ok so here is my question i smoke about 2 packs a week thats 40 cigarettes a week. so does anyone have an idea how much it effects my cardio ?

Enough to quit.

[more reasons to quit] Lung Cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, weak lungs, poor athletic performance. [/more reasons to quit]

*Note: my grandfather died of lung cancer, and so did his sister.

But seriously, if you aren't going to listen to me or others that may chime in, then quit smoking for 6 months and keep running or whatever, if it doesn't improve, then smoke all you want, but that's your choice.

(Good thing I'm not a doctor i could get sued for saying that)

In addition to what Nathan said, smoking will make any illness last that much longer, since it suppresses your immune system and damages your lungs. I remember when I smoked (over 30 years ago), every cold I got lasted at least 3 weeks, because it took so long for my lungs to clear.

I have a question for you... Does it matter to you? Like, why are you asking? If we say, "it reduces your capacity 58% and raises your heart rate by 20% and makes it feel like more work even though you're doing less"... what would you do? Would you quit? Why not anyway? Would you not? Why are you asking?

I'll tell you in the long run you could wind up like my grandmother. Terminal emphysema and constantly on oxygen. Walking to the kitchen is a chore for the lungs. Lack of activity because of inability adds to a few extra pounds and looking MUCH older than you are.

If that is what smoking leads to, do you think you get there overnight? No. It starts when you start. It gets progressively worse. With working on your lung capacity by working out, maybe you can stave off some adverse affects for a bit. Maybe you can't. Maybe you'll just get so out of breath walking from the car to the store that you drive around half an hour to find a close spot rather than have to put up with the hell of walking and wheezing.

I'm just confused as to what the point of the question is. I don't mean disrespect. It just seems like an odd question.

Either your health and fitness is worth it to quit or it isn't. I doubt you'll find a way to quantify it the way you're asking.

I used to smoke a packet (25) a day and thought that even though I was over weight I was Ok. I knew that smoking affected your ability and capacity to breath etc but I had no idea how much.

Put it this way, when I was smoking I could hardly walk for 20 minutes and I was 25yrs old. I kept smoking and brushing off the effects because I didnt know what my potential was, or how much smoking was cutting me down.

Recently I bought a push bike, quit smoking and within a couple of weeks I was covering approx 25kms an hour for up to 2 hours a ride, with very little breaks. Im now 26.

6 months later I can run like the wind (even though I am a heavy guy 130kgs) and recover quickly. I can do massive weight sessions and my face does not go red and I dont get head spins. My muscles are growing much quicker than they did before and recovery so quick and pain less compared to when I was smoking.

I dont wease anymore at all, I no longer get sick at the change over from Summer to Winter and back again, my astma is gone (I originally grew out of is as a kid and got is back now and then when I was smoking), my car smells nice and the list goes on.

I realise that you are addicted and so was I. I tried many times to quit and in the end I went cold turkey and stayed at home all weekend to get through the first EVIL two days of cravings without the temptations of the pub and parties etc.

You will do it when your ready and when you do you will be amazed at just how much better off you will be, health wise and financially. Not to mention it will not be a case of "oh where are my smokes' everytime you leave the house or go anywhere etc. if you think about it when you are a smoker they become like American Express but worse, you CAN'T leave home or go anywhere else without them.

All the best to you. I hope that you can kick it sooner rather than later. Try a book that helped me called 'The easy eay to quit smoking' by Allan Carr. I think he is American.

Cheers Trent (Australia)

I smoked 2 packs of camels a day from the time I was 14 until 21. I tried to quit 3 or 4 times, but never could. I'll never forget the last day I smoked. I woke up, lit up my cigarette before I even got out of bed, and started coughing. I literally didn't stop coughing until 10 that night. I was so exhausted I could hardly move. The cigarette that morning, 37 years ago, was my last.

Until that day, I was convinced I was one of those who would not suffer any ill effects from smoking.

strangest thing about me i started smoking like 1 year ago i was so anti smoking i feel so incrediby stupid for smoking i used too make fun of my mom and stuff becasue she was a smoker.... the strangest thing about me is i can do days withouth smoking and then suddenly i see somthing on tv that gets my crave for cigarettes... also another big factor is that when im with my friends everyone smokes i mean like they go out for a smoke and what am i spose to do sit inside and wait for them to come back...

i feel like i could quit the smoking and i really do want too i just gotta find the right motivation somthing that affects me right now not after 10 years of smoking.

Hey wrez,

I quit about 2 years ago and you would not believe the difference it made to how much I could do ( at the gym ) - the improvement was noticeable almost instantly and just kept getting better. Even my heart rate dropped significantly and I recovered more quickly. For the first 3 weeks or so I coughed quite a bit towards the end of my workouts but it disappeared rather quickly.

Finding motivation is a matter of finding what part of being a non-smoker appeals to you - keep looking and you'll get it.

Yeah.

[/Parent Mode] If they all jumped off a bridge with at 10% chance of dieing would you? [/Parent Mode off] (Wont mention when my mom asked me this, i always replied if it looked like fun)

Seriously tho... I smoked once in my life and about died (ran track from age of 8) at practice that day... never touched them again...

If your friends pressure you to smoke then their really not what I would call a 'good' friend. Your health is more important than the 5 minutes outside killing your lungs and other parts of your body smoking does... So I agree with Nathan 100% that I'm sure the few minutes you miss out being inside won't kill a friendship and if it did, well again it wasn't a worthwhile one to begin with.

@Wrez

If you want a halfway house, start smoking cigars instead. At least that way you won't be screwing your lungs up anywhere near as much, and you can go outside with your buddies. And it'll hurt your wallet enough you'll want to stop even faster.

Wrez,

Perhaps if you stopped, it'll give your friends encouragement to stop as well.

There might be just one friend who is actually smoking for the same reasons that you are - find that friend and perhaps you guys can quit together.

My brother used to smoke about 2 packs a day for 3 years, but decided to quit when I challenged him to train and run a marathon. He got so enthusiastic about his training that his friends also decided to quit their smoking habits to train and run the marathon as well.

Be the leader in your pack of friends.

Good luck!

Jennifer

I will be the bad bad witch after saying this but I think that with "only" 40 cigs a week you will survive and all the people that scares you with the medical things are only stressing you more about it (I know what I'm talking about:when all the doctors were saying quit smoking I went from 20/day to 40/day).
Quit if you want to,don't quit if you're not ready because you will smoke again really fast
With a year at 40/week that's not the smoke that affects you if you run or swim it's your lack of exercise only!!
The only persons that talks only about health are non-smokers they can't understand why people can't quit easily
My advice for your friends: go outside with them anyway I quit smoking a year ago and all of my friends smoked at this time and I still go with them for the cig-break.Plus they will be so surprised when you quit that you will inspire some of them,as Jennifer says be a leader but only when YOU will be ready

I also forgot:about the "blablablabla my parents/friends/family died of it",I have a grandfather that died of 3 cancers in the same time because he smoked way too much at an early age and I was a non-smoking nuts in my family until 14 and that doesn't prevent me from smoking for 7 years 1 to 2 packs a day.
If it wasn't way more complicated than health reasons why people would buy packs with lung cancer on it or as we have in Europe messages like "Smoking kills" etc....

No. It's totally understandable. But usually if people come to places like this asking questions like this, they're looking for someone to help push them along toward quitting. They know they should. They want to. Maybe they can't articulate exactly why they're asking, but most of the time that's what they're looking for.

There are some people that do, in fact, understand that quitting isn't necessarily easy. Of course, it doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Often people who are understanding but still push have seen the effects of smoking on people that they love dearly, and they'd hate to have this poor dude and his family and friends have to go through the hell that is the various illnesses that come with smoking... regardless of how little one smokes, as it happens to many, even occasional smokers.

People who don't want help don't ask for it, imo. If he's looking for yet one more reason to quit, we're happy to help supply that. We're not forcing him. We're not calling him a bad person for smoking. But we're not going to lie to him and say "hey dude, it's great!" when it's not. We're all here because we want to live better, longer, healthier lives, and we want to help others do the same. We offer advice accordingly.

I have motivated two smokers on this site. One has quit and the other...is hopefully on his way (@L) .

I have never smoked, but during my conversations through emails and messages, I equated their addiction to nicotine to my addiction (no longer) to sugar and carbs. I tried to instill the fact that any addiction is in the mind and can be conquered through tough mental focus and dedication and the desire to change.

Not understanding the feelings of nicotine and the emotions, I DO understand emotional and impulsive eating. The whole thing is to TRAIN your mind to understand when you're reaching and analyze the situation at that moment. Does this make sense? Feel free to message me and I can provide any other help if you'd like.

Wrez....I understand what you are saying with your question. I was in the same boat until about 6 months ago. I smoked about 2 packs a week throughout college and until recently.....I'm about to turn 25, so it was for a good 6 years like that...usually smoked mostly over the weekends when hanging out and going out....then maybe 3,4 a day at random times.

I always had that same question...(i.e. I know I am fine working out now and am not having any major issues, but would it improved drastically if I quit altogether?). And since I didn't smoke ALL the time, I'm probably fine -I always told myself I'd quit altogether soon so it doesn't matter anyway since I'm not out of control with it.

Well I'm sure you know, but it's really hard to do no matter how much you smoke especially when you have friends who smoke too. I told me self to quit by the time I was 20, then it was by the time I graduated, then my next birthday, new years, etc.....it just doesn't happen. It it becomes really easy to keep on putting it off....keep on justifying it...

I did finally quit about 6 months ago, and let me tell you...it makes a HUGE difference. If you think you can run, lift and all that pretty well NOW -- just give yourself 3 months without smoking and check out your endurance and energy then. That's about how long it took me to really tell a major difference....And It's awesome. Plus, like some of the others say - you know longer have to smell like shi** and all that.

If you're wondering, it took a girl friend of mine whose grandma had recently died from cancer sending me the following link. I know it's easy to say that being a grandma/grandpa or even 50 years old is far away, but I'm telling you this was pretty moving, especially if you can take 15 minutes and watch the entire thing.

Use the link below....when you get to the page, scroll down to the 15 minute version and make sure you watch the whole thing. For some reason of all the stuff I've heard, this one stuck with me....

http://tobacco.aadac.com/media_campaigns/barb_tarb ox/video/

When I quit using *other* drugs, I had to make new friends. Plain and simple.

Smoking is a vasoconstrictor, meaning your capillaries close up which is probably one of the main contributors to higher blood pressure. I can feel it, especially after a workout, my heart pounds enough to scare me.

I'm on the patch now, don't know how many days it's been, but it's good. Still get the cravings but am re-developing the thought patterns to get through the urges.

Good luck all.

Today is my 2 week anniversary smoke free. I noticed when I went to the gym to do cardio just 2 days after quitting that it was so much easier. What I had struggled through before was now pretty easy, and I felt I could walk longer-it was very enjoyable (and this was 2 days after quitting, I use to smoke about half a pack a day). I breathe easier now even when I am sitting watching t.v. My husband still smokes and sometimes when he goes outside to smoke I will go out with him and talk to him, and as long as I know I am committed to never smoking again, then it dosen't really bother me to be outside with him and not smoking myself. If he goes out to smoke and I don't feel like going out with him then I DO stay inside by myself and find something to do or just relax. Chewing sugar free gum and drinking alot of water has helped me too! When I first quit I was wanting to eat everything in sight! But now I chew the gum and drink water and if I still feel like I want to eat then I will have some carrot sticks or something like that. Quitting is a hard thing to do, but it can be done if you really want to do it Why wait until later down the road when something terrible happens to you from smoking?

I quit smoking 4 yrs ago, after having smoked 2 packs (40 cigs) a day for close to 15 yrs. (I quit each time I was pregnant but would start again shortly afterwards) My excuse for smoking was that it kept me thin, along with a lot of exercising. I can't believe that I would actually smoke while inline skating. I must have looked like a fool! (thank God I was too young to care!)

You wanted a reason to quit. You wanted to hear something so horrible that it would offer you incentive beyond the health benefits of quitting. You seem to be influenced by appearances and what your friends think, so here goes....

Smoking gives you wrinkles. Horrible, much worse than laugh lines type wrinkles. At 40, do you want to look 60?? At 60, do you want to look 80? That's assuming you're still alive then and living a good life, rather than hooked up to a ventilator or on oxygen.

Honestly, what it took for me to quit was finding out that my daughter was allergic to the smell of cig smoke. That was it. No choice there but to go cold turkey, so I did and I haven't ever regretted it. I don't know that I would have been able to do it if only for myself. You have to WANT it or you'll never be able to quit for good. If you're looking for more reasons, check out www.whyquit.com. It helped me immensely in during the first few months of my quitting process.

Good luck!

Hi Wres
Here it is.... I'm a respiratory therapist. Nicotine is the #1 vasoconstrictor around. Leo is 100% right.. Smoking cigs constricts your arteries and veins. Your Arteries carry the oxygen rich blood to all of your major organs and areas of your body. So by smoking, you make the job of your blood and Arteries much much harder. And increase your chances of lung and heart diseases.
Good. Luck..
Ps I smoked for 20 years and have been smoke free for 3 years..
again.. Good luck.

Given all the warnings and dangers that exist regarding the extremely deleterious effects that smoking has on virtually all aspects of your health, how can your only concern be about how it will affect your cardio performance?

In a nutshell, you're choosing your vanity over your well-being. Please take a step back and re-evaluate the priorities in your life, because I'm sure they're out of whack.

And PLEASE don't tell me you smoke in order to keep your weight in check...

you know its weird, i know some people who can just... completely be fine and smoke all the time, and they can run and not get winded and shit. But, for me... it kills me. it fucks up my lungs and my heart so badly. im trying to quit, and since i started going to the gym and stuff, its given me even more of a reson to quit.

but for me, i would say smoking has a major effect on it.

I smoked during college, and then on and off for about 9 years. When I met my present partner, he smoked, so I started again (a little).. I know -- it's stupid. He smokes a pack a day and gets serious nicotine fits when he is without. My smoking was 2 - 3 cigs a day, after work, with him over the course of the evening. I made the decision last December, just when I was about to visit my family in NY, that I didn't need to continue that stupidity. I mean, if I could go a whole day without and not feel the urge, why do it when I am home? I just told my partner that he'd have to smoke alone; I'd just stay inside and watch TV.

I started running mid-March. I just signed up for my first 5k in July. I run 6.34 mi. five days a week (no walking or stopping, 99% of the time). My smoking wasn't so bad that it made me wheeze or cough, so I was lucky. But partner isn't as fortunate. He's unfortunately heavily addicted. He tried to quite smoking recently; he even bought himself a (expensive!) Trek bike since he wants to ride (he can't run since he's too heavy). Well, the bike hasn't been used but 5 times in the past month or so. He is always tired, sleeps when he's not working, and complains about his weight. I'm sure he's battling some form of depression. He sees me get up early multiple times a week to go running and has watched me drop pounds. I am sure that doesn't make him feel better, but I don't quite know what to do to help him.

He gets winded walking across the parking lot or in a mall. You would think that would be incentive enough to quit, wouldn't you? Anything that limits my ability to be active just isn't worth it. and, I've watched two relatives die of cancer from smoking. It wasn't pretty. Wrez, just find a way to stop. There are no benefits to it. At all.

Anyway, I guess I just rambled on... Good luck, Wrez. Keep us posted!