The headline you want to be true: maybe a little alcohol is fine, even for lifters. Stronger by Science went and checked, which is annoying of them.
The honest read is that small to moderate amounts don’t seem to tank strength or muscle much. If your only metric is the barbell, a couple of drinks is survivable.
But your metric isn’t the barbell. It’s a quiet nervous system and a clear 6am — and those are exactly what a nightcap borrows against. Alcohol helps you fall asleep and then shreds the back half of the night, the REM and deep sleep where you actually recover. You wake up technically rested and functionally flat.
So the morning-after Mysore that feels like wading through wet sand isn’t a hangover. It’s a worse night of sleep wearing a practice outfit.
This isn’t a temperance lecture. Drink if you drink. Just run the real trade — smaller, earlier costs you less — and stop pretending the practice doesn’t notice.
Read it: Stronger by Science on alcohol & lifters
The honest mechanism: Does a couple drinks wreck your Mysore? →
— MJH
