Workout worries
Question
I am 22-years-old and have two-hour sessions at the gym twice a week. During these workouts, I do a gruelling weight-lifting session and high-level cardiovascular work. Afterwards, I feel great. Unfortunately, I also go out at the weekends and drink loads. I dont like lager so I mainly drink cider and sprits. I usually down five pints of cider and about seven doubles. This is followed by hours of dancing. At the end of the night, I'm tipsy but still in control. In the morning, I have a mild hangover but apart from that I'm fine. I do this every weekend.
I'm starting to worry that my lifestyle is damaging me more than I think because I'm not really feeling any after effects. I am beginning to worry I might have a heart attack during one of my workouts at the gym. Am I right to worry?
Answer
It's always a good idea to make informed choices about how much you drink and when, based on the risks and effects on your health.
The recommended intake of alcohol is expressed in units. Official guidelines recommend no more than 3-4 units a day for adult men and 2-3 for adult women. One unit is half a pint of beer, lager or cider, one small glass of table wine or a 25ml measure of spirits. Keep an eye on your weekly alcohol levels to determine whether you are drinking too much in one evening. You should be particularly wary of binge drinking - boozing simply to get drunk.
One easy way to cut down the amount you drink in one evening is to alternate alcoholic with non-alcoholic drinks. This will also reduce the severity of hangovers, which are partly caused by the dehydrating effect of alcohol.
Another thing you may want to consider is that you could also be adding on unwanted weight if you drink too much alcohol - It is full of empty calories.
If you want to have a chat with someone about this, contact Frank or Drinkline for confidential information. Alcohol Concern also has a services directory if you would like to go get some locally-based information. Good luck.
Updated: 13/04/2010
Question answered by Addaction
