They can impair, not enhance, your physical performance. Skip alcoholic drinks

Calories from alcohol don’t fuel muscles. And they may lead to weight gain in the form of body fat.

Alcohol works as a depressant, affecting your brain’s ability to reason and make judgments.

For endurance sports, there’s another effect. When you drink a beer, wine, or a mixed drink, your liver works to detoxify and metabolize the alcohol. That can interfere with the liver’s job of forming extra blood glucose for prolonged physical activity. Possible result? Early fatigue and slower recovery.

Alcoholic drinks don’t mix with sports. They can impair your motor skills: your reaction time and muscle reflexes, coordination, balance, stamina, speed, strength, visual perception, and more. The effects can last up to seventy-two hours. What’s more, they can increase your risk of injury and swelling after injury.