How Alcohol Consumption Can Impede Your Development

The old chestnut is about to be opened up again in regard to alcohol and sport. You can't escape the fact that alcohol and sport are commonly linked together. The power of the mighty sponsorship dollar means that alcohol can be advertised at major sporting events and on television. Also some sporting celebrities align themselves with certain brands of alcohol in advertising for purely their own financial benefit. I am not for one minute going to criticise our cricket stars or our major sporting event organisers. And I am certainly not going to criticise the alcohol producers and their marketing practices. Alcohol will always be in our society due to the money that it generates for our Government and the participation rate of the population in consuming alcohol.

As a former cricketer I consumed alcohol and today I still partake in consuming alcohol very moderately. So I am definitely not going to get on my high horse and try to persuade you to steer clear of alcohol without confessing to my very moderate consumption of alcohol. Now my point is that if you want to improve and be a successful cricketer which includes your fitness and preparation for the game you would do well not to consume alcohol excessively if at all.

Firstly it dramatically reduces your mental focus for up to 2 days after alcohol is in your system. Your kidney's get worked overtime when alcohol is taken in. The kidney takes in a lot of the bodies water in an attempt to metabolise as much alcohol from the body as possible quickly. So you can see how your body can become very dehydrated after alcohol consumption. Adequate hydration is vital for sport and especially cricket. Another important factor that cricketers should be aware of is how alcohol affects the bodies recovery process.After a game or training your muscles begin to recover from the damage created by your efforts produced. As soon as alcohol enters your digestive system the protein synthesis process stops. Protein synthesis is where protein is absorbed into the muscle to aid and foster muscle rebuilding and recovery. All of the processes mentioned can be interrupted for up to 3 days due to alcohol.

To the body alcohol is a poison that will be used as an energy source until totally used up. Unfortunately it is a nutrient lacking energy source which makes it a very inefficient energy source. Alcohol can disrupt other processes such as fat loss also but I won't go into that in this article. So all things considered the poison called alcohol will in no way shape or form benefit your cricket and fitness. So my advice to you is that if you are serious about becoming a better cricketer and rising above the pack then alcohol isn't a good option for you.