Alcohol and Muscles

You may have wondered how detrimental your drinking habits really are on your muscle-building progress. Is it really that harmful to go out with the guys and have a few beers after work on a Friday? If you’re trying to get lean, does this mean you should forgo all alcohol for the next month or two? Or, if you are really diligent with the rest of your diet, can you indulge on the weekend with a few cold ones?

Many guys would rather have a few drinks on the weekend than cheat with food that’s not a part of their diet plan. While some struggle to cut out foods, for others, cutting out drinking is the real challenge.

So, what’s the answer to the correlation between alcohol and muscles? How does alcohol affect the muscle-building process?

By understanding what happens when you drink, you can make your own judgment calls as to whether or not alcohol should be included in your workout and muscle-building plan. Here's what you need to know about alcohol and muscles.
Alcohol and growth hormones
One major issue with the consumption of alcohol has to do with its effects on the release of growth hormone. Growth hormone is the substance in the body that plays a very large role when it comes to building muscle, stimulating other cell growth and development and promoting optimal bone growth. When this hormone is low, you aren’t going to get the same amount of muscle development as you would when it’s at an optimal level.

Growth hormone is predominately secreted during the early sleeping hours of the night and because alcohol tends to disrupt natural sleep rhythms, it will decrease the amount of growth hormone released. This decrease can be up to as much as 70%, so it will really short-circuit the progress you are able to make.
Alcohol and testosterone
The next factor to consider is alcohol’s effect on testosterone. As you likely know, testosterone is another huge hormone associated with muscle growth and is the reason why men carry a great deal more muscle mass than women (since men have more testosterone flowing through their bodies).

When you consume alcohol, however, a substance is produced in the liver that is toxic to the release of testosterone. This substance decreases the concentration of testosterone in the body, resulting in lower muscle mass and definition. So, when you consider all the hard work you put in at the gym, also consider the affects derived from the combination of alcohol and muscles.
Alcohol and recovery
Another area that alcohol affects when it comes to muscle building is your ability to recover. Since alcohol is a toxin to the body, energy is going to have to be expended in order to remove it from the system and to recover from any negative effects it has had on the tissues.

Since this takes time and energy reserves, you won't have as much energy in store to recover from your workouts, therefore, you will not be as fresh when you return for your next gym session.

Alcohol and muscles don't usually get along, so consume with care...
Alcohol and dehydration
Dehydration is another issue you have to watch out for if you choose to drink alcohol while trying to build muscle and work out. Since alcohol acts as a diuretic in the body, unless you are sure to replace the extra fluid with water or another nonalcoholic beverage that doesn’t contain caffeine, your natural water balance will be disrupted.

Dehydration has a number of negative effects on the body, from inducing feelings of fatigue to causing low physical performance, making you feel hungrier (which is especially problematic while dieting), and disrupting the ability of the muscle cells to produce ATP — which is your primary source of muscular energy.
Alcohol and glycogen synthesis
Aside from ATP, the next source for muscular work is stored muscle glycogen. Unfortunately, though, when you consume alcoholic beverages, alcohol synthesis will take precedence over glycogen synthesis, resulting in decreased stores in the muscle cells.

When you go to do your next workout, your body will have less energy to run on, causing fatigue to set in early.

When your workouts end prematurely, you don’t derive as many benefits in terms of increases in strength since the necessary overloading stimulus (which is partly defined through volume of weights lifted) will not be increased.
Alcohol and aerobic ability
If you aren’t as concerned with your strength levels and figure this means alcohol is a safe bet for you, you may want to think again. Even when it comes to aerobic activities, alcohol affects performance.

In this scenario, alcohol can cause an increase in blood pressure throughout the body and a corresponding increase in heart rate.

Since your heart will already be working at an increased rate during aerobic activities, the additional stress from the alcohol will only amplify the heart rate and make the exercise feel harder than it should. 
Alcohol and body fat
Finally, the last issue surrounding alcohol consumption is that it contains calories, and these do add up quickly. Typically, you’ll likely find yourself drinking beer, wine or hard liquors, which do contain fewer calories than the fancier, sweeter-tasting cocktails that women often drink, so at least that's an advantage.

Still, at seven calories per gram, after three or four drinks, these calories would equal a good-sized meal. Unless you are going to cut down on food intake in order to make room for these calories (which is rare, as usually you’ll actually find yourself snacking on high-calorie items such as nuts, pizza, wings or nachos), fat gain will result.
booze builds bellies
So, next time you’re contemplating whether or not you should have that drink, keep these factors in mind. Definitely, alcohol and muscle building are not a good pair, as stated by all these points, but if you aren’t training for any major athletic event or getting ready to step on stage for a bodybuilding competition, chances are that you can afford yourself one or two drinks once in a while without having to worry too much.

Just keep moderation in mind and try your best to consume extra water with the alcohol, eat more vegetables during the rest of the day (to increase nutrient content in your diet while decreasing calories) and allow for a little extra sleep time if you can after you’ve had a few drinks.

Nolvadex in Bodybuilding

In bodybuilding, Nolvadex (Tamoxifen Citrate) is used as both an anabolic steroid cycle ancillary drug and as recovery or as a post anabolic steroid cycle therapy drug.

Nolvadex is an oral anti-estrogen/estrogen antagonist prescription drug. Nolvadex is commonly referred to as an anti-estrogen, but technically it is more of an estrogen antagonist. An estrogen antagonist has a unique way of preventing estrogen activity. What it does is to compete with estrogen at the receptor sites, occupying it so that estrogen cannot bind with it.

Nolvadex is an anticancer drug which is reportedly effective in treating breast cancer, particularly the kind that is induced by estrogen. Its other therapeutic uses include reduction of the risk of invasive breast cancer following surgery and radiation therapy for ductal carcinoma in situ. Nolvadex is also used as preventive drug. It is prescribed in women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Why is there a need for Nolvadex

During a steroid cycle, Nolvadex is used by bodybuilders who are sensitive to estrogen buildup. Estrogen buildup can lead to many concerns, foremost of these is the occurrence of gynecomastia (growth of breast tissues in men) and subcutaneous fat and water retention.
During PCT, Nolvadex is effective in averting the dreaded effect when coming off a steroid cycle – the post-cycle crash. This is basically losing what you have gained when you’re on a cycle. Bodybuilders, in general, use Nolvadex to block this from taking place.

Here’s the scenario. When a bodybuilder is taking anabolic steroids, the body ceases its production of androgens. When he stops taking them, the body does not immediately resume its normal production of these hormones, resulting to depressed androgen level. When this happens the body compensates by overproducing estrogen. The excess estrogen, in turn, results to can increase the production of SHBG and blocks testosterone-receptor sites. SHBG or sex hormone-binding globulin is a glycoprotein that binds to sex hormones, including testosterone. And so, if there’s an increase in the amount of SHBG in the system it translates to lesser amount of free or unbound testosterone. This means there are two mechanisms by which excess estrogen interferes with the normalization of androgen level in the body.

Furthermore, a depressed androgen level can lead to catabolism. There are many signals that induce catabolism and this includes cortisol, which is considered to be one of the ‘classic’ catabolic hormones. Cortisol plays a great role in protein catabolism, which is the breakdown of macromolecules. Macromolecules include proteins and lipids (fat). When protein catabolism takes place, there is a subsequent loss in muscle gains and strength. Your muscles get leaner because fat, water, and protein substrates break down. However, this is not to say that this is a completely negative effect as some bodybuilders prefer leaner muscles. But for those who are after bulk or mass this poses a problem. This is why Nolvadex is not advised for those whose aim is to gain mass.

Nolvadex vs aromatase inhibitors

Nolvadex is usually compared to aromatase inhibitors like Arimidex; however, there is a distinct difference between these two classes of drugs. Estrogen agonists or anti-estrogens (also classified as triphenylethylenes) do not halt the production of estrogens whereas aromatase inhibitors do quite effectively.

Aromatase blockers or inhibitors halt the natural production of estrogen and therefore tend to completely suppress estrogenic activity, including its beneficial roles in body (metabolism, lipid profile, protein synthesis). This is why many still opt for Nolvadex as an ancillary and recovery drug.

Further, Nolvadex exerts its effects faster vis-à-vis an aromatase inhibitor. Thus, when bodybuilders experience the symptoms of gynecomastia while they are on steroid cycle, they rely on Nolvadex to immediately counter the problem. However, a drawback of this drug is that it exhibits only short-term effects, which means that once Nolvadex intake is discontinued, the same problems can possibly rebound sooner than later. To prevent this rebound, Nolvadex is generally use in conjunction with aromatase inhibitor. Nolvadex can deal with the problem right away while an aromatase inhibitor like Arimidex can work for the long-term results as it reduces the production of estrogen.


Nolvadex Dosage

Dosage ranges from 10mg – 60mg daily.

Nolvadex is recommended to be stacked with highly aromatizable steroids like Dianabol and testosterone.

It is important to start a PCT once you finished a steroid cycle to avoid a dramatic loss of the mass gained. The question on how soon to initiate a PCT depends on the kind of steroids you used. If your cycle is comprised of orals, which have relatively the shortest effect on the body, it is advised to start immediately. Some say PCT can begin as early as the last day of the steroid cycle. If short-acting esters or water-based injectables, PCT is recommended 4-7 days after the last injection. In the case of long-acting esters, it should be around 10-14 days after the last injection.

Side effects are reportedly few and mild with this drug. Nausea, vomiting and hot flashes can be experienced by users of Nolvadex.
High dosage can prevent natural testosterone production by the testes. Further, high dosage can be counter-productive; that instead of lowering estrogenic levels, it increases the levels. This is a consequence when the adrenal glands are overly stimulated to produce the prohormone dehydroepiandrosterone or DHEA. DHEA converts to estrogen.

Good Health or Good Bodybuilder?

“I predict that bodybuilding will become the chief form of systematic exercise and physical activity, and that it will come to be looked upon as one of the greatest forces in the field of preventative medicine.” — Joe Weider, 1950


When Joe Weider famously wrote those words over six decades ago the United States economic engine was running full speed ahead as a result of the boost it received from World War II, the general health of the American public was a relative non-issue, and the outside world’s view of the bodybuilder was one of respect and admiration as they saw men who were the personification of what dedication to training, nutrition, and hard work could achieve.


Fast forward to present day and what we find is a world that’s vastly different. The American economy is in recovery from a financial collapse of the magnitude that hadn’t been seen since the Great Depression, the health of the population has precipitously declined as some form of chronic disease affects over half of the population, and the worldview of the bodybuilder has gone from admired to ostracized. But perhaps the thing that Joe would find most troubling is how the health of the modern bodybuilder has declined in the pursuit of taking their physiques to heights that defy logic. In today’s world, and in today’s current landscape of bodybuilding, is it possible to be in good health and still be a good bodybuilder?


If we’re trying to analyze what changed, and where things began to shift we can’t do it without addressing what’s going to be the first thing everyone wants to scream out. “It’s the drugs!” And there’s no denying that there is a great deal of truth in that statement. With each passing decade it seems that competitors are required to up the ante in the freak factor department which seems to go hand-in-hand with the “up the dosage” mentality.


If we look back to the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, during the Pumping Iron era, if you used anabolic steroids year round you were considered the exception, not the rule. Most competitors, including Arnold who was the reigning Mr. Olympia, only used anabolic steroids precontest, and even that was still probably less than or equal to what most local and regional level competitors use today.


Now, in the era of Get Big or Die Trying, in order to be competitive at the Junior and National level competitions it’s not uncommon for a competitor to use four or more anabolic steroids all in the hope of potentially cracking the top ten. I’m not saying that we should abandon anabolics, but maybe we should start to reevaluate the approach so that future generations don’t think putting in all of their chips is the only option for getting a seat at the table.


It’s a lazy and unfair argument to cast all of the blame on anabolic steroids. I believe that a great deal of the blame for why we’ve seen so many tragic and untimely deaths, many of them due to heart disease, is due to the bodybuilding diet. In order to build the tremendous size we see from today’s competitors it requires an enormous amount of food to meet nutritional needs and fuel growth. Building a championship physique – or even a decent gym physique, for that matter – requires substantial amounts of protein, plenty of healthy (ideally) fats, and a surplus of carbohydrates, and therein lies the problem.


Carbohydrates in any form – simple or complex – cause blood sugar to rise. That means that the standard bodybuilding diet of six meals per day causes a near constant elevation in blood glucose levels. When blood glucose levels are constantly elevated something called glycation occurs in the body.


Glycation occurs when excess blood sugars bind with protein or lipid molecules causing what are known as advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) to form. Once AGEs are formed they become Weapons of Mass Deterioration in the body. AGEs deposit themselves in tissues throughout the body and once they reach their destination there is no way to remove them. Buildup of AGEs leads to deterioration of joints, eyes, the brain, and most importantly to the bodybuilder, the heart.


AGEs don’t damage the heart directly. They do their work much more discretely, by glycating LDL cholesterol particles. In the body we have two forms of LDL cholesterol particles; we have normal large particles, and small damaging particles. Under normal circumstances large LDL particles transport cholesterol through the blood delivering it to cells in need before being taken up and disposed of by the liver.


However, once an LDL particle becomes glycated it changes in size from large to small. Because they’re no longer normal size, the liver is unable to properly dispose of small LDL particles and they remain in the blood before ultimately becoming deposited in our arterial walls. Now, imagine the amount of damaging glycation that occurs in a 250 plus pound bodybuilder eating six meals per day and consuming thousands of grams of carbohydrates – day after day, week after week, year after year. We are literally creating the perfect environment for the development of heart disease, and most of us are doing it for decades.


Is it possible for us to simultaneously maximize our health and our physiques? Or is this just the price we owe to the Iron Goddess for her allowing us to set foot in her domain?


There’s a scene in the movie Gladiator where Russell Crowe is standing in the

arena and he screams out to the crowd, “Are you not entertained?” It’s one of the most powerful scenes in the movie as he challenges the morality of a blood thirsty crowd enthusiastically anticipating death. He’s essentially asking them, at what point does enough become enough? I believe we need to ask ourselves the same question. Bodybuilders are our own form of modern day gladiators battling it out onstage in front of cheering crowds for their entertainment, and far too many of us are still paying the ultimate price. Is this just the nature of the beast or is it time to change for our sake and the sake of future generations?

More young men using steroids but do they know the harms?

Anabolic-androgenic steroids are synthetic forms of testosterone, the hormone that plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues as well as the development of secondary sexua

Anabolic Steroids have legitimate medical uses. They can be used as growth stimulators in children with growth failure and are given to people with chronic wasting conditions, such as AIDS, to help stimulate appetite and preserve muscle mass. But, when combined with exercise and a proper diet, steroids can help increase muscle size, strength, and help with the development of lean muscle mass.

The Australia Crime Commission has reported that the number of steroid detections at the Australian border had increased by 74% in 2009-10, the highest recorded in the last decade. It also said the number of national steroid arrests had increased by 47%. A large number of detections involved small quantities, which suggest they are being imported for personal use.

It’s important to note that these numbers reflect what law enforcement detects and seizes. If we accept this as the tip of the iceberg, then it suggests that the use of steroids is increasing in our society. While steroid use has always been synonymous with bodybuilding, we have seen its use becoming increasingly acceptable among the average gym-going population. The figures in the just-released national survey attest to this.

But while we have a fair idea of who is using, there’s no actual profile of a typical steroid user in Australia. And the prevalence of steroid use varies depending on the group being surveyed.
Who uses steroids?

A large, general population survey of over 26,000 Australians found less than 0.1% had used steroids for non-medical purposes in the last year. To put this into perspective, around 10% of Australians had used cannabis in the same time period, 3% had used ecstasy and 2% had used cocaine. Since this survey was first conducted in 1993, this level of steroid use has barely changed.

Meanwhile, a survey of over 22,000 high school students in Australia found that around 2% of 12- to 17-year-olds had used steroids “without a doctor’s prescription” in an attempt to make them “better at sport, to increase muscle size or to improve your general appearance”. Slightly fewer students had used steroids in recent time periods, indicating that use was generally not regular. Those who had used steroids had also used a range of other substances, such as alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, ecstasy, and cocaine.

Surveys of men who have sex with men have found that around 2% in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have used steroids in the past six months.

Some of 100 bottles containing illegal liquid steroids hidden inside sexual lubricant packaging seized by Australian Customs in Melbourne in 2008. AAP Image/Australian Customs

What all these figures tell us is that we aren’t looking in the right places. We are probably never going to get an exact number of the people using steroids. But who are they? From all the research that has been done in Australia, we know that the people who use steroids, and other drugs to enhance their image or their performance, are not the same.

They do tend to be male. They do tend to be aged in their mid-twenties to early-thirties, though there are men who are younger and older who also report using steroids. They tend to have completed high school and be employed full time. A sizeable number identify as bisexual or homosexual. They do tend to use other drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy, although that may be better explained by their sexual orientation rather than their steroid use.

While steroid users may be alike in some ways and different in some ways, what appears to be common is why they use them. Each person who takes steroids will have their own motivation for doing so, but we can broadly place these into one of three categories: to get a better body, to be better at sport, or to be better at their job. Some of these reasons may cross over. Having more strength may mean that you perform better on the footy field, and if you are a security guard or a bouncer, having a better body may be advantageous at work.
Side-effects of steroid use

Combined with exercise and a proper diet, steroids work. But they have a range of negative side effects and harms. Indeed, most of the people who have used steroids in Australia perceive and report harms; only a small minority report having no concern, and, in one study, 97% reported at least one physical side-effect.

Some of the harms associated with steroid use could be considered minor or inconvenient, such as acne or increased body hair. Other side-effects can include increased appetite, water retention, reduced teste size and sleeplessness. Many of these will subside once steroid use has stopped.

But, there are other side-effects that people often don’t consider. Steroids are injected, so there’s potential for harm from unsafe injecting practices, such as sharing or reusing needles or sharing multivial doses. Harms related to injecting may include persistent soreness or redness at the injection site, scarring or hard lumps, hitting a vein or persistent bleeding, swelling of the arm or leg, abscesses and nausea.

Steroid users do report concerns regarding their mental health. These include aggression or “roid rage”, and changes in mood and the impact of these on relationships with friends and family. Users have self-reported negative effects on mood, and these include mood swings or feeling more moody, and feeling anxious or depressed.

It’s also been suggested that steroid use can cause a dependence syndrome. This is probably the least explored aspect of steroid use. Interviews with steroids users have shown that some have continued to use despite experiencing negative physical or psychological effects, and some users indicate they are scared of stopping because they fear they will lose the physical benefits of using.

The latest research gives cause for concern and it’s really important that people who use steroids are aware of the harms they are opening themselves up to.

l characteristics, such as the growth of body hair and deepening of the voice.