The effect of pausing on your sports performance

Your health is worth everything to you. Exercise contributes to better health, both mentally and physically. A good condition gives strength and increases your resistance. Also nice: an alcohol break has a major effect on your sports performance.

Exercise is healthy, that's not news. And many (sporty) people also like a beer, wine or something stronger every now and then. Not a surprise to read either. But did you know that thanks to an alcohol break you can perform even better in sports? Yes, even if you are normally a moderate drinker of alcohol, an alcohol break provides many benefits from a sporting point of view.

1. Less chance of injuries

Alcohol affects many important bodily functions, such as: absorption, transport and consumption or storage of almost every nutrient. When you drink, your stomach quickly absorbs about a fifth of the alcohol. The rest is absorbed directly into the blood. As a result, the influence of alcohol is noticeable in many places in your body. Especially in the brain and nerve cells. When you choose a healthier and alcohol-free alternative, you don't have to worry about a reduction in your reaction time and coordination, your movement technique and your endurance. That means less chance of injuries.

2. More energy

When you exercise you have to eat well. You use a lot of energy and you notice that in your body. For example, your liver serves as a storage place for glycogen (carbohydrates) from which your body draws energy during exercise. When the liver has to process alcohol, it disrupts the combustion of carbohydrates, which lowers blood sugar levels and reduces your sports performance. When you leave out the alcohol on the day that you exercise, your body can recover optimally after considerable physical exertion.

3. Better Hydration

During exercise you lose body water and alcohol also removes moisture from your body. With the loss of (this double portion) of fluids, various vitamins and minerals, including zinc, are also withdrawn from the body. Because the concentration of alcohol in your blood rises enormously, you get drunk much faster after exercise. To keep your hydration up, drink plenty of water and skip that cold beer. This gives your body the chance to stabilize the moisture content.

4. Healthy liver

During an alcohol break, the liver does not have to deal with alcohol detoxification, which causes other vital functions of the liver to come to a standstill. Think of the processing of fat. An alcohol break is a relief for your liver. Now this organ can concentrate on its core tasks: the production of bile (which ensures better absorption of fats in the intestine), the production of important proteins (which are necessary for the clotting of the blood, among other things) and the storage of glycogen (an important fuel for many processes in the body).

5. Better condition

Leaving the alcohol alone ensures that your condition improves and your muscle pain decreases. Your body can fully concentrate on the effort and recovery during and after exercise.

Are you looking for an alternative to the 'third half'? Then take a look at our recipe page for alternative and healthy thirst quenchers. That makes exercising even more fun!