Beer Pressure

After hitting the gym for an hour of weightlifting and a couple hours of basketball, my muscles are shocked, and I don't want to move for the rest of the night. Then my friends come into my room and throw me a Shock Top.

I try to put it to the side, try and fight the peer pressure (or beer pressure I should say), and then next thing I know I'm getting dressed to go out because "we're in college" and downing a few beers every night is simply what "we" do.

So much for the workout.

I always have thought the UF party atmosphere was hard to resist, and now it just got a little harder. My role model, my inspiration to pump out that last rep, run that extra mile and LIVESTRONG is now the face of beer.

Lance Armstrong recently signed a three-year deal to serve as the spokesperson for Michelob Ultra. At first, I was mad. I thought this doesn't fit the best cyclist in the world even if they say it's a low calorie beer. But Armstrong said the pairing with Michelob Ultra "fit his lifestyle, which focuses on balance," in a SBD report. So, I decided to take a closer look on what those couple of beers were doing to me.

I found out is that if I limit myself to one or two drinks (which takes a lot of self-control), I might be helping my body. Moderate consumption of beer, like wine, can make men 30-35% less likely to have a heart attack according to Forbes' 8 Healthy Reasons to Drink Beer.

Dr. Curtis Ellison says that beer in moderation also raises high density lipoprotein or HDL, known as good cholesterol.

Perhaps the most suprising statistic is that beer might be keeping me alive! Men who reported drinking 120 to 365 days a year had a 20% lower cardiovascular death rate than those who drank one to 36 days a year.

This all sounds great, but the problem is holding yourself to that "moderation" category. Everything is working against you - including your television. According to Dutch researchers, watching alcohol use portrayed in movies and ads makes young men drink more beer.

The researches found that men who watched the alcohol themed movie American Pie 2 with alcohol ads drank one and half more beers or glasses of wine then men who watched the movie with less drinking and non-alcoholic ads. Check out more of the study here: TV Alcohol Ups Real Drinking.

Heavy drinking isn't just affecting your fitness, it will mess with your head too. Alcohol can cause your brain to shrink over time. The more you drink, the smaller your head becomes, which is associated with a slower mental response and lack of memory, concentration and attention span according to Nicholar D.A. Suite, M.D. from SOBeFiT magazine.

Like Armstrong said, the biggest trick to staying fit is staying balanced. Beer is no exception.