Does Wine Affect Your Workout?

If you enjoy drinking wine, you might wonder whether your indulgence has a negative effect on your workouts. Luckily, it doesn't have to. Drinking moderate amounts of wine could actually benefit your fitness regimen. However, it's important not to let your drinking get out of hand. The gym and one too many glasses of wine could be a dangerous combination, and you could ruin your weight-loss or weight-maintenance efforts.

  1. Some Wine

    • Drinking a glass or two of wine at happy hour before your workout could actually be good for you. Although it seems strange, a 1996 study by John Moores University found that a moderate amount of wine and other types of alcohol has a thinning effect on the blood, thus decreasing the strain on your heart during exercise. It doesn't matter if the wine is red or white, the study says.

    Plenty of Wine

    • If you had too much wine to drink the night prior to your workout, you should make your session shorter and less intense, says exercise physiologist and former triathlete Rod Cedaro. It's also important to drink plenty of fluids before, during and after you exercise to prevent dehydration. When you exercise hungover, you also tend to burn less fat and experience delayed onset muscle soreness. Finally, you could also suffer from cognitive impairment, so it's best in this case to try simple workouts rather than those that require tremendous concentration in order to avoid injury.

    Long-Term Effects

    • If you drink wine regularly -- more than one or two glasses a night -- you could unknowingly be sabotaging your fitness efforts. One glass of white wine has about 130 calories, so if you often have a few you could potentially undo all your calorie-spending work at the gym. After you've drunk, your body is also so concerned with expelling all the toxins that fat burning takes a back seat, meaning you'll shed less fat than you normally would.

    Safety Considerations

    • Never go to the gym while drunk. Wine and other types of alcohol in large quantities delay the function of the brain, meaning you'll be less alert while on the treadmill, for example, and could risk an injury. Always hydrate enough after a night of drinking. If you feel hungover, it's a good idea to lower the intensity of your workout so that your body can recover properly. Don't push yourself too much until you feel better.