Alcohol’s Effect on Muscle Growth

Those who are bodybuilders or those who are just looking for getting a better shape for their bodies are certainly wondering how the alcohol works for the muscle growth. It is known by everyone that the alcohol consumption can be harmful for the human body, especially for the liver, but the moderated consumption of alcohol it’s not harmful.

For those who are working out the calories are very important. That’s why some of those people who are training, with or without help from the steroids are wondering if the calories from the alcohol are counted for their bodies or not.

Usually those who are consuming alcohol are having a lower weight than those who are never drinking. One of the reasons why this is happening is because the fat and carbohydrates are exchanged for the calories from the alcohol.

The thermic effect of food should also be taken in calculation because this effect is lowering the level of calories contained by alcohols.

The effect of alcohol on testosterone

Some studies have shown that those who are consuming alcohol are having a low level of testosterone and that alcohol can decrease the level of testosterone from the human body. This thing could be very bad for the bodybuilders, because they need testosterone in order to gain muscle mass, burn the fat and to have the necessary energy and strength for working out.

However, some studies also shown that the level of testosterone is decreasing only if a person consume 10 beers per day, for a period of two weeks. There were a lot of tests done to see the real effect of alcohol for the bodybuilders and the opinions are certainly divided.

Moreover, alcohol is producing dehydration, and this thing is certainly not good for the bodybuilders. It is also slowing the ability of the human body to heal, even if we talk about organs or skin tissue.
The nutrient absorption

One of the ugliest things that can be caused by the alcohol will be the absorption of some important nutrients. For those who didn’t know, alcohol is absorbing B1, B12, folic acid and zinc, and these vitamins are excellent for the human body.

As an example, if there is not enough folic acid in the human’s body, this could lead to a blood disorder which is having a negative effect on the endurance of a person.

That’s not exactly what a bodybuilder or athlete is trying to obtain. Some people also said that alcohol can be also excellent for working out because it’s giving enough energy for that. Everyone knows the effect of alcohol when it’s not consumed with moderation.

The final conclusion

Alcohol can be consumed by those who are injecting or taking steroids, but only if they are doing it with moderation. If you go out and you are a bodybuilder you don’t have to drink only water or natural juice.

Three or four beers won’t bring you any harm; only try to avoid doing a habit out of it. In addition, the alcohol will never affect your body condition if you really know how to drink alcohol.

Try to avoid as much as you can to get drunk but for that you will have to know your limits and to ignore what your friends will say.

As an example, if you go out every weekend, you can consume alcohol as long as you don’t cross your own limit. You should also have a whole month in which you don’t drink anything, because this way your body will heal, especially your liver.

For the best results, it’s recommended to avoid the consumption of alcohol.

How Testosterone Levels Affect Muscle Growth and Fat Loss

Higher testosterone levels are often equated with more muscle growth and fat loss. Is it that simple?



If you ask the average gymgoer what single physical factor most affects muscle growth and fat loss, they would probably answer “testosterone levels.” And they’re right.

Testosterone is certainly a primary hormonal driver of muscle growth. Research has shown that anabolic steroids, which drastically raise testosterone levels, given to even young, healthy men can induce muscle growth and fat loss without any exercise whatsoever.

Thus, it would be fair to assume that the higher our testosterone levels are, the more muscle we build and the leaner we get, right?

Testosterone Levels and Muscle Growth

We already know that dramatically elevating testosterone levels induces muscle growth.

Yes, if you take enough of the right steroids, your testosterone levels will skyrocket, and if you lift weights regularly, you will be able to achieve more muscle growth than if you were drug-free.

But here’s something that most people don’t know:

Fluctuation of testosterone levels within the physiological normal range does not affect muscle growth.

That is, if your testosterone levels are right-down-the-middle normal, and you increase them to a high-normal, you may feel a little better and notice a boost in libido…but it won’t enable you to build more muscle.

I know that sounds kind of blasphemous, but it’s actually been scientifically proven.

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science conducted and published a study about a decade ago wherein they administered varying amounts of  testosterone enanthate along with drugs to inhibit natural testosterone production to young, healthy men for 20 weeks.

While higher testosterone levels did produce greater muscle gains, it wasn’t as pronounced as you might think.

What researchers found was that so long as testosterone levels were within the physiological normal range, between 300-1,000 ng/dl, muscle growth didn’t change very much. That is, the subjects on the low end of normal weren’t that far behind subjects on the high end in terms of muscle growth.

A statistically significant increase in muscle growth wasn’t seen until testosterone levels surpassed the top of “normal” by about 20-30%.

Now, this study does have a limitation: subjects weren’t exercising. While total amounts of muscle and strength gained would clearly have been higher if they had been weightlifting, the relationship between testosterone levels and overall muscle growth would still be seen.

This was partially demonstrated by another study, this time conducted by McMaster University with young, resistance trained men.

Subjects lifted 5 times per week for 12 weeks, and followed a standard dietary protocol (high-protein intake, post-workout nutrition, etc.). The primary finding of the study was that the exercise-induced spikes in anabolic hormones like testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1, which all remained within physiological normal ranges, had no effect on overall muscle growth and strength gains.

That is, all subjects made gains in muscle, but the variations in the size of the hormone spikes among them had no bearing on the results.

The key takeaway here is not that you should take steroids, but that things you can do to naturally raise your testosterone levels are unlikely to affect your muscle growth.

And speaking of steroids, the above findings are in line with steroid research as well.

For instance, researchers at Maastricht University conducted an extensive review of literature related to the use of anabolic steroids and found that the muscle gains in people engaging in resistance training while on anabolic steroids mostly ranged between 2-5 kg (4.5-11 pounds) over the short term (less than 10 weeks). The largest amount of muscle growth researchers found was 7 kg (15.5 pounds) over 6 weeks of weightlifting while on steroids.

The point is this:

Even steroids don’t always dramatically increase the amount of muscle you can build (it depends what you take, in what dosages, and for how long), so what does that tell us about how fluctuations of testosterone in the normal physiological range relate to muscle growth?

As I talk about in my article on the best supplements for muscle growth, this is why buying natural testosterone boosters for muscle growth purposes is a complete waste of money. Even if they work (and most don’t), it’s just not going to help you build more muscle.

The only exception might be someone whose testosterone is at the absolute bottom of the physiologically normal range, or even below that, and who is then able to naturally increase it to the top of the range. That person would probably notice an improvement in muscle growth, not to mention overall well-being, libido, cognitive function, and so forth.

Now, I’m not saying that there’s no reason to do anything to naturally improve your testosterone levels. Improving muscle growth just isn’t on the list. Losing fat, however, is…
Testosterone Levels and Fat Loss

Unlike muscle growth, researchersat the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science did find that fluctuations of testosterone within the physiological normal range had significant effects on body fat percentage.

The higher the testosterone levels, the leaner subjects were. And conversely, the lower the testosterone levels, the fatter they were. When researchers decreased certain subjects’ testosterone levels from the baseline average of 600 ng/dl to around 300 ng/dl, they saw a dramatic 36% increase in fat mass.

Although the exact mechanisms behind this aren’t fully understood just yet, research has show that testosterone directly inhibits the creation of fat cells and that low testosterone is a contributing factor to obesity.