In short yes it will!
I thought I would write this blog for a few reasons:
Firstly, the last month or so has been a whirlwind of celebration as I got married, had a short honeymoon and celebrated my 30th birthday along with 2 of my close friends. This all added up to a lot of indulgence and a large quantity of alcohol. I won’t pretend to be someone I’m not though, I enjoy myself and don’t feel guilty for having a beer or two and some good food. I just realise that moderation is important and exercise coupled with a healthy diet is vital!
Also, Christmas is approaching which means drinks and parties a plenty with friends and work. Importantly this needs to not affect your training! I know that many clients will edge towards that dreaded early morning cancellation due to a hangover, but DON’T BE THAT GUY/GIRL!
So without going off on a tangent I wanted to see if I could persuade you that training/exercising whilst being hungover is not bad for you or harmful and can help you out of the darkness into the light, so to speak.
You see, when you drink alcohol you consume about 150-180 useless calories in a beer or glass of wine and the alcohol content in that one drink will be processed in about an hour. Because your body doesn’t store alcohol it will use water and valuable nutrients to process it, which leaves your body dehydrated and low on nutrition, which will leave you feeling low, nauseous and tired (hungover). You will also have filled your system with empty calories that over time add to body weight. Couple that with the mental side of drinking and the feeling of guilt and depression following a night out and you won’t be up for training.
But what if I told you that you could really help your case and undo some of the harm you inflicted on your body and mind?
When you think about sending that cancellation text to the trainer or turning off your alarm and not going to the gym, stop! Get up, and drink a pint of cold water with some hydration boosters! Followed by a cup of brewed coffee (not that instant crap) and eat something like banana on toast with peanut butter. This will hydrate, wake and refuel you! Replacing fluids, salts and giving you some balanced nutrition without having to think too hard.
Then get to your gym or training session. Start gradually and warm up thoroughly making sure your intensity builds. Then train as normal- a session that targets the whole body and largest muscle groups will raise your heart rate, get you sweating and burning energy.
You will get a rush of feel good neurotransmitters and hormones flowing through your body! This will help you feel better mentally and ward off the negative vibes of a hangover. You will also boost your metabolism, which will help you burn off some of the calories that you consumed the night before. It wouldn’t be possible to reverse the damage in one workout but at least you can go someway to minimising it and helping your body get back to normal. Most important of all (I think), is that you will feel less guilt and an air of smugness, that you trained hungover when others didn’t. Your lungs are clear, you “sweated out” some of the nastiness and burned off last night with a series of muscle pumping exercises and energy blasting intervals leaving you feeling less bloated, but lean and ready for the beach.
One point I must make is that you should never train under the influence of alcohol and you must always ensure you have hydrated yourself and sobered up before the exercise is undertaken!
Don’t let the booze ruin your workouts and deny you the feel-good factor of exercise.