Fit Smokers?

BurtHuttz

Preface: I understand that smoking is a hot-button issue and that some folks have very strong feelings on the matter - rightfully so. Nonetheless this is not a thread to discuss adverse results from smoking, on individuals, families, health care system, etc, and whether smoking is good or bad. I respectfully ask that this thread not be derailed to discuss such matters and would prefer to dialogue with fit smokers.

Are you fit? Do you smoke? Occasionally, frequently, or regularly? How does that impact your fitness? How do you mitigate the effects?

I used to smoke and quit in the course of getting fit. I’ve had a few evenings out in the last six months where I would be out with friends and have a half pack. I’ve not noticed any significant performance impairment in my cardiovascular exercise the following week. I’ve also not missed the cigarettes out of the context of a social situation.

Are there any fit members of MFP who smoke and willing to share their thoughts with me on how this does or does not impact your fitness goals, life, etc?

lyndabyh

I smoked for years and worked out . I started the C25K in May and was still a smoker ( about 1/2 pack a day). HOwever I found it really difficult to finish the 30 min straight. I stayed at 28 min for 4 weeks and found myself struggling with that some days. In August I decided to quit and have seen an increase in my cardio. Unfortunately its winter here and my trails are too icy for running so I can't tell it I can do the whole 30 min now or not. I do notice a distance on the stationary bike though.

halleyg2

I occasionally smoke tiny Capri ultra lights. Usually because of anxiety. It makes workouts a bit tougher but I push through. What worries me most about an occasional cigarette is my skin aging. Anyway, I think it's possible to have a fit body and smoke. I was a dancer for many years and nearly all of my company smoked between classes. I also think that being so young played a big part in that.

BurtHuttz

I've always been familiar with the dance/smoking connection. I've always wondered how ballerinas, for instance, could do something so incredibly physically demanding and then go have a smoke. Halley do you notice the workout difficulty immediately at next workout after smoking? How long does that perception of more difficult remain?

Lynda - so you've fully stopped then? Are you saying back when you were smoking, that you could go for 28 minutes straight on a half pack a day - I wouldn't have thought that possible at all!

Duck_Puddle

Are you saying back when you were smoking, that you could go for 28 minutes straight on a half pack a day - I wouldn't have thought that possible at all!

I am a runner and a smoker (1/2-1 pack/day). I will be heading out for a long run in a few minutes, said run will be somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2 hrs - which I will immediately follow with a cigarette. So yes, it's possible.

I don't know that I'm "fit", and since I've only ever run as a smoker, I can't say whether it's hurting my fitness or not. If I get around to quitting, maybe I'll have the non-smoker side as a comparison.

Sorry-don't have much to offer to the discussion I guess.

scottb81

I used to smoke 1 1/2 packs a day. There is no comparison to the level of fitness I am able to achieve between when I smoked and since I quit a little over two years ago.

I just finished a 23 mile run this morning and felt great at the end. That could never have happened before.

For_the_Last_Time

I don't think I am "fit" I am obese and a smoker for over 20 years ( with quits for pregnancies) :grumble: yet I can do an hour plus of cardio (elliptical and treadmill) Tuesday and Thursday was 30 mins on elliptical followed by 65 mins at 3.5 MPH on treadmill the only break was the time to walk to the separate treadmill room at gym and sign in for my treadmill. And my amounts for Mon, Wed, Fri where at a minimum of 45 mins of cardio with strength as well. I only bring it up because its not like I do it for one day a month.


But the next time the hubby is going out of town I am quitting ( he smokes and me tackling him for his smokes in the first couple of days would just be bad)

sugarlips1980

Sorry but a 'fit smoker' is an oxymoron! I know you don't want to hear it, but quitting is really the biggest, most important decision you can make for your health over and above healthy eating and exercising. You've made a step by trying to quit. Go the whole hog and kick the sickarette entirely to the kerb. I quit 6 months ago and I'd struggled for years quitting half heardely. A quit smoking forum like this one offers great support http://www.quitsmokingmessageboard.com/. It has no hold on me now. Not meaning to sound smug just some tough love, you've lost weight and look great you can do this!

BurtHuttz

I was clear in my introduction that I wanted this to be a safe space for a candid conversation with others. Please eliminate your thread-jacking post.

BurtHuttz

I am a runner and a smoker (1/2-1 pack/day). I will be heading out for a long run in a few minutes, said run will be somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2 hrs - which I will immediately follow with a cigarette. So yes, it's possible.

I don't know that I'm "fit", and since I've only ever run as a smoker, I can't say whether it's hurting my fitness or not. If I get around to quitting, maybe I'll have the non-smoker side as a comparison.

Sorry-don't have much to offer to the discussion I guess.

This is sort of what I'm curious about. Do you feel that the cigarettes limit your performance? I assume if you can haul butt for 90 minutes you probably don't have shortness of breath climbing stairs, etc. I have no idea if this question seems silly or not, but have you ever stopped during a run for like a 'smoke break' and then resumed running? When is your last smoke prior to going for a run? (If you don't mind me asking - - it's just an extremely interesting concept.)

Katbody10

I was a U.S. Marine and smoked .. I'd smoke before and after all workouts and runs. I smoked during our "humps/field trips" into the wild .. (military camping trips LOL) I ran 3 marathons .. my best time was 3 hrs and 5 minutes .. my worst time was 3 hours 42 minutes.

It never seemed to affect me. I LOVED to smoke. I smoked for around 30 years (except while I was pregnant and for 2 years after my son was born - maybe a 3 year break in smoking)

I quit cold turkey last Aug .. WOW .. what was I thinking ?? :laugh:

Fast forward to now 5 months later .. I still miss smoking occasionally and I don't feel any more fit than I was before. I was always an athletic individual and basically got lazy these last few years after a head injury. I woke up one day, smoked the last 3 cigarettes in my pack .. and just thought .. Hmm.. maybe I'll just quit smoking right now. And did! Kinda sucked the first week.. I was jonesing pretty badly for a smoke .. but didn't go buy any.

My reason for quitting was simple -- I truly didn't want to spend the rest of my life smoking. I'm also vain. I think I look good for my age (46 - almost 47) My current profile picture is only a year old And it's getting harder to fight age and wrinkles, etc. and smoking certainly won't add to my appearance.

I'm here to basically maintain. I gained a few pounds when I quit smoking .. but it's not like I couldn't have used a few pounds to begin with @ 105. I'm currently 5'4 and weight 115 .. I think I'd be happy @ 110 lbs. As long as I stay in check .. I'm happy :drinker: :flowerforyou:

michellekicks

I was a relatively fit smoker.

In 2002/03 I lost about 60 lbs to get to roughly the same weight I am now (but had slightly higher muscle mass - I've lost another 5 lbs of muscle dieting this past year). I trained in kickboxing 3-4 days a week, ran 3-4 times a week and did yoga. I ran a half marathon in 2003 in just over 2 hours. After that I trained for a ring fight and was in the gym 13 hours a week - 2 hours a night Monday to Friday and 3 hours on Saturdays with Sundays off. I could do 50 pushups at that time though no pull-ups but had all the stamina I needed for a 9 minute fight.

I was smoking a pack a day throughout that time. So I think it's possible to be a fit smoker. Do I feel better now? Yes. I also run faster now too but have been consistently working on my running for over a year now. I don't do kickboxing anymore so I'm not working the anaerobic system as much. So the improvements in my running could be directly attributed to the increased aerobic conditioning and not because I quit smoking about 2 1/2 years ago now.

BurtHuttz

WOW! That's phenomenal@katbody. Hard to imagine you ran full marathons while a regular smoker for that long. On the one hand I'm surprised that you haven't seen any notable performance improvement since quitting. On the other, it sounds like you were fit in like the 98th percentile of US general population when you were in the Corps, so perhaps you were already operating near peak efficiency regardless of the smokes.

You may have done it the best way, if you punched out before getting hit with any of the irreversible afflictions.

Congrats for quitting - saving money if nothing else :-)

spade117

I don't know if an answer can be had for those that do smoke. If they smoke, is there a way to tell the difference since there are not periods of non-smoking? Does that make sense? It's like there isn't a way to compare.

PikaKnight

I have been a little over 5 months smober.

Losing the weight that I have lost so far was definitely a challenge in itself, but I realize (now that I am smoke free) that trying to get in shape while smoking made things a lot harder...lol.

NCchar130

I smoke a pack a day and quit C25k after a week when I discovered I could already run 20 minutes without stopping. Within a month of doing that a couple times a week while trying to increase my distance each time, I was running the full 5k. I can finish in just under 30 minutes now. I can't explain it. I just figure that when I quit smoking finally, I will probably find I can do it a lot faster. I'm sure it impacts my fitness, I just won't really know how until I quit.

NCchar130

oh, and I usually have 1 or 2 right before a run and again right after...

Katbody10

WOW! That's phenomenal@katbody. Hard to imagine you ran full marathons while a regular smoker for that long. On the one hand I'm surprised that you haven't seen any notable performance improvement since quitting. On the other, it sounds like you were fit in like the 98th percentile of US general population when you were in the Corps, so perhaps you were already operating near peak efficiency regardless of the smokes.

You may have done it the best way, if you punched out before getting hit with any of the irreversible afflictions.

Congrats for quitting - saving money if nothing else :-)

:blushing: Thanks! I should admit .. I loved to run .. but I don't run anymore. I walk 5 miles every morning instead .. up the steeper inclines in and around my neighborhood. I go to the gym and I've been doing water exercises and laps as well as yoga and pilates. I want to try the gym's Les Mills Body Pump class that incorporates weights.. I really wanna stay in decent shape for as long as possible. I don't have a workout buddy, so I'm also going alone.. if I had a workout buddy - I'd try and go for using weights. I'm out of the loop anymore and don't know what I'm doing :laugh:

BurtHuttz

I was a relatively fit smoker.

In 2002/03 I lost about 60 lbs to get to roughly the same weight I am now (but had slightly higher muscle mass - I've lost another 5 lbs of muscle dieting this past year). I trained in kickboxing 3-4 days a week, ran 3-4 times a week and did yoga. I ran a half marathon in 2003 in just over 2 hours. After that I trained for a ring fight and was in the gym 13 hours a week - 2 hours a night Monday to Friday and 3 hours on Saturdays with Sundays off. I could do 50 pushups at that time though no pull-ups but had all the stamina I needed for a 9 minute fight.

I was smoking a pack a day throughout that time. So I think it's possible to be a fit smoker. Do I feel better now? Yes. I also run faster now too but have been consistently working on my running for over a year now. I don't do kickboxing anymore so I'm not working the anaerobic system as much. So the improvements in my running could be directly attributed to the increased aerobic conditioning and not because I quit smoking about 2 1/2 years ago now.

It sounds, based on Katbody's response, that one could out-train cigarettes for running. There isn't a way to be certain unless we had an identical version of you or something that we could've used as a control. Otherwise there are just way too many variables to know - as you say - whether it's because of aerobic conditioning or eliminating the vice.

Your level of fitness was definitely way, way above par while you were smoking, though, it sounds - - I can't imagine the effort it takes to make it through a nine-minute fight. Two minutes has always been enough to push me near max simply due to the forces I'm trying to generate. When you say you feel better now I assume you mean with respect to chest pain while exercising and average level?

I don't know if an answer can be had for those that do smoke. If they smoke, is there a way to tell the difference since there are not periods of non-smoking? Does that make sense? It's like there isn't a way to compare.

Yes, I'm sort of realizing that from some of the answers. There don't seem to be many 'very infrequent but still consistent' smokers in the thread which is the only direct comparison I think.

smober

Nice! Yeah, I wasn't able to get fit until I stopped; now I'm just trying to guage impact from 'dabblers' - I know I have some on my list and it just seems a very interesting situation but because it's such a dicey issue that it's hard to find much information searching beyond personal experience and anecdote.

michellekicks

When you say you feel better now I assume you mean with respect to chest pain while exercising and average level?

Actually I think I just mean "feel" better as in, mentally, I feel like I'm doing better for my body. But I never ever had chest pain, wheezing or anything of that nature. I guess it's like you could say you "feel" better when you take a multivitamin daily vs. when you don't. I think it does good for you, but not necessarily on a level you can physically feel (though some say they can feel the effects of a vitamin; I'm not that in tune with my body evidently).

lyndabyh

Yeah 28 minutes straight of jogging, I wouldn't have broken any time records but I coulld actually jog it. For some reason those extra 2 minutes for the 30 were impossible. Fully quit for 5 months and 14 days !!! I was at a party and had gone outside with some smokers and thought about having one but the smell of the smoke just turned me right off . Hopefully that will continue...lol