Alcohol and training: what a night out really costs

What alcohol does to recovery and muscle

After a hard session, your body starts repairing and rebuilding muscle over the next day or two. Alcohol interferes with this. Lab research has found that a heavy drinking session after training reduces the muscle-building response, even when protein is eaten alongside it. One or two drinks seems to have a much smaller effect than a big night out.

Alcohol also increases urine output, so a night of drinking often leaves you dehydrated. Combine that with poor sleep and a salty takeaway at midnight, and it is no surprise the next session feels terrible. Your heart rate tends to be higher and your perceived effort greater for the same work.

Injuries are another cost. Alcohol affects coordination and reaction time for longer than people expect, and the day after heavy drinking is not the time for heavy barbell work, box jumps or fast sled pushes.

Alcohol and sleep

Alcohol makes many people feel drowsy, so it seems like it would help sleep. In reality, it disrupts the second half of the night. You tend to wake more, sleep more lightly and get less of the restorative sleep stages. The more you drink and the closer to bed, the bigger the effect.

Since sleep is when a lot of repair happens, poor sleep compounds everything else. Two or three nights of broken sleep after drinking can leave you under-recovered for most of a training week. Our guide to sleep for recovery explains why it matters so much.

The calorie side

Alcohol provides 7 kcal per gram, almost as much as fat, with no useful nutrients. A pint of beer is typically around 180 to 250 kcal depending on strength, and a large glass of wine can be around 200 kcal or more. Mixers, cocktails and the food that comes with drinking add much more.

Alcohol also lowers inhibitions around food. The kebab at 1am and the full English the next morning are often a bigger calorie hit than the drinks. If fat loss is part of your goal, our guide to alcohol and fat loss covers this in detail, and calories in drinks compares common options.

Planning drinking around training

Most people who train do not want to give up alcohol completely, and they do not have to. The trick is to make drinking fit your training week rather than letting it set the agenda.

1. Choose your nights. Avoid drinking the night before a hard session, a heavy lifting day or a race. The evening after training is a better choice, as long as you eat first.
2. Eat a proper meal first. A meal with protein and carbohydrate slows alcohol absorption and supports recovery.
3. Alternate with water or soft drinks. It slows your pace and cuts total units.
4. Try lower strength or alcohol-free options. Many 0.5% beers and alcohol-free spirits are now genuinely good.
5. Set a number before you start. Deciding in advance works far better than deciding after the third drink.
6. Plan the next morning. Book a gentle session or walk rather than your hardest workout.

Before an event like HYROX, many athletes find it worth cutting alcohol entirely for at least the last week. The HYROX race day checklist covers the other preparations.

If you did overdo it

Most people who train have had a morning after that did not go to plan. The goal the next day is to recover, not to 'sweat it out'. Hard training while dehydrated, poorly slept and with alcohol still in your system is more likely to cause an injury than undo the night before.

• Drink water steadily through the morning, with some salt from food
• Eat a proper breakfast with protein and carbohydrate, even if you do not feel like much
• Swap a heavy or technical session for a walk, easy bike or mobility work
• Leave driving until you are sure you are under the limit, which can be well into the next day
• Get back to normal training the following day

If a hangover becomes a regular part of your week, it is worth looking honestly at how much you drink. Our guide to eating for recovery explains why the effect builds over time.

If drinking is becoming a problem

Many people use training as a way to cut back, and a regular class can be a useful reason not to have a big night. Booking in for the Friday 6:30pm Lycan Shred or the Sunday 9:30am Mobility class on the Lycan Strength timetable gives your weekend a different shape.

If you find it hard to stop once you start, drink most days, or feel you need a drink to cope, speak to your GP. They can help confidentially, and the NHS website has more information about support services. Never stop suddenly if you drink heavily every day, because alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous and should be managed with medical support.