It seems that more and more professionals are switching to NA beer or giving up alcohol all together as we learn more about its effects on the heart, sleep, performance, recovery, etc. See David and Megan Roche on SWAP podcast, recent Life in the Peloton podcast w/ Dr. Andre La Gerche, WHOOP blogs, NY Times article today, etc.
For the past two years, I’ve had no more than two glasses of relatively low alcohol wine (prosecco) per week. Am I better off long-term switching to a good NA beer (like Athletic Brewing)?
“Better off” is up to you. If you do want to cut down or eliminate alcohol there certainly are some great NA beers out there, including Athletic. I enjoy a stout on occasion, and Athletic’s is pretty damn good. Like you mentioned, the negative effects of alcohol have been more in the media in the last few years. So enjoying a beer without those effects is satisfying!
Athletic’s Upside Dawn is my go to. I am skeptical of the claimed 50 calories per can, but who am I to argue? I mail order it and get a discount from them.
Athletic’s Upside Dawn is my go to. I am skeptical of the claimed 50 calories per can, but who am I to rgue? I mail order it and get a discount from them.
Athletic Brewing is an incredible product. The flavor is on point. There are no after effects. Upside Dawn is the only gluten free one my fiance can drink. It’s a great brew. I also like the Run Wild and Free Wave which I’ve tried. As an athlete there’s no reason to drink alcohol with such good options.
Been drinking athletic for years simply because i love a good cold beer after a long workout, but didn’t want the affects of alcohol (i found it hit me particularly hard after long rides). Love it so much that i became an ambassador for them so feel free to ask me anything/for recommendations. Overall favorite beers: Run Wild, Soul Sour, Athletic light. Also they have great hopped seltzers too!
If you are interested in trying this should give you 20% off on your first order https://bit.ly/2ZsZjFx
Be careful believing everything that the professionals post. A lot of them are sponsored by Athletic Brewing and of course are going to tell you that is all they drink now. AB is heavily targeting the endurance community events and athletes and it adds to the perception of momentum to the no alcohol movement. One pro I noticed, has been promoting (at least product placement) AB in his videos etc, yet it sounded like he had a pretty heavy drinking session after his last race win, off camera of course….
I am frankly frustrated by it. Nothing is better after finishing a race than getting handed a nice cool beer. Was so annoying at 70.3 WC in St. George to get handed an AB after the finish, I mean come on. AB’s sponsoring of events is stopping the offering of real beer at the finish line, that makes me less likely to support them.
There is a time and place for alcohol free beer, during heavy training blocks or periods in life were recovery and sleep are a priority. But seriously, no need to go to extremes. Everything in moderation and all that. Enjoy your couple of glasses of Prosecco, I don’t think they are doing you any harm, despite what AB et all may want you to believe. Now if you are binge drinking regularly, that may be another story….
I would take argument with “AB’s sponsoring of events is stopping the offering of real beer at the finish line, that makes me less likely to support them.” I did 3 ironman branded events last year and multiple local triathlons. All the ironman events and the most of the others had starts/transitions/finishes on public land/state parks. In most areas of the country it is very difficult/impossible to get a liquor license to hand out free alcohol or even alcohol for purchase. So ultimately your options are NA beer or soda.
Be careful believing everything that the professionals post. A lot of them are sponsored by Athletic Brewing and of course are going to tell you that is all they drink now. AB is heavily targeting the endurance community events and athletes and it adds to the perception of momentum to the no alcohol movement. One pro I noticed, has been promoting (at least product placement) AB in his videos etc, yet it sounded like he had a pretty heavy drinking session after his last race win, off camera of course….
I am frankly frustrated by it. Nothing is better after finishing a race than getting handed a nice cool beer. Was so annoying at 70.3 WC in St. George to get handed an AB after the finish, I mean come on. AB’s sponsoring of events is stopping the offering of real beer at the finish line, that makes me less likely to support them.
There is a time and place for alcohol free beer, during heavy training blocks or periods in life were recovery and sleep are a priority. But seriously, no need to go to extremes. Everything in moderation and all that. Enjoy your couple of glasses of Prosecco, I don’t think they are doing you any harm, despite what AB et all may want you to believe. Now if you are binge drinking regularly, that may be another story….[/quote
I’ve recently made the switch to NA brews. I love AB’s Hazy, IPA and stout. For me personally, alcohol has evolved over the years to become a problem. It’s hard to admit a problem when it happens slowly over time, but I needed to finally be honest with myself about it. Switching to NA brews allowed alcohol to not be a hindrance to my training. I can finally wake up early to sneak in a bike sesh and not feel like I’m dragging. I would say if you’re NA curious for any reason at all to give it a go!
I am a big fan of grabbing a shower beer or porch beer after a long Saturday morning ride. Doing that with an NA beer recently has done the job without the headache and reduced recovery cost.
Sure, not saying all events can offer beer at finish, or that the event organizers even try and I am certainly not an expert in the laws around this. However, I think it is pretty unlikely that where AB is an event sponsor that real beer will be offered at the finish.
Frankly it is a win win for Ironman as well. They don’t need to get a license, get sponsorship $ and free drinks for their post race offerings.
I don’t mean this specifically to the OP but so few people are performing at the pointy end of the pack where these super minor things are going to make an impact that basing decisions on the pros makes almost no sense; I’d be shocked if cutting from a couple glasses of wine per week to none had any impact on your training. When I was younger I knew so many college and young runners who binge drank(and then some) and could rip 29-32 minute 10ks. Those people actually might have been leaving something on the table- pointy end of performance and really bad consumption habits. But if your in the middle of the bell curve and making fairly healthy decisions; I wouldn’t go chasing this for performance. There a good few reasons to abstain I suppose I just don’t think tri performance is probably the one.
Sure, not saying all events can offer beer at finish, or that the event organizers even try and I am certainly not an expert in the laws around this. However, I think it is pretty unlikely that where AB is an event sponsor that real beer will be offered at the finish.
Frankly it is a win win for Ironman as well. They don’t need to get a license, get sponsorship $ and free drinks for their post race offerings.
The other benefit is not having drunkards and litter all over the streets. Inevitably, there are a lot of people that can’t handle their liquor, especially at large public events. It’s nice to see a family friendly event without the disorderly party crowd that always ensues with a booze fest. I don’t have kids, but still don’t think seeing drunks walking around young kids at an athletic event sends the wrong message to children.
I realize many people can have a drink or two without getting lit, but there will invariably always be many people acting a fool when alcohol is present. Perhaps Ironman doesn’t want to convey that message with their events and wants to keep things family friendly.
Athletic Brewing and other NA companies offer an awesome alternative imo.
I have been looking at Athletic beers. My wife and I love a good Porter, other than the Stout, do they have anything that aligns with a Porter? The Upside Dawn is pretty good. I was given a free one at Tulsa last year.
The other benefit is not having drunkards and litter all over the streets. Inevitably, there are a lot of people that can’t handle their liquor, especially at large public events. It’s nice to see a family friendly event without the disorderly party crowd that always ensues with a booze fest. I don’t have kids, but still don’t think seeing drunks walking around young kids at an athletic event sends the wrong message to children.
I realize many people can have a drink or two without getting lit, but there will invariably always be many people acting a fool when alcohol is present. Perhaps Ironman doesn’t want to convey that message with their events and wants to keep things family friendly.
This isn’t a commentary on Athletic as I like their products and drink them sometimes. But in the dozens if not hundreds of endurance events I’ve done where alcohol was available at the finish line, I’ve literally never seen anything like what you describe above. When the event is handing out beers at the finish line, it’s usually one per person and only to the actual finishers (or maybe +1), not the general crowd. So if there is a “disorderly party crowd” at an event, it’s generally not because the event is feeding the crowd booze.
I have been looking at Athletic beers. My wife and I love a good Porter, other than the Stout, do they have anything that aligns with a Porter? The Upside Dawn is pretty good. I was given a free one at Tulsa last year.
Try out the Irish red or the first ride. the first ride is a bit more of a porter/stout cross over
As a Canadian, I totally dig this beer!
Quick story about Athletic Brewing.
I was over at Desoto clothing a couple of weeks back to pick up a few things from Emilio.
As luck would have it, just around the corner was Ballast Point Brewing - score for Sculpin.
My wife and I decided to go on a little beer-walk in that area.
On our way to PURE (wow!) - we stopped by A/Brew - had never heard of them, we thought we could just go in for a tasting.
Instead, a worker comes out, asks us what we like, the GIVES US a 6 pack each.
Our lucky day!
