Smoking is one of the most addictive substances in the world, as the levels of nicotine in a cigarette can change the way our brain works which causes more cravings. Research suggests that around 85% of daily cigarette smokers are addicted to some extent. This does show how difficult it can be to avoid the addiction of smoking cigarettes, but doing so will positively impact multiple aspects of your life.
If you are an avid exerciser or are involved in sports, smoking should be avoided at all costs. Smoking and fitness don’t go together, as there are too many harmful effects of smoking that can have a negative impact on the way you perform during sports activities.
This article will explore how ditching the cigarettes can help enhance your sports performance and alternatives you can choose to help you kick smoking habits for good.
How Smoking Affects Your Body
Smoking tobacco products can affect every part of your body, including the respiratory, circulatory, immune and musculoskeletal systems. Let’s take a look at each of these and what effects smoking has on them.
Respiratory System
Smoking can irritate your windpipe, reduce lung function, impair the lung’s clearance system, increase lung infection chances and damage the lung air sacs. Any of these can impact your physical and sporting performances as it can make it harder to breathe. Most sporting activities require good lung capacity and stamina to be able to perform optimally.
Circulatory System
Regular smoking can raise blood pressure, tighten blood vessels, lower oxygen intake and reduce blood flow to fingers and toes. This can restrict you from full movement, which can make it hard to do a large variety of sports.
Immune System
Consistent smoking can increase the chances of influenza, slow illness recovery time and lower vitamin C levels. If your body is unable to prevent and recover from illnesses then your physical performance will be impacted.
Musculoskeletal System
The effects of smoking include the tightening of muscles and reduced bone density. This can lead to an increased rate of injury when taking part in sports, which is why some athletes can be more injury-prone. This is why more athletes are opting for Velo patches instead.
Fitness Benefits of Quitting Smoking
There are many fitness benefits that smokers will notice once they quit, including:
- Improve Lung Function: From the moment you quit smoking, your lungs will be better at cleaning out mucus and debris that can negatively affect your breathing. After a few months, your breathing will have improved significantly.
- Better Muscle Growth: Smoking can slow down muscle growth, as it affects how cells generate protein necessary for muscle repair. Quitting smoking can help you realize your full muscle potential.
- Quicker Injury Recovery: Regular smoke intake can slow down your body’s recovery functions. This means that quitting smoking, especially when injured, can help the body make a full recovery at a quicker rate.
- Increased Focus: Cognitive function can take a hit when you smoke, so when you quit you should begin to notice that you become more focused and engaged with your sporting activity.
- Enhanced Motivation: Quitting smoking is great for personal growth, as the process can make you feel more disciplined, determined and focused.
Smoking Alternatives for Better Performance
There are substitutes out there that can be used or done instead of smoking that doesn’t have such a negative effect on sports performance. Nicopods are very popular at the moment and have become somewhat of a trend for athletes or exercise enthusiasts who want a good replacement for smoking, as they have a lighter impact on the respiratory system.
Other stop smoking aids that don’t involve any nicotine can also be a distraction from smoking, which can positively impact performance. Examples of this include chewing gum, drinking more water, using throat sprays, sucking throat lozenges and using inhalers. While some of these won’t cure a smoking addiction, they can help you think about other things.
How to Quit Smoking
While using alternatives to smoking is a good way of cutting it out of your life, there are other tips and tricks that you can try that might help stop smoking for good. These include:
- Make a list of reasons why you want to quit.
- Tell peers that you’re quitting so that you can receive moral support.
- Have a plan in place if you feel tempted to smoke.
- List your smoking triggers and how you can avoid them.
- Make use of your time by exercising.
- Keep yourself busy.
- Join support groups.
Everyone will be different in what works for them in their smoke-quitting process, as everyone has different levels of addiction and different smoking triggers. The best option is to try different solutions to see what works best for you.