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Sarah MacKay Robinson remembers the exact moment she began to question the role alcohol played in her life. It was the day after his sporting crowning achievement: competing in the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials, the once-every-four-years race in which the top three finishers earn a spot on the U.S. team. Just qualifying for the event is a major accomplishment, one that Robinson has put a lot of work into.

Like many runners, Robinson celebrated the culmination of months of intense training with a few drinks with friends after the race. And although she never felt addicted to alcohol or that there was anything wrong with choosing to drink, she began to realize that her decision to have a glass of wine several times a week, or to toast a great moment, did not add value.

“I was sitting at the airport, holding my 18-month-old, a little hungover,” recalls Robinson, who is a brand and content specialist in Tacoma, Washington. “I remember thinking, Is this really how I want to feel after one of the biggest and proudest moments of my life: feeling giddy at LAX? Do I want to be hungover with my kids? It was just a disappointment for me.

Another boost for Robinson, who is now 40: “I was so tired of wondering if alcohol is good or bad for me,” she says. “I wanted to free up that mental space for something else.”

So, around that time, she stopped drinking. Just for a little while at first – intermittent periods of 30 or 60 days. As life progressed, these experimental periods became much longer.

The transition to drier physical activity

Robinson, knowingly or not, joined what is often called the “sober and curious” movementgeneric term used to describe a reduction in alcohol consumption, whether in the form of total abstinence or simple moderation. The concept is not new (think Dry January and Sober October), but it arguably appeals to the masses more than ever. In January 2022, soft drink sales increased 19% in dollar terms, while total alcohol sales decreased 6.7%, according to a Nielsen report. Additionally, one of the top reasons consumers cited for not being able to drink was to improve their well-being.

Katie WitkiewitzPhD, director of the University of New Mexico Center on Alcohol, Substance Use and Addictionis excited that people are “starting to take a lifelong health perspective on alcohol and that it’s becoming more socially acceptable not to drink, whether it’s for Dry January or because you’re running a marathon,” she says . “Any reduction in alcohol consumption is beneficial because it can help you be more active or competitive because you will have better sleep, more energy and better overall physical function.”

The impact of alcohol on the body

Anyway, what exactly does a bev here and there do to your performance? It depends on the individual and factors such as age, gender, body mass and other variables. However, generally speaking, when you drink, your body will be busy processing this alcohol, which has no caloric (i.e.: energy) value, and which hinders muscle repair and hydration, components of core recovery that allow you to adapt to the stress of training and continue exercising.

of adults 21 and older in the United States gave up alcohol in January 2022, an increase from 21% in 2019.

Source: CGA

Additionally, the more you drink, the more you will urinate, which delays the hydration process. Alcohol also inhibits carbohydrate and protein intake, delaying muscle repair and limiting the production of hormones that help build muscle, research shows. And while you may fall asleep a little faster after a cocktail, it actually decreases the overall quality of your nighttime sleep, which is the most critical aspect of your sleep. recovery for athletes. Absorption prompts the liver to metabolize alcohol overnight; As blood alcohol levels decrease, you are more likely to have sleep problems.

Ultimately, while science doesn’t say with certainty that stopping drinking for X days will help you run or lift a week, a year or forever – is more likely than not to have a positive impact on performance.

Set moderation

The reality is, however, that not all exercisers consider ditching the post-hike drink or glass of wine with dinner to pursue a better workout. Moderate alcohol consumption (one drink or less per day for women, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) generally does not pose long-term health risks, although the less you drink, the less you risk serious repercussions. such as liver disease, breast cancer, cognitive decline or heart disease. Still, experts can list many compelling reasons, beyond setting a new PR, for women to consider cutting back.

When Stevie Lyn Smith, RDNlived in Washington, D.C. a few years ago, she trained for Ironman triathlons and participated in the happy hour culture. She would have a few cocktails and get up the next day to work out, even when she was hungover. Then a move to Buffalo coincided with the start of the pandemic, which put an end to socializing. It didn’t take her long to realize how much better she felt without alcohol.

She could wake up Sunday morning and not want to stay in bed all day. The data also confirmed what she was feeling: her sports watch was tracking stats like heart rate variability (or HRV, the change in time between each beat), a metric that increased the more she drank, indicating better fitness and recovery. (The number usually goes down if you’re sick, tired, stressed, or struggling.) “Because of my Ironman experience, I live and die by heart rate training. When I was drinking, my heart rate was higher and I was just dragging out workouts,” says Smith, who also advises other athletes on how to fuel their active lives.

Smith hasn’t cut out all alcohol, but she limits it considerably these days, usually when she goes to a restaurant that has a well-made cocktail or when she goes for a hard soda at a baseball game with his mother. “It’s a very intentional choice,” she says. “I often go months without drinking.”

The decline in recovery that users of the Whoop fitness tracker experienced, on average, after drinking alcohol the night before. (Alcohol consumption had the greatest negative impact on next-day recovery, according to the Whoop study.)

Many of Smith’s nutrition clients ask to reduce their intake while training for an endurance event. Usually they have an idea of ​​what she’s going to say. “Most people come to me already knowing that drinking probably isn’t the best choice for achieving their goal or what they’re looking to do,” she says. When they’re honest with her about alcohol, she says, “they at least tend to adjust their behaviors accordingly because they start to recognize that it’s harmful.”

Find a balance

For women considering a reduction, Witkiewitz encourages them to first assess how much they currently drink by keeping a diary or using one of the many apps that let you track their drinks. Robinson uses a free app called I Am Sober, which has a feature that lets you list the reasons you skip alcohol. When you log in to see how many days you’ve gone without drinking, you’ll be reminded of your “why.” When she used sobriety as motivation to reach a fitness goal, “I would post the race date so that would be front and center,” Robinson says.

After tracking your drinks for about a month, identify sips you could reasonably cut out. Some people choose not to drink alcohol during the week, for example, or commit to having one glass of wine with dinner instead of two. And plan ahead. If you look at the total number of drinks per week and you know you have an event coming up where you’ll want to indulge, adjust the amount you consume the rest of the week.

Rachel Gersten, a New York City therapist who cut out alcohol to help manage an inflammatory autoimmune disease, encourages everyone to try a dry spell and see what happens. She thinks most people would be surprised at how much alcohol shows up in their daily lives and how much it takes intention and awareness to ultimately adjust the drinking rituals they’ve become accustomed to. “Try to gather information about yourself,” says Gersten. “Is what you are learning suitable for you?” »

If Lindsay Riess, 37, begins another 12-week training cycle in which she runs up to 70 miles a week to PR in a marathon, she cuts out alcohol. She can’t say whether the decision had an obvious effect on her results, but the habit makes her feel healthier overall. His only exception? The Arizona-based runner usually has another drink the day before her marathon. “It eliminates that anxiety for me, so that’s my little contradiction,” she says.

For her part, Robinson went sober for more than two years and had her best training and fastest marathon after three months as a sober person (coincidence or not). She only has one regret about her decision to quit alcohol: “I wish I had done it earlier, when I was at the top of my game, because I would have collapsed. »

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