Alcohol And Athletic Performance: A Case Study

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The consumption of alcohol has severe effects on college athletes and their bodies. For example, alcohol can affect college athletes by “loss of balance and coordination, reduced reaction time, and increased appetite” (SCAN Registered Dietitians, 2013). This decline in cognitive function plays a large role in sports related injuries, along with vitamin and mineral deficiencies which affect the immune system (SCAN Registered Dietitians, 2013). Consuming alcohol after an athletic performance can also severely affect athletes. According to NCAA, consuming alcohol can cause a problem with “muscle glycogen synthesis and storage may be decreased, and gluconeogenesis can be stunted, potentially leading to hypoglycemia and impairing future
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Both groups completed an eccentric exercise after finishing the alcohol. The trial showed that those who ingested alcohol and those who did not ingest alcohol had muscle damage. The muscle damage that was found, was identified through the leakage of enzymes known to be found in muscles. Pain and loss of strength were also a side effect of this trial. This can be an important note for athletes where their sport revolves around strength training, such as shot put throwers, football, hockey and many more sports. The use of alcohol would decrease their improvement by having a lower range of motion, increase in pain, and decrease in strength (Shirreffs & Maughan, 2006). It was also found that the occurrence of injury in football players who drink alcohol often was 55% higher (Shirreffs & Maughan, 2006). The article states that although it is not clear exactly how alcohol increases risk of injury, it is mentioned that the behaviors that occur once intoxicated can have an effect on injury which can be concerning for the participating athlete (Shirreffs & Maughan, 2006). Another study researched the reasons to why college athletes choose to drink and why some do not. This study separated their results based on gender because majority of the women felt one way while majority …show more content…
In a study conducted by Brenner, Metz, Entriken, and Brenner (2014) stated that out of 1767 collegiate and university ATs, 459 reported that they treated, evaluated, or referred collegiate athletes to a specialist in at least one alcohol-related unintentional injury (ARUI). Of the 459 ATs that reported treating ARUIs, of that, 65.9% were males and 34.1% were women. Figure 1 below provides more specifics on the number and type of injury that was found when the ATs evaluated their student athletes. Of the ATs that responded to the survey, 37.6% reported the injuries to occur in season (Brenner et al., 2014). One can infer that athletes are consuming more alcohol during in season competition when their bodies are put under continual stress, therefore it is unfortunate to see that many athletes want to improve tremendously in their on and off season, but many alcohol-related unintentional injuries decrease their performances and their eligibility to participate. In conclusion, it is imperative that steps need to be taken in identifying athletes who have risky alcohol drinking behaviors and to get them counseling. Howell, Barry, and Pitney (2015) have touched on the importance of ATs not only being able to evaluate injury, but also being equipped with the ability to perform simple intervention with athletes who present

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