Sports teams and training partners celebrate victories, bemoan defeats or mark the end of training sessions with a beer or three. Beer, in fact, provides a substantial portion of some exercisers' fluid intake after workouts. But whether exercise encourages people to drink and, likewise, whether drinking encourages people to exercise has been in dispute. Now new studies suggest that exercise may well influence when and how much people drink. Drinking may even affect whether people exercise, and, the findings suggest, the interplay between exercise and alcohol could be a good thing. Past studies have shown that people who exercise tend numerically also to be people who drink, and vice versa. But most of these previous studies had limitations. They relied, for instance, on people's ability to recall their exercise and drinking habits over the course of, say, the past year, which can be notoriously unreliable. They also rarely took into account participants' ages and gender, which affect how much people exercise and drink. What is the relationship between exercise and alcohol from the new studies?

For many people, working out and alcohol are closely linked. Sports teams and training partners celebrate victories, bemoan defeats or mark the end of training sessions with a beer or three. Beer, in fact, provides a substantial portion of some exercisers' fluid intake after workouts. But whether exercise encourages people to drink and, likewise, whether drinking encourages people to exercise has been in dispute. Now new studies suggest that exercise may well influence when and how much people drink. Drinking may even affect whether people exercise, and, the findings suggest, the interplay between exercise and alcohol could be a good thing.

Past studies have shown that people who exercise tend numerically also to be people who drink, and vice versa. But most of these previous studies had limitations. They relied, for instance, on people's ability to recall their exercise and drinking habits over the course of, say, the past year, which can be notoriously unreliable. They also rarely took into account participants' ages and gender, which affect how much people exercise and drink.

What is the relationship between exercise and alcohol from the new studies?

• A. Exercise may impact on how long and when people drink.
• B. The interaction between exercise and alcohol are in dispute.
• C. Exercise may even affect whether people drink.