Can Alcohol and Fitness Co-Exist?

**photo credit: tnation.com

The short answer to this question is yes, alcohol and fitness can co-exist.

I mean, obviously, drinking yourself in to oblivion from 10:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night – on a regular basis – doesn’t fit within the realms of a healthy lifestyle, but some alcohol on occasion is certainly NOT a bad thing (as the saying goes, “everything in moderation”).

With that being said, I don’t think the question is whether or not you can have alcohol while still reaching your fitness goals, but rather how much alcohol can you have while still reaching your fitness goals?

And, to be perfectly honest, there’s no clear-cut answer to this question.

But…there doesn’t need to be.

We could talk about the caloric value of an alcoholic beverage (and how to structure it in to your daily macros/calories), what alcohol does to the body, or how alcohol impairs performance – and use that to determine an ideal recommended limit for fitness enthusiasts – but in reality, all we need to do is ask ourselves one simple question:

Am I reaching my current goals, or am I not?

If you are, regardless of the amount of alcohol you’re consuming, don’t change anything.

Seriously.

If you’re healthy, happy, and making progress, you’re obviously doing something right (even if that “something” includes alcohol).

If you aren’t reaching your current goals (and you drink a lot), it’d probably be best to ditch the alcohol (or at the very least, reduce it).

Alcohol doesn’t provide your body with any nutrients, and it doesn’t do anything to enhance performance, so out of all the variables you could manipulate to start seeing progress again, alcohol is the least beneficial.

At the end of the day, people make the whole “can I, or can I not have alcohol?” thing WAY more complicated than it needs to be.

Are you healthy and reaching your current fitness goals?

Cool. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing.

Is your health tanking and/or you’re not reaching your current fitness goals?

Well – if you’re a big drinker – maybe you should cut out the alcohol.