Why alcohol culture has no place in the fitness industry.

Let’s call it what it is: a contradiction.

In an industry built on health, performance, recovery, and mental resilience, it’s time we asked the uncomfortable question:
Why is alcohol being marketed alongside fitness?

"Balance" is often the justification, A drink here, a sweat there. And while moderation has its place, alcohol culture has quietly taken root in many wellness spaces. Events where wine is served after yoga. Group workouts framed as hangover cures. Social media filled with Red Solo cups and sweat.

We’re not here to shame your choices. But we are here to be honest with you about what alcohol does to the body, the mind, and why its casual integration into fitness culture deserves more scrutiny.

1. Alcohol impacts muscle recovery and performance.

Research shows that alcohol consumption after exercise impairs protein synthesis. The very process your body relies on to build and repair muscle. Even moderate drinking post-workout can delay recovery and reduce training gains. So if you're lifting heavy, training hard, or trying to build strength and endurance, regular alcohol use is doing you no favours. In fact, it’s actively slowing your progress.

2. It disrupts sleep, and sleep is where the magic happens.

Fitness isn’t just what you do in the studio. It’s how your body recovers outside of it. Alcohol interferes with REM sleep and disrupts your natural sleep cycles, which in turn impairs recovery, hormone regulation, and cognitive function. Without good sleep, your workouts don’t land the way they should and your body doesn’t just “bounce back”.

3. It taxes your nervous system.

While alcohol may feel like a stress reliever in the short term, it actually increases baseline cortisol (your stress hormone) over time. For those already dealing with stress, trauma, anxiety, or depression, alcohol can intensify symptoms. And let’s be clear, many people are coming to fitness not just for physical strength, but to regulate their nervous systems and find mental clarity. Alcohol works against that.

4. It clouds your connection to self.

Fitness, real, holistic fitness, is about reconnecting. With your breath. Your strength. Your limits. Your power. Alcohol numbs and disconnects. So when we blur the lines between the two, we send a confusing message: that numbing and healing can coexist. That disconnection and embodiment are somehow compatible. They’re not.

At CHURCH, we take your health seriously because we’ve lived through what happens when you lose it.

We’re not your quick fix. We’re not the sweat session that “makes up for” a night of heavy drinking. And we don’t subscribe to the idea that one good workout can undo the damage of numbing out. That whole “sweat it out so you can do it all again” mindset? It’s not wellness. It’s a loop, and it keeps people stuck.

Your workout deserves more respect than being a reaction to the night before. And so do you.

We’re building something deeper: movement as medicine. Consistency as healing. A space that honours your body instead of negotiating with it. One where your health isn’t performative, and your healing isn’t transactional. A space that respects your nervous system, your energy, your time, and your effort.

CHURCH isn’t about earning your worth through sweat or undoing your choices with burpees. It’s about showing up, fully, honestly, and consistently, because you deserve to feel good in your body without compromising your mind.

If that resonates, you’ve found your people. We’ll be here for you. No hangover required.

A note on balance: At CHURCH Fitness we’re not anti-alcohol. But we are anti-confusing it with wellness. At CHURCH, connection comes first. If we serve drinks at an event, there will always be thoughtful non-alcoholic options too—because your health, boundaries, and comfort matter.