Working out plus drinking beer!?

Question

I work my butt off in the gym and I would consider myself very physically fit, but I still have a beer gut. How much is beer affecting my workouts? I drink heavily on Friday and possible Saturday nights as I am only 28. I work out 4 to 5 days a week with heavy strength training and 30 minutes of cardio 3 days a week. I think I work out and train very well, and smart too. I just need to lose the beer gut. I guess I know the answer to this question, but I want to hear everyones opinion. Do I need to stop drinking? I have been told if I stop for 60 days I will see huge results and then I can maintain my abs as long as I drink in moderation. Any tips?

I do work my abs a lot. Abs will not show through if there is fat above them. I am not a believer that doing abs will burn the fat around your waist. I could be wrong.

Answer 1

Firstly, for your health, stop binge drinking. Secondly, Its really a lot of calories and it takes a LONG time to break down, especially alcohol, which needs to be broken down aerobically and anaerobically. Plus all the sugars and carbs in the beer its self.

You can loose weight eating nothing but cheese cake so long as your caloric output is higher then the intake, but if you're serious about being healthy, looking good, muscle definition and / or body fat, stop drinking heavily. You can still have a drink, but limit it to 5 beers or less a week.

You're right you can not target train fat away from any area of your body. You can only target train your muscles. Fat comes off from the whole body and the pattern in which it happens is in your DNA.

Answer 2

Beer is bad for your workout in a few ways.
One, the calories are in liquid form so they hit your system faster than calories from food. Your body also burns less calories to process them as no mechanical digestion is needed.

Alcohol can also dehydrate you, which is not good for working out.

The last thing is mainly that people tend to over do it when it comes to beer. It doesnt have much more calories than soda but people don't tend to drink 5 or 6 pints of soda a night like they will do with a beer. 6 pints of beer is about as many calories a person needs in just one day.

It isn't really the beer that is the problem, it is just that liek any high calorie food, it will make it harder to loose weight if you consume it.

edit, some of the info i have posted is contradicted by the answerer above me, So I am possibly wrong on that, but the other stuff I have said is definitely right.

Answer 3

I am a beer lover who used to drink microbrews (I wouldn't say a "lot" but one or two during the week and a couple more on weekends). They were hindering my weight loss.

I'm not sure what kind of beer you are drinking, but if you must drink beer, switch to a light version (like Rolling Rock Light, etc.). There are a lot of sugars/carbs and calories *especially* in the "better" beers. You just don't realize it but your body does.

If you must drink on weekends, switch to something else like Diet Coke and rum or do shots and drink a lot of water. I switched to wine and have, once again, been able to maintain and lose weight. Give it a try, even for a few weeks, and see what your body says. I think you might be pleased.

Best wishes.

Answer 4

You dont need to stop, but try to cut back. After all, Drinking a beer is like "drinking" a porkchop. Its alot of calories, but NO real nutrients. Beer is cool, but it hides your results. Everything in moderation is fine.

Answer 5

I think you should stop drinking for two weeks and see if you see a huge difference. Other than that, up the cardio to four days and that will definitely take care of the extra calories.

Answer 6

regrettably, each and every thing is getting extra high priced. it is because of the fact gasoline is getting so high priced, and it costs extra to truck issues to the place we are. confident, the government refund examine is to pay for beer, or groceries, or outfits, or something we would pick or choose.

Answer 7

have u tried sit ups