Muscle-strengthening activity is associated with total alcohol consumption and binge drinking among U.S. college students

<b>Objective:</b> To examine the association of muscle-strengthening activity with total alcohol consumption (AC) and binge drinking (BD). <b>Participants:</b> College students (<i>n</i> = 1623) from a large United States university. <b>Methods:</b> Students self-reported their physical activity (PA), AC, and socio-demographic characteristics <i>via</i> an online survey. Hierarchical regression models were computed to examine the association of aerobic PA, and muscle-strengthening activity with total AC and BD. <b>Results:</b> After adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics and aerobic PA, muscle-strengthening activity and achieving muscle strengthening activity recommendations explained a significant proportion of unique variance in total AC (β = .16, <i>p</i> < .001 and β = .16, <i>p</i> < .001, respectively). Similarly, with each additional day of muscle-strengthening activity the odds of reporting BD were 20.9% higher, and individuals who met muscle-strengthening activity recommendations had 93.2% higher odds of reporting BD. <b>Conclusions:</b> Muscle-strengthening activity should be accounted for when examining the relationship between PA and AC.