Controlled alcohol consumption is the secret to keeping up with your 2020 fitness resolutions.

We all know alcohol isn’t good for our bodies, but few of us realise the full impact it can have on our well-being and, thus, our fitness resolutions. Data from Firstbeat shows that compared with non-drinkers, those who drink are more stressed and recover less during the day, and sleep considerably worse throughout the night. January is a time when many people begin drastic new fitness regimes and proper recovery is even more important.

Amassed data comparing over 32,000 people showed the consistent trend of worsened well-being when consuming alcohol. Continuing drinking, in conjunction with a drastic fitness overhaul could lead to short-term burnout, acute stress issues, dysfunctional immune system and many other problems – inevitably leading you to cancelling your plans for a revitalised, fitter you.

“Having as little as one unit of alcohol in your system at bedtime can delay the onset of restorative sleep by around one hour. Even just having two large glasses of wine (approximately 6 units) late in the evening and sleeping for six hours means you may not get any restorative sleep, and therefore won’t recover overnight.” says Nigel Stockill, Performance Director at Firstbeat. “Alcohol is a toxin, and the body treats it as such, raising the heart rate and cortisol (the stress hormone) levels.”

“Heavy exercise also taxes the body, with very intense exercise causing cortisol levels to rise significantly, studies show.” says Tina Hoffman, Exercise Physiologist and Master Trainer for Firstbeat. The combination of continued drinking and a drastic new exercise regime could cause serious problems for some people. Alcohol lowers your heart rate variability (HRV), which means your body is worse equipped to deal with other stressors, such as intense exercise.

If you want to stick to your fitness resolutions, try and give up or cut down on alcohol intake too. Not only will it complement your goals, helping to reduce calorie intake and make you feel better; but you will also recover from your workouts better, be less stressed at work and sleep better.

ABOUT FIRSTBEAT
Firstbeat provides advanced performance analytics for stress, recovery and exercise. Firstbeat Technology is used in over 100 wearable devices, e.g. Garmin, Suunto, Mont Blanc, Huawei, Samsung, Sony, TomTom, Huami, Jabra, Withings, Actxa, Bosch, Epson, Fjuul, MiTac, Pear Sports, PulseON. 1,000 elite sports teams, 26 national teams, 100+ NCAA programs and >50% NHL teams rely on Firstbeat sports. Football teams using Firstbeat Sports include: Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Plus 25% of Champions League teams.