Prudent Financial / Bob Cremerius

While you may fall asleep quickly after drinking, it’s also common to wake up in the middle of the night. After drinking, the production of adenosine (a sleep- Alcohol can slow down your post-run inducing chemical in the brain) is increased, allowing recovery you to fall asleep quickly. But it subsides as quickly as it came, making you more likely to wake up before you’re truly rested. The key is to not One of the biggest issues with alcohol consumption in runners is the fact that it slows down recovery. Alcohol puts a large strain on your liver, which is the same vital organ that helps the body recover from exercise. One of the Alcohol also blocks the most restorative sleep overdo it. liver’s jobs is to monitor blood flow. Because increased blood flow can occur after you’ve had cycle, REM sleep, so too much to drink, your liver focuses on trying you are likely to wake to regulate that, rather than the body’s recovery from up feeling unfocused and groggy. All that alcohol exercise. Therefore, it takes much longer (up to twice as also causes you to take more trips to the bathroom, long) to replenish your liver and muscle glycogen stores disrupting your sleep even further. if you have consumed alcohol the day before a run.

Alcohol can increase your heart rate

Your heart rate increases when you drink alcohol, as does your blood pressure. This can be particularly problematic for those with an underlying issue who then go out for a long or tough run. This extra stress on

Finally, alcohol may impair your recovery from an acute injury or muscle soreness.

In order to recover from an injury or a sore muscle we often ice the area to reduce blood flow and constrict blood vessels to speed healing. Unfortunately, alcohol