Professional boxers are expected to be in peak physical condition at all times, even during and after training camps. However, this may not always be the case, particularly if some of them consume alcohol.
So, do professional boxers drink alcohol?
Professional boxers rarely drink alcohol, though this varies by individual. Boxers who drink, do so before the start of training camp or following the fight. Alcohol has a bad effect on a boxer’s overall health, and it is not tolerated in their training regimen. They would not be able to keep their professional title for long if they consume it frequently.
While the majority of professional boxers swear they do not consume alcohol, many do, even if it is just on rare occasions. So, let’s have a look at how alcohol affects the body and the overall health of a professional boxer.
Alcohol Effect On Muscles
Chronic alcohol intake, according to research, causes muscular weakening and atrophy. However, it’s unclear whether moderate alcohol drinking also hinders overload-induced muscle development and anabolic signaling.
Alcohol consumption reduces the anabolic response in skeletal muscle, which may decrease recovery and adaptation to training, as well as subsequent performance, according to other research.
Drinking too much alcohol has been demonstrated to impair gluconeogenesis, your body’s process of creating the sugar glucose, in addition to delaying muscle growth. This prevents your body from creating adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a chemical that provides energy to your muscles when they contract. Your endurance decreases as your ATP levels drop.
Alcohol damages your skeletal muscle, which is the tissue that covers your skeleton and keeps your bones and joints in normal alignment, allowing you to move almost your entire body. For your skeletal muscle to benefit from training, muscle cells must produce new proteins through a process known as muscle protein synthesis. You’d be in danger of harm if you didn’t have it, and you’d see no improvement in your performance. Alcohol use has a considerable impact on muscle protein synthesis, lowering it by up to a third.
Cutting back on or completely avoiding alcohol will help you avoid these dangers to your muscle health and production.
Alcohol Effect On Mental State
After a night of drinking, everyone knows how it feels to wake up. Suffering from a headache, having stomach-churning, and feeling tired and sluggish. If you can train at all, you won’t be able to train as hard as usual. You’re also more likely to go for fatty, high-calorie items over healthy alternatives. Alcohol can also act as a depressant, making you feel down and out, which is not a healthy state of mind to be in before a big fight.
Ditching the drink will eliminate the negative effects of alcohol, and being hangover-free will allow you to return to the gym on Sunday mornings, which is ideal for a weekend workout.
Empty Calories in Alcohol
Because alcoholic beverages are made by fermenting and distilling carbs and sugars from natural sources, they are high in “empty calories.” Our systems can’t store alcohol like minerals, carbs, or proteins, so they try to get rid of it as soon as possible. The normal functions of our bodies, such as fat burning and nutrient absorption, are hampered.
Alcohol Effect On Training And Recovery
Alcohol might affect your training and recovery as a boxer. When it comes to your training, alcohol can slow down your reaction times because it affects the brain’s ability to process information swiftly for up to 24 hours following consumption.
Both your response times and your performance will be hampered for the rest of the day after drinking. When it comes to avoiding your opponent’s strikes, this isn’t a good combination. Cramping, sprains, and muscular pulls can all be exacerbated by alcohol. Along with increased force and strength, your muscles will take longer to recuperate.
Even a few little glasses of alcohol can have a negative impact on the quality of your ring performance. Also, boxers who are suffering from a soft-tissue injury should avoid alcohol. Alcohol dilates your blood vessels, which causes the injured site to enlarge.
Alcohol Before Excercise
Your blood alcohol level rises when you consume alcohol. Acute side effects arise shortly after and may result in a reduction in central nervous system function. While the effects vary depending on the dose, reduced motor skills, coordination, delayed reactions, poor judgment, and a loss of balance are all possible outcomes. These biological consequences may have a negative impact on an athlete’s performance as well as increase the likelihood of injury. At low to moderate doses, alcohol has variable effects on anaerobic performance and strength, but it does not appear to be a performance booster.
On the other hand, studies have demonstrated that even tiny amounts of alcohol consumed prior to exercise reduced endurance performance. Alcohol appears to impede the citric acid cycle, decrease gluconeogenesis, and raise lactate levels, all of which appear to have an impact on aerobic performance. Furthermore, the body preferentially metabolizes alcohol, changing the metabolism of carbs and lipids, the preferred energy sources during endurance exercise.
Although alcohol was once thought to provide ergogenic assistance (most likely for psychological reasons), scientific data now reveals that it inhibits athletic performance, and should be avoided before training or competition.
Alcohol After Exercise
Alcohol consumption following a fight is a considerably more likely scenario. In this situation, replacing glycogen, increasing muscle protein synthesis (MPS), and restoring fluid balance after exercise are all crucial. Alcohol and the actions associated with intoxication may obstruct several aspects of the recovery process. Increased urine output can be caused by beverages containing more than or equivalent to 4% alcohol, delaying recovery from dehydration.
Beer has been touted as a post-workout recovery beverage due to its carbohydrate and electrolyte content, but the ordinary beer does not contain nearly enough carbohydrates or electrolytes to allow for adequate recovery after a hard workout with significant sweat loss.
It is logical to assume that the unfavorable consequences of consuming alcohol following an exercise outweigh any potential benefits. Before consuming alcohol, fighters should take rehydrating beverages such as sports drinks or eat water with salty foods to adequately restore lost fluids. If instant alcohol consumption is unavoidable, athletes should limit their intake to moderate amounts.
Another important aspect of recovery is replenishing glycogen stores, which is especially important when the time between training and competition is limited. Although it is unknown if drinking alcohol after exercise has a direct effect on glycogen production, it can indirectly displace carbohydrate and protein intake. MPS is not adequately enhanced when protein-rich foods are substituted for alcohol during the post-exercise recovery period, which can limit muscle development and repair.
Additionally, there is evidence that alcohol has a direct effect on MPS. Even when appropriate protein is consumed, researchers discovered that alcohol drastically reduces MPS.
Overall, athletes who choose to consume alcoholic beverages during their recovery period are less likely to adhere to optimal nutrition guidelines for recovery, resulting in a longer recovery time, insufficient recovery before the next training session or competition, or a lack of desired muscular adaptations.
Alcohol effect on sleep, injuries, and hormones
Aside from the effects on energy storage and MPS, alcohol can also have a harmful impact on sleep, injury healing, and the synthesis of hormones linked to muscle growth.
Athletes require sufficient sleep to recover and perform at a high level, both physically and mentally. Alcohol consumption before bedtime may aid sleep initiation, but it has also been reported to disturb restorative sleep cycles during the night, reducing sleep quality. To make matters worse, athletes who enjoy a night out drinking may remain out longer than usual, limiting their sleep length. This is the worst combination of circumstances.
The body responds to soft tissue injuries with an inflammatory reaction. Alcohol has been found to reduce inflammation by increasing anti-inflammatory molecule production while decreasing pro-inflammatory molecule production. Alcohol works as a vasodilator, increasing blood flow to the damaged area, thereby exacerbating the injury and delaying recovery. As a result, if you’ve recently suffered an injury, drinking alcohol is generally not a good idea.
Hormones have a big role in muscle building. Protein breakdown is promoted by cortisol, whereas protein synthesis is promoted by testosterone. Furthermore, because alcohol decreases testosterone production, athletes pursuing muscular hypertrophy or those with hormonal imbalances should avoid excessive drinking during the recovery period.
Conclusion
Whether or not a professional boxer drinks alcohol is a personal choice. For some, it’s simply a way to unwind after a long day of training or after a big fight. And possibly, because they follow such rigorous diets and training regimens, they assume that a few drinks here and there won’t have much of an adverse effect. Who could blame them for believing that?
In consideration of the above, binge drinking is never a good idea because the negative effects can prevent boxers from making the athletic adaptations they seek. The total effect of binge drinking episodes may prevent a boxer from performing at his peak. Boxers should be reminded to follow prescribed nutrition and hydration recommendations for recovering prior to consuming alcohol after a fight event.
Overall, however, it is a personal choice. And when we’re dealing with some of the best boxers in the world, making the wrong decision might jeopardize their entire career, so I’m sure it’s something they will consider carefully.
RECOMMENDED READING: Do Professional Soccer Players Drink Alcohol?
