly, resume your normal eating habits the next day and stop searching for all the tasty high calorie stuff.

See, we now have a scenario where you drink alcohol, and you are now able to lose body fat. 

Now let’s come at it from the perspective of wanting to gain some size. 

The issue with drinking alcohol and wanting to gain muscle is that studies have shown that alcohol consumption reduces muscle protein synthesis (MPS), which reduces the possibility of gaining muscle. 

This makes it sound like you will grow zero muscle, this is not true.

The process just slows down, so unless you are a bodybuilder looking to target specific areas I wouldn’t worry too much. 

Drinking in moderation will not be an issue in the long run. 

The issue lies with the people who drink a lot a couple of times per week.

Not only do you face the issues of slowing MPS down, but you end up having poorer dietary choices in the long run due to feeling shit.

Not to mention the effect it has on your sleep, stress levels, general mood, hormone levels etc.

Drinking in excessive amounts frequently just isn’t the smart thing to do if you want to gain muscle or lose fat.

It’s not the smart thing to do if you want to function as a normal human being week to week.

Ultimately enjoy alcohol in more controlled infrequent amounts and you have nothing to worry about.

If you want to read into things a little bit deeper about how it affects us overall, then click on the link!

If you feel you may need some further help with how to do this then click on the link below to book a call with us!

We are here to BREAK THE CYCLE!

Hope you have a great day,

Ben Mannion
Head Coach
RikFit Dynamic Coaching
07727919966