Alcohol as a pre-workout drink (not as crazy as it sounds)

Rich_L said:
I don't see why not, many a time I have ran home through the streets of London at 2am smashed and been astonished by my speed, stamina and prodigous level of coolness while doing so.
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i concur with this. i too have decided to run/sprint my way home many a time when i'm smashed and have broken through when in a sober state, my body would've needed to rest. it's quite bizarre and instead of feeling nackered afterwards i feel refreshed.
 
Not sure about performance or stamina but alcohol certainly gives me more determination to make the 2AM refill run to Tesco, and I guess determination is one of the key factors of a good workout if you're as lazy as me :)
 
The thing is, I'm sure alcohol is better than nothing.

I bet a proper pre-workout supplement such as Jack3D is better than alcohol though.

Next they'll be giving us scientific proof that a coffee and banana before a session will he--... WAIT A SECOND!
 
I invariably run faster in the morning if I've been drinking a bit the night before. Could be placebo effect, but it feels like I have a bit more energy. Not hungover mind, and I wouldn't try it for a race.
 
Jonny69 said:
That's because Kwerk is a berk and usually posts sensationalist rubbish.

It's quite simple really. Alcohol thins your blood so your heart must be able to pump it round faster. More blood = more fasterness :p
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Ibuprofen or asprin would be a better choice though, Its the reason its often used as part of a stacker. And with the pain numbing effects, allows you to push harder.
 
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MoNkeE said:
The thing is, I'm sure alcohol is better than nothing.

I bet a proper pre-workout supplement such as Jack3D is better than alcohol though.

Next they'll be giving us scientific proof that a coffee and banana before a session will he--... WAIT A SECOND!
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caffiene > jack3d or anything else sold in small tubs. for me at least :)
 
wannabedamned said:
Ibuprofen or asprin would be a better choice though, Its the reason its often used as part of a stacker. And with the pain numbing effects, allows you to push harder.
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I'm sure there is much proof (broscience) that shows A isn't really needed in an ECA stack. Unless you are talking about another stack, ECA is generally where asprin is mentioned.
 
Morba said:
I'm sure there is much proof (broscience) that shows A isn't really needed in an ECA stack. Unless you are talking about another stack, ECA is generally where asprin is mentioned.
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No, It is the ECA stack I'm talking about. I was using it regularly up to 12 months ago, I suspect its part of the reason I ended up addicted to caffeine. ECA onto Energy drinks and now Caffeine free. :p

Its been a long journey kicking my ephedrine\caffine\crack habit :p
 
wannabedamned said:
I suppose it depends on waht you're trying to achieve. It wouldnt be beneficial with regards to weight training. I havent done a sports degree, but I have done my CYQ in sports and exercise fitness, level 1 and level 2.

My thoughts on the matter?

1. Degraded protein synthesis
2. Reduced testosterone

I suppose it could help numb pain.

But with numbing, would come bad posture.

So no, I cant see it helping very much. The cons out weigh the pros
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Well the dose would be low enough that you'd hardly feel it, and in the Op I posted a link of a study that shows very low dose alcohol actually increases testosterone (and aggression in other studies).

I dont think anybody has tested very low doses with protein synthesis, but another thing that would be interesting would be to have a slightly high dose for a day and purposely inhibit protein synthesis, then do the next workout "sober" (or even low-dose) and see if there is a compensatory effect, like your muscle cells upregulate protein synthesis after the alcohol stress of the previous time.

Alcohol is shown to work as a heat stress agent which activates all kinds of cool "heat shock proteins" (google it), that do good stuff for you.

Interestingly, in yeast, different doses of ethanol induce different responses. Over 4%v/v ethanol doses optimally induce heat shock promoters, while 6–8%, induce the same two major changes in integral plasma-membrane protein composition as sublethal heat stress. These changes include reduction in levels of the plasma membrane ATPase protein, and acquisition of the plasma membrane heat-shock protein Hsp30 (Piper et al. 1994). In humans, a beneficial induction of plasma antioxidants is achieved with one drink (5% v/v alcohol) while an increased pro-oxidant state occurs after three drinks from volunteers averaged over 360 minutes. One drink of red wine, beer, or stout provided equivalent increases in plasma antioxidant activity without induction of pro-oxidative stress (*****ett et al. 2004). Thus, at different doses, different physiological responses occur from benefit to harmful response.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2836146/

Heat-Shock Proteins (HSPs) are involved in growth and development of uscles, however, the exact role that hyperthermia and HSPs play in muscle hypertrophy and muscle repair is unknown. Here, for the first time, we present our findings on the effects of heat shock (HS) in representative cell culture models of cardiac (HL-1), skeletal (C2C12) and smooth (A7R5) muscle cells. We used fully differentiated cells, and exposed them to a mild heat shock protocol (43ºC for 20 min). Cells were returned after HS to their normal culture environment and 24 hrs after HS, we measured cell area. Surprisingly, we discovered that HS induced significant hypertrophy in all three types of muscle cells. To begin deciphering the molecular machinery involved with the hypertrophic response we used a real-time PCR array that included specific genes involved in hypertrophy, cell signaling and transduction, and excitation-contraction coupling. In C2C12, 6 hrs after HS, we found an increase in the expression of Hsp genes and downregulation of IP3R-1, TLR2, MHC6, and Titin. This is the first report to show that HS promotes cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle hypertrophy that associates with changes in a small subset of genes.
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http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/24/1_MeetingAbstracts/1047.3
 
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