It was reported that at the beginning of the COVID crisis people weren’t only stockpiling toilet roll, but alcohol was also being bought in bulk. [1]
Then as the UK shut down the Government categorised ‘off-licences and licenced shops selling alcohol’ as essential, allowing them to stay open even after the pubs were ordered to close. [2]
Couple this with recent sales data showing alcohol sales around this time rose sharply [3] and data from Alcohol Change UK shows that “around one in five drinkers [have] been drinking more frequently since the lockdown”.
It’s safe to say there have been a few sore heads since March 2020 and is therefore likely there have been some dodgy hangover workouts. [4]
In this article, we’ll look at how a hangover impacts your workout and what, if any, type of workout you should be doing when you’re not feeling your best. We might also bust a myth or two along the way.
Let’s go.
How Does Alcohol Impact Performance?
When you drink faster than your body can process it your blood alcohol level increases and you become drunk.
Keep drinking and you stay drunk.
This has several effects on the body all of which leave you feeling far from your best the next morning.
Between dehydration, fatigue and an inability to concentrate properly the last thing you probably feel like doing is hitting the gym [5] and it’s for good reason too.
Sweating It Out
It’s a common myth that you can sweat out your hangover.
However, the reality is that 90% of alcohol is removed by the liver with only 10% being expelled through your sweat, urine and breath.
This idea also complete ignores the fact that being hungover is the result of dehydration, changes in your digestive system, vasodilation and poor sleep quality and quantity.
All this adds up to mean working out when hungover will likely worsen your hangover and not solve it.
Instead, you want to prioritise:
- Water: drink lots of water throughout the day, don’t worry about downing glass after glass but make sure you’re drinking little and often. You can use your pee as a guide to how hydrated you are
- Rest: if your hangover prevents you from sleeping in then try and get lots of rest on the couch or in bed, this will give you liver time to finish processing the alcohol
- Carbs: if you’re feeling tired and/or dizzy then you’ll want to get some good quality carbs like oatmeal, bread or pasta to help stabilise your blood sugar levels
- Hydration: in addition to water you could try having some rehydration tablets to help restore your electrolyte balance
Ok, so knowing all of this should you work out when hungover?
Training When Hungover
A hangover cannot be cured so if you’re looking to exercise as a miracle cure then you can climb back into bed right now.
As to whether you should exercise and what type you should do depends on:
- How much you’ve had to drink
- How long it’s been since you stopped drinking
- The type of exercise you want to do
This is because the more you’ve had to drink and the more recently you stopped the worse your hangover will be. If we’re being realistic then if you’re hungover chances are you drunk a reasonable amount and as a consequence are not only dehydrated but slept badly and are also tired.
Add the usual headache, irritability and nausea and it begins to come clear that you probably should be doing much. At this point, you can rule out any kind of high-intensity exercises like weightlifting, sprints, and circuit training.
Not only is your risk of injury much higher than normal due to your impaired condition but you also risk becoming more dehydrated and running into bigger problems than a crappy workout.
However, this doesn’t mean some gentle exercise won’t be beneficial:
- Walking
- Stretching
- Yoga
If you have the energy and feel like getting some fresh air or stretching out then these low impact activities are the kind of things you want to aim for.
Not only are they not energy-intensive but they can be a beneficial part of your recovery when combined with proper rest and rehydration.
The bottom line is, training when hungover is not a good idea and the worse the hangover is the less you should do exercise but if you are going to do something, keep it light and gentle.
References
[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52033260
[3] https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/bulletins/retailsales/april2020
[4] https://alcoholchange.org.uk/blog/2020/covid19-drinking-during-lockdown-headline-findings
[5] https://www.liftlearngrow.com/blog-page/alcohol-muscle-growth
No Comments yet!