Alcohol and Muscles

Bodybuilders who like to drink should consider the effects of alcohol on both muscles and hormones. A 1989 study of alcohol found that heavy alcohol consumption damages the heart muscle in one third of the subjects, and skeletal muscles in half of them. It's very clear that alcohol's toxic effects on muscles are significant and far more widespread than anyone thought.

The study also found that muscle weakness is proportional to the amount of alcohol consumed. But the study also noted that such detrimental effects occurred over a sustained period of heavy drinking. Nonetheless, the study concluded that alcohol is a toxin for striated muscle, regardless of where it is.

A 1983 British study found that three years of heavy alcohol drinking had a negative effect on Type 2B muscle fibers. This is significant because these particular fibers are most subject to hypertrophy or muscular growth. The study further noted that this myopathy (muscle disease) was reversible if the drinking stopped.

Another British study found that alcohol directly inhibited protein synthesis in the quadriceps muscles. Alcohol also interferes with interaction of muscle contractile proteins, and the enzyme that controls the sodium pump mechanism in muscle, causing a localized swelling or edema in muscle tissue.

Consider the effects of alcohol on the endocrine system. Large amounts of alcohol increase the liver breakdown of testosterone 2 - 5 times normal. Alcohol also prevents the conversion of Vitamin A into an active form in the testes. This may cause sterility. Even a single bout of heavy drinking raises cortisol levels (an adrenal stress hormone) enough to cause a significant drop in blood testosterone. Large amounts of alcohol decrease the binding of luteinizing hormone from the pituitary to its receptors in the testes. Luteinizing hormone normally stimulates the testes to synthesize testosterone.