How Long Should I Wait to Exercise After Drinking Alcohol? Fitness Pros Weigh In

You had a beer at lunch or a cocktail at happy hour, but you don’t want that to stop your daily workout routine. You might wonder: How long should I wait to exercise after drinking alcohol? 

It depends. Drinking alcohol causes physiological changes that can hurt your exercise performance. So it’s best to avoid alcohol before –– and after –– exercise if you can. But if you can’t, there are some expert tips to reduce the potential risks. 

Why is it bad to exercise after drinking? 

You’re right to be worried about exercising too soon after drinking. Alcohol has effects that don’t mix well with workouts. Given the following risks, it’s a good idea to wait to exercise after drinking alcohol.

Dehydration

For starters, alcohol is a diuretic that makes you urinate more, which can dehydrate you, said Kathryn Boling, MD, a primary care physician at Mercy Personal Physicians at Lutherville, Maryland. If you’re dehydrated, you risk harm while exercising, Boling said.

Heart rate and blood pressure changes

Your heart rate (pulse) could get too high and cause chest pain and even injury to the heart muscle. Or, your blood pressure may drop too low, making you dizzy or causing you to pass out, Boling said.

Muscle weakness and fatigue

Alcohol consumption has been linked to muscle weakness, fatigue, and delayed recovery. Exercising right after drinking could hurt your workout performance, stall strength gains, and slow exercise recovery. So you could do more harm than good by sticking to your workout schedule after wine, beer, or cocktails.

Impaired balance and coordination

Even if you’re well hydrated, having alcohol in your system makes exercise riskier. It limits how well your brain can coordinate movement. You might become unstable, clumsy, and more likely to hurt yourself, especially if you do exercises that require lots of balance and coordination, like running on a treadmill. You could fall, break a bone, or injure yourself in other ways, Boling said.

Less focus and slower reaction times

Alcohol affects parts of the brain that help with memory, attention, and decision-making. So it’s not surprising that drinking right before a workout can make it hard to focus and slow your reaction times. This could result in poor workout performance, accidents, or injuries. 

How long should you wait to exercise after drinking alcohol? 

“Unfortunately, there’s not a simple answer,” Boling said. Your best bet is to wait as long as you can, or at least until you no longer feel the effects of alcohol before you exercise. That could be anywhere from 4 to 25 hours.

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Typically, it takes around 15 to 45 minutes to start feeling the effects of alcohol. It slowly begins to wear off as your body processes about one serving of alcohol per hour. So, it may take several hours to stop feeling those effects after a couple of drinks. And while you might not feel it, alcohol may be detectable in your system for roughly 6 to 72 hours. 

What factors affect alcohol metabolism?

The exact time it takes your body to metabolize alcohol depends on many individual factors, including:

• Age: “As we get older, we metabolize alcohol slower,” Boling said.  

• Sex: Generally, women metabolize alcohol more slowly than men. 

• Body size: People who weigh less have less water in their bodies. Generally, the less water in the body, the higher your blood alcohol concentration.

• Genetics: Your genes may affect how quickly your body can break down alcohol.

• Medications: Some prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications — particularly sedatives — slow down or speed up alcohol metabolism. 

• Medical history: Some health conditions make it harder for your body to process alcohol. This includes conditions that affect the kidneys, liver, and stomach.

• Food intake: Eating can slow alcohol absorption, though it won’t help you avoid unwanted effects altogether.

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Your alcohol of choice and how much you drink can also affect how long it takes your body to process it. That’s because certain drinks contain more alcohol per standard serving. And the standard serving size depends on the drink. 

In the U.S., one “standard” drink has 14 g of pure alcohol. One standard drink equals:

• 12 oz of regular beer

• 5 oz of wine

• 1.5 oz of distilled spirits

If you had one beer several hours ago and you’ve eaten and stayed hydrated since then, you could exercise if you feel OK, Boling said. “But if you’ve had more than one drink and it hasn’t been overnight, you have to be careful,” Boling said. 

It may not even be safe to exercise the following morning if you wake up feeling foggy from the alcohol. “At that point, you may have to wait until later in the day when you’ve had something to eat and drink and regain your sense of normalcy,” Boling said. 

What’s the best way to speed up alcohol metabolism? 

There’s not much you can do to make the alcohol leave your system faster. However, there are things you can do to feel your best while your body processes alcohol. This can speed up your recovery, helping you return to your workouts as soon as possible. 

• Wait as long as you can. Delay your workout as long as possible to give your body more time to process the alcohol. If you had drinks in the evening, it may be best to wait overnight. Getting quality sleep will help you feel better, Boling said. 

• Drink water to stay hydrated. “Staying well hydrated is really important when drinking,” Boling said. Sipping water counteracts the dehydrating effects of alcohol and helps your body break it down. Boling suggests drinking a glass of water in between each alcoholic beverage.

• Avoid sugary cocktails. Choosing a sweet cocktail like a margarita, mojito, or cosmopolitan can speed up the effects of the alcohol. “Sugar goes into your system very quickly,” Boling said. Combining sugar with alcohol can also worsen dehydration. This prolongs your recovery. To minimize these effects, stick to drinks without added sugar if you can.

• Eat something. Having food in your stomach helps dampen the effects of alcohol. Food keeps alcohol from moving right from your stomach to your small intestine to your bloodstream. This way, your stomach has more time to break down the alcohol. You may feel less intoxicated and avoid hangover symptoms like an upset stomach and headache.

• Keep activity light. When you’re ready to work out, be sure to ease into it. Start at a lighter intensity than usual. If you feel OK, gradually ramp up the intensity without reaching your maximum. Today may not be the day for a strenuous workout.

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Written by:

Lauren Bedosky

Lauren Bedosky has been a freelance health and fitness writer for nearly a decade. She has written for many brands and publications, including Runner's World, Nike, the UFC, Women's Health, and BlueCross BlueShield.

Edited by:

Lauren Savage, MA

Lauren Savage, MA, is a health editor at GoodRx, where she focuses on movement, exercise, and healthy aging. She aims to provide readers with the information they need to live healthier, more active lifestyles.

Reviewed by:

Sanjai Sinha, MD

Sanjai Sinha, MD, is a board-certified physician with over 20 years of experience. He specializes in internal medicine.

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