Worked hard at the gym today? Chances are you will treat yourself to a drink or two, according to a new study. Researchers from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, found that that on days when exercise increases, so does alcohol consumption.
The research team, led by David E. Conroy of the Feinburg School of Medicine at Northwestern, publish their findings in the journal Health Psychology.
They reached their findings by analyzing the physical activity and alcohol consumption of 150 participants aged 18-89.
Throughout three separate periods of 21 days, participants were asked to input their levels of physical activity and alcohol consumption into their smartphone at the end of each day.
Conroy notes that previous studies have relied on participants self-reporting their exercise and alcohol behaviors over the past 30 days.
"In this study, people only have to remember one day of activity or consumption at a time, so they are less vulnerable to memory problems or other biases that come in to play when asked to report the past 30 days of behavior," he says. "We think this is a really good method for getting around some of those self-report measurement problems."
