Abstract
Moderate, acute alcohol consumption after eccentric exercise has been shown to magnify the muscular weakness that is typically associated with exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). As it is not known whether this effect is dose-dependent, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a low dose of alcohol on EIMD-related losses in muscular performance. Ten healthy males performed 300 maximal eccentric contractions of the quadriceps muscles of one leg on an isokinetic dynamometer. They then consumed either a beverage containing 0.5 g of alcohol per kg bodyweight (as vodka and orange juice) or an isocaloric, isovolumetric non-alcoholic beverage. At least 2 weeks later, they performed an equivalent bout of eccentric exercise on the contralateral leg after which they consumed the other beverage. Measurement of peak and average peak isokinetic (concentric and eccentric) and isometric torque produced by the quadriceps was made before and 36 and 60 h post-exercise. Significant decreases in all measures of muscular performance were observed over time under both conditions (all P < 0.05); however, no difference between treatments was evident at any of the measured time points (all P > 0.05). Therefore, consumption of a low dose of alcohol after damaging exercise appears to have no effect on the loss of force associated with strenuous eccentric exercise.
References
Barnes M, Mündel T, Stannard S (2010a) Post-exercise alcohol ingestion exacerbates eccentric-exercise induced losses in performance. Eur J Appl Physiol 108:1009–1014
Barnes MJ, Mündel T, Stannard SR (2010b) Acute alcohol consumption aggravates the decline in muscle performance following strenuous eccentric exercise. J Sci Med Sport 13:189–193
Beaton LJ, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM (2002) Contraction-induced muscle damage in humans following calcium channel blocker administration. J Physiol 544:849
Burke LM, Collier GR, Broad EM, Davis PG, Martin DT, Sanigorski AJ, Hargreaves M (2003) Effect of alcohol intake on muscle glycogen storage after prolonged exercise. J Appl Physiol 95:983–990
Cherpitel CJ (1993) Alcohol, injury, and risk-taking behavior: data from a national sample. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 17:762–766
Clarkson PM, Reichsman F (1990) The effect of ethanol on exercise-induced muscle damage. J Stud Alcohol 51:19–23
Ford JA (2007) Substance use among college athletes: a comparison based on sport/team affiliation. J Am Coll Health 55:367–373
Jönhagen S, Ackermann P, Eriksson T, Saartok T, Renström P (2004) Sports massage after eccentric exercise. Am J Sports Med 32:1499
Koziris LP, Kraemer WJ, Gordon SE, Incledon T, Knuttgen HG (2000) Effect of acute postexercise ethanol intoxication on the neuroendocrine response to resistance exercise. J Appl Physiol 88:165–172
LaStayo PC, Woolf JM, Lewek MD, Snyder-Mackler L, Reich T, Lindstedt SL (2003) Eccentric muscle contractions: Their contribution to injury, prevention, rehabilitation, and sport. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 33:557–571
Maughan RJ (2006) Alcohol and football. J Sports Sci 24:741–748
McHugh MP (2003) Recent advances in the understanding of the repeated bout effect: the protective effect against muscle damage from a single bout of eccentric exercise. Scand J Med Sci Sports 13:88–97
Nelson TF, Wechsler H (2001) Alcohol and college athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33:43
Nicolas JM, Antunez E, Thomas AP, Fernandez-Sola J, Tobias E, Estruch R, Urbano-Marquez A (1998) Ethanol acutely decreases calcium transients in cultured human myotubes. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 22:1086–1092
O’Brien KS, Blackie JM, Hunter JA (2005) Hazardous drinking in elite New Zealand sportspeople. Alcohol Alcohol 40:239–241
O’Brien KS, Ali A, Cotter JD, O’Shea RP, Stannard S (2007) Hazardous drinking in New Zealand sportspeople: level of sporting participation and drinking motives. Alcohol Alcohol 42:376–382
Pagala M, Ravindran K, Amaladevi B, Namba T, Grab D (1995) Effect of ethanol on function of the rat heart and skeletal muscles. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 19:676–684
Patel M, Keshavarzian A, Kottapalli V, Badie B, Winship D, Fields JZ (1996) Human neutrophil functions are inhibited in vitro by clinically relevant ethanol concentrations. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 20:275–283
Paulsen G, Benestad HB, Strøm-Gundersen I, Mørkrid L, Lappegård KT, Raastad T (2005) Delayed leukocytosis and cytokine response to high-force eccentric exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc 37:1877
Proske U, Morgan DL (2001) Muscle damage from eccentric exercise: mechanism, mechanical signs, adaptation and clinical applications. J Physiol 537:333–345
Quarrie KL, Feehan M, Waller AE, Cooke KR, Williams S, McGee R (1996) The New Zealand rugby injury and performance project: alcohol use patterns within a cohort of rugby players. Addiction 91:1865–1868
Shirreffs SM, Maughan RJ (1997) Restoration of fluid balance after exercise-induced dehydration: effects of alcohol consumption. J Appl Physiol 83:1152–1158
Snow P, Munro G (2006) Alcohol (mis)use in metropolitan amateur football clubs. ACHPER Healthy Lifestyles J 53:7–11
Szabo G (1998) Monocytes, alcohol use, and altered immunity. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 22:216S–219S
Szabo G, Mandrekar P (2009) A recent perspective on alcohol, immunity, and host defense. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 33:220–232
Szabo G, Chavan S, Mandrekar P, Catalano D (1999) Acute alcohol consumption attenuates interleukin-8 (IL-8) and monocyte chemoattractant peptide-1 (MCP-1) induction in response to ex vivo stimulation. J Clin Immunol 19:67–76
Vingren JL, Koziris LP, Ben-Ezra V, Kraemer WJ (2003) Effect of post-exercise ethanol intoxication on the free testosterone response to resistance exercise in men. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35:S330
Warren GL, Ingalls CP, Lowe DA, Armstrong RB (2001) Excitation-contraction uncoupling: major role in contraction-induced muscle injury. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 29:82–87
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by William Kraemer.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barnes, M.J., Mündel, T. & Stannard, S.R. A low dose of alcohol does not impact skeletal muscle performance after exercise-induced muscle damage. Eur J Appl Physiol 111, 725–729 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1655-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1655-8