Drinking alcohol while trying to build a physique

[Turkeybuilder]

Can it be done? If alcohol consumption is in moderation?

I’ve skimmed through every thread on this forum in relation to alcohol and every thread talks about trying to train while being a straight up alcoholic, but that’s not what I want to discuss.

We should discuss: Can you build a reasonably impressive physique while drinking alcohol once a week, or are the negative effects THAT bad on muscle growth? We can discuss this assuming that the person drinking is at-least on testosterone, since this is a steroid forum after all.

I personally drink once every two weeks with some buddies but when I do drink it’s never casual, usually 5+ drinks. I haven’t noticed recovery difficulties the following day especially if I hydrate before sleeping. (I’m also 27 years old)

Thoughts? Experiences?

 

[RockyP]

Can it be done? If alcohol consumption is in moderation?

I’ve skimmed through every thread on this forum in relation to alcohol and every thread talks about trying to train while being a straight up alcoholic, but that’s not what I want to discuss.

We should discuss: Can you build a reasonably impressive physique while drinking alcohol once a week, or are the negative effects THAT bad on muscle growth? We can discuss this assuming that the person drinking is at-least on testosterone, since this is a steroid forum after all.

I personally drink once every two weeks with some buddies but when I do drink it’s never casual, usually 5+ drinks. I haven’t noticed recovery difficulties the following day especially if I hydrate before sleeping. (I’m also 27 years old)

Thoughts? Experiences?

During my 15+ year hiatus from PED's i drank quite a bit. Not every day, but if i went out to dinner it was usually 1-2 cocktails and 2 glasses of wine. Beer on the weekends during football season, etc. I was always lifting, just no PEDs. When I was bulking I found no impact on my performance from stuff like IPAs (likely from all the fucking carbs). But here's what I realize now that I've given up alcohol (for more than a year or so)...

1) even one cocktail fucks me up for the next day - hydration wise and also BP wise. the last time I drank I had 2 martini's with dinner. Didn't get dehyrdated and didn't eat poorly. the following morning (I take my it daily), by BP was 20 points higher.

2) If you're not on a GLP-1 (and if you are on a GLP-1 my guess is you will have zero interest in alcohol), the main issue with alcohol i see is that it makes you hungry and can diminish your inhibitions to stay on your diet.

3) Alcohol is totally empty calories. It is not part of the lifestyle of someone in physical culture. There are zero redeeming qualities. Oh and by the way, it's a carcinogen. The recommended weekly dosage is zero...point...zero (Hope you've seen Animal House, if not that makes less sense, but it really is zero).

A drink every now and again is fine, but for my addictive personality, if I'm drinking that seldom I would rather not drink at all. And calorie-wise, I'd rather have some sushi than a few beers.

 

[BigDadd7]

Sure. You can eat twinkies for dinner too. How bad do you want to reach your goals?

I have one or two drinks on Saturday night. Always with equal amounts of water.

 

[Turkeybuilder]

During my 15+ year hiatus from PED's i drank quite a bit. Not every day, but if i went out to dinner it was usually 1-2 cocktails and 2 glasses of wine. Beer on the weekends during football season, etc. I was always lifting, just no PEDs. When I was bulking I found no impact on my performance from stuff like IPAs (likely from all the fucking carbs). But here's what I realize now that I've given up alcohol (for more than a year or so)...

1) even one cocktail fucks me up for the next day - hydration wise and also BP wise. the last time I drank I had 2 martini's with dinner. Didn't get dehyrdated and didn't eat poorly. the following morning (I take my it daily), by BP was 20 points higher.

2) If you're not on a GLP-1 (and if you are on a GLP-1 my guess is you will have zero interest in alcohol), the main issue with alcohol i see is that it makes you hungry and can diminish your inhibitions to stay on your diet.

3) Alcohol is totally empty calories. It is not part of the lifestyle of someone in physical culture. There are zero redeeming qualities. Oh and by the way, it's a carcinogen. The recommended weekly dosage is zero...point...zero (Hope you've seen Animal House, if not that makes less sense, but it really is zero).

A drink every now and again is fine, but for my addictive personality, if I'm drinking that seldom I would rather not drink at all. And calorie-wise, I'd rather have some sushi than a few beers.

that BP increase is crazy especially for only having two drinks. It seems like alcohol has a crazy impact on you. Personally my interest in alcohol is absolutely 0 but all my buddies love to go out to drink all the time and even if we’re just hanging at someones house everyones drinking. I told myself i’ll let loose once every two weeks and for events. I haven’t noticed too much negative effects yet but maybe i’m not looking close enough. Thankfully even when i’m absolutely shwasted I have the sense of mind to not pig out and eat, and usually when I have a planned drinking day i’ll plan my calories knowing i’ll have atleast 400-500 calories of liquor. I stick to hard liquor.

Sure. You can eat twinkies for dinner too. How bad do you want to reach your goals?

I have one or two drinks on Saturday night. Always with equal amounts of water.

Have you noticed your few drinks once a week effect anything? Personally myself if I drink it will never be just one or two drinks. So i’m either shwasted or staying sober

 

[RockyP]

that BP increase is crazy especially for only having two drinks. It seems like alcohol has a crazy impact on you. Personally my interest in alcohol is absolutely 0 but all my buddies love to go out to drink all the time and even if we’re just hanging at someones house everyones drinking. I told myself i’ll let loose once every two weeks and for events. I haven’t noticed too much negative effects yet but maybe i’m not looking close enough. Thankfully even when i’m absolutely shwasted I have the sense of mind to not pig out and eat, and usually when I have a planned drinking day i’ll plan my calories knowing i’ll have atleast 400-500 calories of liquor. I stick to hard liquor.



Have you noticed your few drinks once a week effect anything? Personally myself if I drink it will never be just one or two drinks. So i’m either shwasted or staying sober

Do you check your BP regularly? If so, have you ever checked it the morning after dinking? I know you are 27 but but it might be worth it to have that info especially if you're on gear. The other thing I forgot to mention was liver stress. I train very hard and my AST / ALT are always a little out of range (GGT is always normal), but if you want to run something like high dose Primo and / or orals, it makes drinking a total no-go. I dont think you're doing any serious damage to your health with the drinking you've described but if you ever decide to go on a real blast with stuff like orals, tren, high dose primo (it's methylated), etc. I would skip the booze.

 

[DeodatoFulci]

Since starting TRT and Reta, my interest in drinking has diminished greatly. I did play a live gig a few weeks ago and had a double whiskey neat and that was it for the entire evening.

 

[Bandern]

Alcohol is for natty’s and only when they’re driving. Boosts testosterone x10

 

[sionnach]

Thoughts? Experiences?

The pros and cons list is very lopsided. Why do you want to?

 

[wp_375]

I don't understand the question.

Anyone with above a room temp IQ knows drinking alcohol has many negatives and no benefit for building muscle or staying in shape. So either don't drink it at all or accept that it is suboptimal and your desire to drink it outweighs the negative effects it might have and do it anyway. Those are the only two options LOL

 

[Kylesmith1985]

I drank daily in my 20's about 6oz of vodka every night and stayed 8-10% bodyfat year round.

Keep in mind I didnt get hangovers and trained hard regardless if I drank the night before or not. I also tracked my calories and would reduce the amount of carbs or fats for the same amount of calories I drank in alcohol.

What can really fuck you with alcohol is not jus the empty calories but the hangovers and food choices with the lowered inhibitions while intoxicated.

Would I have made better progress without drinking? Yes.

I also didnt get shreddy shred, christmas tree veins running through abs shredded till I nearly removed alcohol.

 

[hexagonal]

Can you still build a physique while drinking some? Sure. The drinking certainly won't help, but if you do it in measured amounts and make up for it with your diet in general, it's not like a drink or two on an off day is going to kill all your gains or blow up your calories.

But the more you drink, the more impactful it is. And if you're doing it on cycle, the more stress you're putting on your already stressed body. This stuff isn't healthy for us already, do you really want to add to it?

If your goal physique is just "Pretty damn good and eyecatching to normal people," then you can probably drink a fair amount. You just have to look at places that have a heavy party culture to see that you can find plenty of people with that level of physique doing the partying. Spend a weekend in Miami. If your goal is competing on stage at a high level? You've got enough challenges to overcome without putting more in front of you.

 

[Turkeybuilder]

The pros and cons list is very lopsided. Why do you want to?

they absolutely are. i think it's just difficult not to at the current stage in my life, my buddies always want to go out for drinks either at a bar or a club so sometimes I just end up in a situation where I have to drink and I try to mitigate the negatives as much as possible

I drank daily in my 20's about 6oz of vodka every night and stayed 8-10% bodyfat year round.

Keep in mind I didnt get hangovers and trained hard regardless if I drank the night before or not. I also tracked my calories and would reduce the amount of carbs or fats for the same amount of calories I drank in alcohol.

What can really fuck you with alcohol is not jus the empty calories but the hangovers and food choices with the lowered inhibitions while intoxicated.

Would I have made better progress without drinking? Yes.

I also didnt get shreddy shred, christmas tree veins running through abs shredded till I nearly removed alcohol.

I think keeping a good BF % is very possible while drinking, that wasn't ever the question really, moreso I wonder how badly it effects new muscle growth

 

[Turkeybuilder]

I don't understand the question.

Anyone with above a room temp IQ knows drinking alcohol has many negatives and no benefit for building muscle or staying in shape. So either don't drink it at all or accept that it is suboptimal and your desire to drink it outweighs the negative effects it might have and do it anyway. Those are the only two options LOL

For sure and nobody is arguing that. I try to keep drinking to a minimum but sometimes it's impossible to avoid especially if I want to have a relatively normal social life with my buddies.

Can you still build a physique while drinking some? Sure. The drinking certainly won't help, but if you do it in measured amounts and make up for it with your diet in general, it's not like a drink or two on an off day is going to kill all your gains or blow up your calories.

But the more you drink, the more impactful it is. And if you're doing it on cycle, the more stress you're putting on your already stressed body. This stuff isn't healthy for us already, do you really want to add to it?

If your goal physique is just "Pretty damn good and eyecatching to normal people," then you can probably drink a fair amount. You just have to look at places that have a heavy party culture to see that you can find plenty of people with that level of physique doing the partying. Spend a weekend in Miami. If your goal is competing on stage at a high level? You've got enough challenges to overcome without putting more in front of you.

I like this response a lot. it seems pretty on par with what I was thinking too. I'm by no means trying to step on stage but I want to have a physique where I can walk into a room and people will notice the hard work, while also being able to maintain a social life with occasionally going out to the bar / club with the boys and have some drinks.

 

[AscensionIncoming]

Fuck alcohol. Use pregabalin and baclofen as a replacement for drinking, or as a way to drink a lot less on nights out. These drugs act on the same receptors that alcohol does but without the same empty calories and negative affects on sleep, MPS, etcetera. So you can cut loose a little bit and have fun without fucking up your progress

 

[Turkeybuilder]

Fuck alcohol. Use pregabalin and baclofen as a replacement for drinking, or as a way to drink a lot less on nights out. These drugs act on the same receptors that alcohol does but without the same empty calories and negative affects on sleep, MPS, etcetera. So you can cut loose a little bit and have fun without fucking up your progress

Don't get me wrong I absolutely respect the fuck out of anyone who is capable of going out with their friends to the bar/club and end up not drinking. I mean before I started taking my lifting seriously I was probably going out 2-3 times a week, and now it's only once every couple weeks because i'm so locked in on the gym. The whole point of this post was to just try to find out how much of an effect drinking once a week or once every couple weeks would have on muscle building

 

[BigDadd7]

Don't get me wrong I absolutely respect the fuck out of anyone who is capable of going out with their friends to the bar/club and end up not drinking. I mean before I started taking my lifting seriously I was probably going out 2-3 times a week, and now it's only once every couple weeks because i'm so locked in on the gym. The whole point of this post was to just try to find out how much of an effect drinking once a week or once every couple weeks would have on muscle building

With the amount you describe, there is no noticeable effect at an amateur level.

 

[malfeasance]

Franco: Well one of the craziest moments involved Albert. Back then Albert sold vitamins and minerals. And he kept telling us that brewer’s yeast will help you build muscles. And when we started taking this brewers yeast, I thought my skin was shining! I mean, it really felt better, and wow, we never took brewers yeast before and we really liked it! Then I said to Arnold, ‘You know they have brewers yeast in beer!’ So we thought, ‘Hey, it might be a good idea to drink beer when we trained!'(laughs). So downstairs was a bar and a little restaurant, and because the owner knew us, he said we could pay once a week, and then we could come down and get beer every day. So we would look out across the street and at the hotels. And people in the hotels used to watch us because the windows were open. We would do a set, then after a couple of sets, we would go drink a little beer in the window, then do more sets.
So one day when we went downstairs, the guy said, ‘No more beer for you guys.’ When we asked why he said that that had no more mugs for their customers! He said we took beer but didn’t bring back the mugs. So I went upstairs and told Arnold the guy won’t give us any more beer because we have all the mugs! They were all in the windows. We had ten mugs in each window! So the rest of the day probably we spent going up and down stairs taking all the mugs back so that we could have more beer, cause we needed it to train! Crazy times in the gym!

THE CONSTANT PARTNER - Muscle & Fitness

Franco Columbu, the most celebrated of Arnold’s training partners over the years, was also a great champion in his own right. Here, he reflects on some of his sessions in the weight room with The Oak Interview by Jimmy Pena, MS, CSCS | Photos courtesy Weider Health and Fitness For our online...

www.muscleandfitness.com

They had two classes, above two hundred, below two hundred. And a few years later, when he started competing, I would win all of them. And we transferred powerlifting to bodybuilding, and that was the best education for us. The muscles looked stronger and better, and that was the best education that we ever learned. Also, we always drank beer, we never went on a diet.

 

[Elektrobot]

Can it be done? If alcohol consumption is in moderation?

After learning these things, I stopped drinking alcohol:

Alcohol reduces the uptake and storage of glycogen by muscle tissue.

Alcohol inhibits protein synthesis

Because alcohol is toxic, your liver must process it immediately, essentially pausing the metabolism of other energy sources like fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. This can lead to the calories from other foods being stored as fat, especially in the abdominal area.

After understanding how alcohol impacts the processes that I wished to optimize, I saw having a drink as a step backwards at the end of a day.

 

[Rand]

Is it the alcohol

Or the bodybuilder attitude

One feels he builds enough, so tries his hand at body destroying

And when one finds out, he is better at body destroying

What then

Your liver your choice

 

[eryximachus]

Alcohol has estrogenic effects at higher doses (like above 1 drink).

Drinking is just stupid if you're trying to build muscle. Now, if you're just using gear to look good - gear will absolutely counteract many of the negative effects of alcohol. Except the big one - poor judgment.

My personal opinion is alcohol is just stupid.