Alcohol Awareness & Sport

If you're into sport and fitness at any level - whether training seriously, toning up or having a kick around the park - you should be aware of why and how alcohol can affect your body as well as the impact on your overall athletic performance.

Endurance
The blood sugar your body needs for energy is produced by the liver releasing glucose into the bloodstream. Exercising muscle cannot use alcohol as an energy source in fact - alcohol reduces your body's ability to produce this sugar, so you have less energy and less endurance capacity.

Body heat loss
Alcohol affects your body's ability to regulate temperature. If you've ever had that feeling of running hot and cold after a big night, you'll recognise this symptom. When playing or training, first alcohol in your system makes you feel feverish, then you lose body heat too fast, leading possibly to hypothermia in extreme cases. The longer you play or train, or the colder the weather, the greater the risk.

Reaction times
Alcohol affects the central nervous system, slowing down the information processing ability of the brain and these relaxant properties of alcohol can continue well after you've finished drinking. So the core skills necessary for any sport - your reactions, coordination, accuracy and balance - will be below par if your body has not had time to process all the alcohol in your system.

Muscle cramps
During exercise, your muscles burn sugar, producing lactic acid. Too much lactic acid leads to muscle fatigue and cramps. The alcohol left in your system after a few drinks the night before contributes to a bigger build up of lactic acid. Drinking alcohol also lowers your body's water and salt levels, another cause of developing muscle cramps. Consuming alcohol 24 hours before exercising dramatically increases the risk of you cramping up.

Sport injuries
Alcohol increases the bleeding and swelling around soft tissue injuries (sprains, bruises and cuts, which are the most common sport injuries) so you take longer to recover. Alcohol also masks pain, so you might delay getting treatment, which could make all the difference to a speedy recovery. If you've been injured, avoid alcohol - at least until you've had treatment.

Alcohol and sport are not good mixers.
Alcohol slows down reaction times, increases body heat loss and reduces endurance. If you have consumed alcohol 24 hours before exercising you're more likely to develop muscle cramps.

Give your body a chance to metabolise any alcohol in your system by avoiding alcohol 24 hours before playing or training If you've been injured, don't drink alcohol until you've had treatment

Drink lots of water to stay on top of your game

For more information visit http://www.drinkaware.ie