Every year, many Americans take part in Dry January, where they refrain from consuming alcohol for 31 days. For some, their primary motivation is curiosity. They exercise regularly and eat healthy but also have a glass of wine with dinner. Would skipping a nightly sip affect how you feel or boost your fitness during or after Dry January?

Experts explain how alcohol affects our fitness and health and whether one month of abstinence could move the needle on our fitness efforts. They all agree that it depends on how much and frequently you drank before. Some say you may see small gains in performance, while others say the boost in your overall health outweighs the boost you’ll see in your fitness. If you’ve been hitting the gym but haven’t seen any gains, alcohol could be to blame. People who exercise more tend to drink more, according to a study by the Cooper Institute in Dallas published in 2022. However, exercise doesn’t cancel out the effects of alcohol.

Stella Volpe, department head of human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Tech, says, “Alcohol cancels out the effects of exercise.” Alcohol travels through your bloodstream to every organ and tissue in your body, causing dehydration and slowing your body’s ability to heal itself. It also impairs protein synthesis and reduces insulin, which stimulates muscle growth, Volpe says. Ingesting alcohol immediately after training or competition can reduce the rate of muscle protein synthesis, or how we build muscle mass, by 37 percent, research shows. So you may want to skip that postrace beer. She added, “Or at least wait an hour and be sure you are also hydrating.”

Chris Travers, an exercise physiologist with the Cleveland Clinic, notes that alcohol has been shown to decrease the secretion of human growth hormone, which can suppress the growth and repair of muscles. If someone drops the alcohol and concentrates on good nutrition and exercise, they could lose up to 5 pounds in one month, says Dr. Brian Shapiro, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic. “When people drop a few pounds, they often see their exercise performance improve,” he adds. Weight loss is one of the most noticeable results of going dry, particularly if you were drinking heavily, he says.

Quality sleep is key to the recovery the body needs to reap the benefits of your workout efforts. A University of Sussex study published in 2019 found that 71% of those who embarked on Dry January reported better sleep, while 67 percent said they were more energetic. Although alcohol helps you fall asleep faster, it impairs the quality of your sleep. Alcohol is a diuretic, which means consumption before bed will likely cause you to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

Staying asleep and achieving the restorative depth of sleep the body needs are more beneficial than falling asleep quickly. A one-month break from alcohol can lead to improvements in insulin resistance, blood pressure and body weight, according to studies from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Your liver, which filters toxins like alcohol from the blood, will also thank you.