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The Effects Of Alcohol On Building Muscle Mass

by Shawn LeBrun
Personal trainer

If one of your goals is building muscle mass, then you should be aware of the negative effects that alcohol can have on you and your goals.

Alcohol acts directly on cell membranes and intracellular metabolism. It serves as a preferred metabolic fuel and depending on the frequency and amount consumed, alcohol can suppress the utilization of fat.

Alcohol provides 7 calories per gram. So you're getting a lot of empty calories that just are not used for building muscle mass. These calories can promote fat storage as well as reduce your consumption of high-quality, high- protein nutrients essential for building muscle mass.

For those reasons, if you're trying to shed fat and get cut, you should greatly limit your consumption of alcohol.

Not only that, when you drink, there are hormonal changes that occur within your body that could have a direct impact on building muscle mass. One is the reduction of testosterone in your blood and another is the increased conversion of testosterone to estrogen -- resulting in the elevation of estrogen that leads to increased fat depositing, gynecomastia, and fluid retention.

Over the short term, alcohol acts as a diuretic and it can impair protein synthesis as well as your immune function.

Another negative effect alcohol has on building muscle is that it can deplete minerals that are critical to muscle growth. This includes the depletion of magnesium, potassium, and calcium. Alcohol also depresses the central nervous system, impairing strength and mental capacities. It can bring on mood swings and other behavioral problems that go way beyond the realm of gaining muscle.

Long term alcohol abuse can lead to such drastic problems as addiction, loss of sex drive, impotence, and severe liver toxicity.

Now, this article is not meant to scare you away completely from any alcoholic beverages. An occassional beer or glass of wine will not produce these problems. It's the person that drinks every other day and wants to still get in great shape that is fooling himself/herself.

Avoid alcohol consumption as much as you can and you'll be building muscle mass a lot faster for it.

Check out my full-length training course "Simple Steps To Get Huge and Shredded", which will have you building muscle mass in a lot less time...

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18 Whitney Ave
Portland, ME 04102
