The love/hate relationship between Rugby & Alcohol

from KAIWHANA Rugby:

In keeping with our motto of “Rugby is not just a game, it’s a way of life…” we are going to explore this subject in the weeks to come, and look at the social side of the game. The life of a rugby player is one of many facets and constantly evolves as the player matures and goes through all the representative ranks… This blog will look at the culture of drinking, and why there is such a negative connotation to it. Rightly so, as there has been many unfortunate reports of rugger’s wrecking hotels, disrupting flights, after match disputes in bars and nightclubs etc….

One does not have to look far to find there are numerous reports on the internet. In an article published by rugbyweek.com on Sunday the 9th October 2011 it was reported “All Blacks winger Cory Jane has been accused of “letting himself down” by the All Blacks’ team manager after a reported “booze binge” just 72 hours before Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final against Argentina…” more on this story to be found @ Rugby Week.

Steve Kilgallon reported on 05/08/2012 in stuff.co.nz that “Last week the rugby and drinking relationship was highlighted when Australia’s immigration minister denied an appeal against deportation from New Zealander Charlie Tauariki. Offered a place to stay by a friend on his release from prison, Tauariki promised to go teetotal. But the minister said the pair were connected through rugby, which had a culture of drinking and playing rugby was likely to expose him to that culture”

The last story, and not purposely another New Zealander, but the first 3 I found on Google reports on – “Former All Black hardman Keith Robinson bashed an older man and pelted him with bottles after a boozy “man-cave tour” turned violent. Robinson has admitted a charge of injuring with intent to injure for the attack which witnesses said left a man unconscious and bleeding outside the Palace Hotel in Te Aroha. His lawyer Moana Dorset said Robinson was “really bummed” and took full responsibility for the attack. Robinson will reappear in the Hamilton District Court next month for sentencing…” Story by John Weekes, Sunday Dec 30, 2012 The New Zealand Herald

To show it happens worldwide we report on an article published by the Otago Daily News “Wales centre Gavin Henson has apologised after being suspended by Cardiff Blues over an alcohol-fuelled incident on a plane as the team returned from a Celtic League match in Scotland. The 30-year-old Henson said he was “truly embarrassed” about his “inappropriate behavior” on the flight, hours after Cardiff’s 31-3 loss to Glasgow Warriors in which Henson came on as a substitute” These are but a few, these are the ones that made the headlines….

However our beautiful is game is not the exception; as this is part and parcel of every major sporting code; that’s subject to the same unfortunate incidences that bring not only the game, but all players in disrepute with the public! There has been hordes of awareness programs launched alerting the public of the dangers of alcohol abuse, sobriety programs aimed that the rehabilitation of those that abuse the “jungle juice” etc. Let’s take a look though within our context and framework of reference that are athletes wanting to perform at their ultimate peak! The following insights on alcohol and how it influences the performances of rugby players has been taken from Gary Gold’s great rugby site called RugbyIQ and was written by Steve Mac.

As a rugby player, you know that achieving optimal performance involves practicing hard, hitting the gym and being on top of your game both mentally and physically. However, many rugby players tend to underestimate the way in which alcohol use, even a few drinks, can nullify your hard work by erasing the effects of your workouts, reducing your endurance and compromising your mental game. The social side of rugby sometimes lends itself to windows of opportunity to “party” that can contribute to nights of heavy binge drinking or over-indulgence, ending in situations of regret, blackouts, legal problems, and sometimes team sanctions.

Alcohol Negatively Affects Muscle Development and Recovery
Few players realize that consuming alcohol after a workout, practice, or competition can cancel out any physiological gains you may have received from the activity. Not only does long-term alcohol use diminish protein synthesis resulting in a decrease in muscle build-up, but even short-term alcohol use can impede muscle growth. In order to build bigger and stronger muscles, your body needs sleep to repair itself after a workout. Because of alcohol’s effect on sleep, your body is deprived of a chemical called human growth hormone or HGH. HGH is part of the normal muscle building and repair process and the body’s way of telling itself your muscle needs to grow bigger and stronger. Alcohol however can decrease the secretion of HGH by as much as 70%.

When alcohol is in your body, it triggers the production of a substance in your liver that is directly toxic to testosterone. Testosterone is essential for the development and recovery of your muscles. As alcohol is absorbed through your stomach and small intestine and into your cells, it can disrupt the water balance in muscle cells, altering their ability to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is your muscles’ source of energy. ATP provides the fuel necessary for your muscles to contract. Speeding the recovery of sore muscles and injuries is integral to optimal performance. On occasion when a player is injured and can’t perform they may see this as an opportunity to use alcohol. Alcohol is a toxin that travels through your bloodstream to every organ and tissue in your body, causing dehydration and slowing your body’s ability to heal itself.

Alcohol Negatively Affects Your Mental Ability
For most players, preparation, learning plays and strategies is essential to peak performance. Use of alcohol can have negative effects on this process. When alcohol is in your system your brain’s ability to learn and store information is inhibited due to compromising the hippocampus, a structure deep in the brain vital to the formation of new memories. Forming memories is a very complex process and many of your memories are solidified when you are not thinking of the information, such as during sleep.

Alcohol effects your sleep cycle by disrupting the sequence and duration of normal sleep, reducing your brain’s ability to retain information. For example, the REM stage of sleep is compromised after a night of drinking, which is vital to memory. The sleep deprivation also suppresses normal hormonal levels decreasing oxygen availability and consumption decreasing endurance. Consuming five or more alcoholic beverages in one night can affect brain and body activities for up to three days. Two consecutive nights of drinking five or more alcoholic beverages can affect brain and body activities for up to five days. Attention span is shorter for periods up to forty-eight hours after drinking.

Alcohol Affects Negatively Affects Nutrition and Endurance
Ever feel tired and unmotivated after a night of drinking or even a day or two later? Alcohol holds very little nutritional value. The relatively high calories in alcohol are not available to your muscles. The body treats alcohol as fat, converting alcohol sugars into fatty acids. When alcohol is oxidized by dehydrogenase (the enzyme that breaks down alcohol) it produces an elevation of NADH reducing the production of ATP (which is the muscles source of energy), resulting in lack of energy and loss of endurance.

Alcohol use inhibits absorption of important nutrients. What do you need these nutrients for?
Thiamin (B1) is involved in the metabolism of proteins and fat, the formation of hemoglobin, and it metabolizes carbohydrates. Vitamin B12 is essential to maintain healthy red blood and nerve cells.
Folic acid is part of a coenzyme involved in the formation of new cells. Zinc is essential to your energy metabolic processes. The depletion of zinc can have an effect on reducing endurance.

The goal of any player is to be at the peak of performance, alcohol will do you no favors with regards to your conditioning. Stay off the bottle if you want to maximize your performances.
 
(Article titled – You booze, you looze @ http://rugbyiq.com)

So the decision to drink or not, when to drink, how much to consume and everything else associated with alcohol lies with you… The questions are, what are you willing to sacrifice? What is it you want to achieve??