Ciggarettes and fitness

[John Jaeckel]

Originally Posted by Aaron Gainer

If you have to ask, your looking for an excuse to do it.


I really never got the whole cigar or pipe thing either. What makes you think if you don't inhale the nicotine and tobacco that it doesn't get into your bloodstream(and can cause mouth and throat cancer)?

Just don't do it. You will vastly increase your stamina, breathing, and hormone levels by not smoking. I don't know one person who wouldn't want those 3 things back in their lifestyle.

+1.

Let it go. I quit smoking 23 years ago. I still dream about it on occasion. About every year or two, I actually crave one.

But this thread should be re-titled "cigarettes and death." There is no sane, rational reason to ingest carcinogens that essentially provide no benefit beyond mild CNS stimulation.

For a CNS stimulant: drink an espresso (at least it's loaded with anti-oxidants). To relax: drink some red wine, ditto on the anti-oxidants and it will prevent heart disease.

You are rationalizing a bad, stupid and expensive habit because you don't want to let go of it.

And there is no comparison of drinking and smoking as far as damage to your health, unless you are downing a fifth of Jack every night (in which case, you need to get into detox fast).

My sister drank and smoked heavily for 35 years. The smoking gave her lung cancer and killed her last year. Period.

And believe me, the big lobbys in this country (including big tobacco) suppress the fact that smoking contributes to all kinds of cancers.

[Beck Randelin]

perhaps an interesting anecdote...

Our county's former district attorney smoked (a pack+/day) for years but also ran marathons all the time. In fact, after a Grandma's marathon, he cross the finish line, found his stuff and lit up. Apparently that was his normal habit.

The reason I'm telling you this is that he also had his lungs xrayed and the docs said they were clear. They attributed that to the amount of running he did, pushing the crap out as much as he was smoking it in. genetics probably played into it too...

Could his performance and health have been better if he'd quit? most likely

But he made his choice and enjoyed both smoking and marathoning.

A single cig a day as part of a relaxing ritual? Sounds like you enjoy it.
I think we all have a vice we choose to continue because we simply like it. Performance often isn't the only thing that makes life worth living...

Altho I do think it'd be interesting to hear if you notice performance differences after a couple weeks without any...