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Whether it’s a few beers after work with the guys, or a family celebration, alcohol often finds its way into our lives. Of course, consumed sporadically, alcohol isn’t going to have a huge impact on your life.
After all, we’re allowed to have fun! But regular drinking and over-consuming booze can have a negative impact on your testosterone levels.
I’m here to tell all in the video below! But if you happen to be sneakily reading this at work, no problem, as I also give the lowdown a little further down.
Alcohol and testosterone levels
Looking after your overall health is important to support healthy testosterone production. As the primary male sex hormone, testosterone is crucial for building muscle mass. The more free T you have, the easier (and faster) it is to build muscle.
Drinking too much alcohol can have both a short and long term impact on your body’s hormones, including your testosterone. In order to produce testosterone, three primary glands need to work together. Alcohol, unfortunately, can have a negative impact on your T production, by interfering with these glands.
Can alcohol have long-term effects on testosterone?
We’ve all heard of ‘whiskey dick’, right? After a few too many beers, it can be hard to get (and maintain) an erection. While this may be the short term effect of drinking too much alcohol – as well as a horrid hangover – excessive drinking can have long term effects.
Also Read: Does beer get in the way of building muscle?
While of course, the odd beer won’t do you any harm, studies have shown that acute alcohol misuse can lead to long-term testicular damage. Therefore, when your T levels take the brunt, alcohol and bodybuilding most certainly won’t prove successful – since testosterone is crucial for muscle growth.
Drinking alcohol and losing weight
It’s not called a ‘beer belly’ for no reason… Yep, alcohol is a common factor in weight gain. This means, naturally, it can impact your goal of losing weight too.
Alcohol also contains more calories than you may think, interfering with your weight loss efforts. While cutting down on alcohol or not drinking at all will not necessarily produce weight loss immediately, it can be a good first step.
The effects of alcohol on recovery time
If you’re hitting the gym or consistently doing home workouts, consuming too much alcohol could be holding back your progress.
Not only does alcohol have the power to reduce your testosterone levels, but it can also increase your estrogen levels, as well as cortisol – the stress hormone.
Also Read: Bulked-up ingredients to boost your t-levels
Men with too much estrogen may develop gynecomastia, a condition that leads to larger breasts. It’s also pretty common to suffer from erectile dysfunction (ED) if your estrogen levels are higher than they should be.
Furthermore, the increase of cortisol – the stress hormone – can also negatively impact your testosterone levels and protein synthesis. This means that going hard in the gym is kinda wasted, eurgh. Let’s say you like to drink every weekend, if you’re working out during the week, your weekend is the time for your body to rest. This means that when you’re drinking, your recovery rate is hard to achieve, making it even harder to work out when your next gym session comes around.
Alcohol and building muscle
After a sweaty session at the gym, you might feel as though you fancy a few beers. But if a ‘few’ turns into beer overload, you could be suppressing protein synthesis.
Also Read: Alcohol and Testosterone: The Facts
Research has shown that heavy drinking impairs recovery times and muscle growth, deeming your workout efforts totally wasted. This is why moderation is key.
What about if you drink daily?
The time it takes for alcohol to get out of your system, the longer (and harder) your body is going to have to work in order to recover post-workout. So, what can you do?
Try to cut back on drinking regularly. If you do fancy a drink, reward yourself with a drink or two at occasions or milestones, try to avoid it from becoming a daily occurrence.
So, what should you do?
Cut back on alcohol consumption. While the odd beer won’t throw your muscle gains out the window entirely, if you are drinking a little too much your body will struggle to recover.
Not only that, but if you’re aiming to build muscle, it’s going to be pretty damn hard when your body is busy processing alcohol. Instead, try out some alcohol-free alternatives, and switch out booze for healthy substitutes. Not every scenario needs alcohol to make it fun, after all.
A well-rounded approach to healthy living is key here. Not only for your performance in the gym, but also in the bedroom.
If you’re trying to build muscle, lose weight and enhance your stamina, why not try Testogen alongside a healthy lifestyle? With just four capsules a day, you can safely and naturally increase your testosterone levels, for improved energy, performance, muscle growth, libido and fat loss.
