I'm not a regular drinker, I don't buy slabs or sixpacks or bottles of spirits. We have some wine, but only drink it when we have dinner parties, which is once or twice a month, so I get one or two glasses in. Then we might go out a couple of times a month, and again usually there's some alcohol. So I guess it'd average to 1.5 standard drinks a week.
However, that's the average, the reality is 4-6 in one week and then nothing for 3 weeks.
In the past I was a heavier drinker - goes with being in the Army. At one point we'd go most Saturdays to a mate's place around 1100 where he'd set up his woodfired barbie, that'd take hours to get going, by 1400 we were cooking and 1500 eating, we'd keep at it until about 0200 Sunday. In those 12-15 hours we'd consume about a slab of beers each plus some spirits.
If I tried that now I'd be in hospital by 1900
I eased back towards the end of my service, until by sign-out I was a non-drinker.
Going from being a heavy drinker to no or relatively little drinking, it did make a significant difference, I found. You just have more fuel in your tank if it's not mixed with booze. Your endurance is better
But probably more importantly, your motivation is better. Alcohol is a depressant, which is just what it sounds like - it slows you down, damps down all your excitement, even makes you impotent. You just can't train with as much intensity if you've some booze in your system - and it stays in your system surprisingly long, some blokes have been on the piss one night and then got done for drink driving the next morning on the way to work.
It knocks down your your strength, too. It also makes a difference in dietary terms, there are a lot of calories in booze, and those calories have got zero nutrition keeping them company.
So it does make a difference, even for a recreational athlete. One glass of wine or one beer one night a week is not going to have a noticeable effect. But a slab over the weekend is going to root you.
This is why in that
beginner's advice (that's for completely untrained unfit beginners who'll have no trainer or partner to work with) I always give, I say "not more than six standard drinks in a week, and not more than four on one day." On thought I would add, "not more than one the day before a workout, and the four only if you've two rest days ahead."
I think Markos is right in that almost no-one will follow that advice given by someone else, it has to come off your own bat. Still it doesn't hurt to plant the seed of the idea in there for the person, so if they come up to their limits, they can say to themselves, "if I want to get past here, I have to leave the grog behind."
The obstacle really is social. If you won't drink with your mates you'll feel a bit of an outsider. Genuine friends rather than just "mates", they'll understand and not hassle you, and you can still all have fun together. But some mates will take the piss viciously and not leave you alone. Unfortunately the only answer to that is to get new mates.
As you say, Josh, it's all about the lifestyle you want to live and the particular goals you have. You have to balance it all up. I say that's fine, you just have to sit down every few months and think it through, do you want to put more emphasis on this or on that, change your workout or your lifestyle, etc. Just always be assessing whether things are still working for you. A lot of us get into habits and keep doing them even when they're not making us happy.
