Smoking & Physical Activity

According to the public agency of Canada, physical activity plays an important role in the health and well being of all Canadians. Those that live physically active lives generally live more productive lives, and are more likely to avoid illness and injury.

Being active doesn’t have to be difficult. There are many ways to make physical activity a part of daily life — at home, at school, and at work. (http://www.obesitypanacea.com/2009/05/ten-simple-ways-to-become-more.html )

 

It’s no surprise that smoking impedes physical activity. Research reports illustrate 18% of deaths each year are associated with the harmful effects of cigarette smoking. These harmful effects are most often linked to diseases within the cardiovascular system. Quitting smoking today could greatly improve your cardiovascular fitness in as little as two to eight hours.

Tar is the toxic chemical that is found in cigarettes. This tar slowly clouds the alveoli in your lungs. Alveoli are delicate microscopic bubbles that fill your lungs and are connected to airways that carry air in and out of them. They are extremely thin sacks of tissue holding a network of capillaries, or minute blood vessels. Alveoli expose all of your blood, one single red blood cell at a time; to the fresh air you fill your lungs with every breath you take. Perfusion, or blood flow, must match ventilation so oxygen diffuses into your blood and CO2 diffuses out properly. You cannot ventilate properly without healthy alveoli.

Smokers’ lungs have less surface area and fewer small blood vessels. So the lungs receive less food and oxygen than they need to function normally.  Every puff of smoke inhaled causes the airways to constrict.  Over time, the narrowing of airways causes irreversible lung damage.

Cardiovascular fitness and heart rate response to exercise are already reduced in young healthy smokers. In men, the adverse effects of smoking become stronger with increasing age but appear to be reversible at age 36.

A number of physical endurance studies have shown that that smokers reach exhaustion before non-smokers do and can’t run as far or as fast as non-smokers. Additional results noted that smokers:

o   Obtained less benefit from physical training

o   Had less muscular strength and flexibility

o   Experienced disturbed sleep patterns

o   Suffered from shortness of breath almost three times as often as non-smokers

Smoking also affects your bones and joints, putting you at increased risk for developing the following conditions:

o   Osteoporosis

o   Hip fractures

o   Rheumatoid arthritis etc.

Young people who smoke experience the same negative effects of tobacco that adult smokers do. This includes not only lower physical endurance and performance compared to their non-smoking peers, but also shortness of breath, increased sports-related injuries, and poorer overall health.

Smoking young adults can also slow down their lung growth, impair lung function, and cause their hearts to beat faster than those of non-smokers.

Fortunately for both adult and young smokers, many of the effects of smoking can be reversed if and when they quit smoking.

Habitual physical activity is easier than you think. It can be met through planned exercise sessions, active forms of transportation like walking or biking, as well as recreation and sports.

To make physical activity apart of your daily routine check out Leave the Pack Behinds’ QUITRUNCHILL program for smokers and non-smokers. This free, online-based program assumes that everyone wants to be a bit healthier. It offers facts about quitting, being active, and managing stress in a healthier manner. Be sure to check it out at: http://www.quitrunchill.org/.