Are there close ties between exercise and beer?

It's actually both. It starts as a vasodilator and the further you go (and you have to pretty far), it becomes a vasoconstrictor.

 

Shame on you for mentioning duck fat at lunch time. [looks down at plate of brown rice at work desk and sighs]

 

Beat me to it. At intoxicating levels alcohol is a vasodilator, but at higher levels it becomes a vasoconstrictor. And while its effect can be as a depressant, it also acts as a stimulant.

 

I ran on a cross country/track team in college and the night after a race/meet we were the fittest, drunkest kids on campus. Best part is that I would feel great on my long run the next day, a phenomenon I termed 'alco-loading'. I wonder why the pro's stick with pasta the night before a race and not 10-20 Busch Lights...

 

I really like that.

 

6'2"... 200 pounds. My weight will fluctuate between 190-205ish. I weighed as much as 225-230 in college (17-18 years ago)

I hit the gym for an hour every weekday, 30 minutes cardio, 30 minutes strength. I walk a couple hours Saturday and about 4 hours Sunday, with chores. I drink pretty much daily, a "healthy" amount during the week with a bit of a ramp-up on the weekends.

The beer isn't so much what does you in, it's what people tend to stuff their face with while drinking said beer. Without the gym, yeah, I'd be in a lot worse shape than I am.

 

Yup, I need to get off my butt and move more. I'm pretty good about doing a half hour on the stationary bike, a day. Not near enough for my rate of consumption. And the pounds keep a comin'.

 

I only work out once or twice a week, both because I am a thin-framed, rather delicate individual, and because my karate/running sessions are usually rigorous enough that my muscles need multiple days to recover completely. Also, I am an extremely avid academic (study/do homework for hours on end every day) and it's a little known truth that intense mental activity takes energy (calories) just as much as physical exercise can. There's a reason I get especially hungry at the end of long study sessions.

The brain's a muscle that can be strengthened by use and requires energy. Hit the books, ya lazies!

 

I'm 5'9 and a scrappy 150 lbs. I've worked out my entire life but the older I get there is definitely a direct correspondence between the two ... the more I drink ... the less I work out. (Go figure. )

 

So far this year I've cycled 3000 miles and run about 600. Exercise keeps the drinking to a sensible level and drinking stops me turning into an absolute fitness freak.