Here's What Happens When You Exercise After Drinking

A little buzzed after a drink or two, but in the mood to work out? We would advise you against it. Alcohol lingers in the blood stream for a while after you have had it, so it would be best to avoid working out. Read this article to know what happens to your body when you exercise after drinking.

• Diuretic Effect: Alcohol is actually a diuretic that increases the urge to urinate which hinders your pace and motion while you are working out. This totally defeats the purpose of a workout and makes you visit the washroom more often than you would like to. This makes the body lose precious electrolytes too, which can leave you drained of your energy. This can also be a potentially fatal situation in case you become dehydrated.
• Coordination: It is a well-known fact that alcohol lingers in the blood stream for up to twenty four hours, even after a good night's sleep. So ensure that you do not work out after having a drink or two because it can leave you fuzzy headed and a little low in the coordination department. We all know that one of the side effects of having alcohol includes being a little bleary eyed and even uncoordinated. This can lead to injuries in case you are handling heavy equipment in the gym.
• Muscle Recovery: The point of working out is to induce good blood circulation so that there is plenty of motion with coordination and good muscle recovery with the repetitive movements. Alcohol hinders all that because it decreases the blood flow and makes for less muscle recovery which can actually lead to injuries and a heavy feeling in the muscles and joints of the body due to the extra effort it takes in order to complete the movement or set.
• Heat Related Illnesses: Dehydration is one of the common side effects of alcohol, and when coupled with sweat and heat emanating from the body, it can lead to a heat stroke and other heat related illnesses which can prove to be fatal.
• Heart Rate: Alcohol consumption the night before a sports performance or right before a work out can actually affect how the heart responds to warm up exercises and the actual work out.
• Metabolism: Alcohol slows down the metabolism which interferes with the process of energy production in the body. This leads to less energy during your work out which can sap you out completely as the liver will not produce enough of glucose.

Make a good choice to avoid an uncoordinated and potentially hazardous work out by not drinking prior to a gym session.