How Smoking Affects Your Workout and How to Beat It

The future of fitness in America looks bright. In 2019, over 64 million US adults held gym memberships, and while the pandemic may have seen facilities restricted and, in some cases, shuttered entirely, the home fitness market boomed in its place.

Revenues from home fitness products and services rose from $6.7 billion in 2019 to $9.5 billion in 2020 and could have grown further if equipment had been simpler to source – cast your mind back to when weights were going for $3 per lb on the resale market, reports Vox Media.

The online fitness market has flourished most of all. During 2020, live-streamed workouts soared by 971%, and the trend has continued since, up 77% even since fitness facilities were cleared to fully reopen.

Another encouraging statistic for the nation’s health is that smoking rates have fallen dramatically. The CDC has found that smoking has dropped from 20.9% of American adults in 2005 to 11.5% in 2021.

Smoking rates remain a little higher among millennials at 12.6% of that demographic, though - and with 25-44-year-olds being the most represented age group in gym-going (45% have a membership), there’s bound to be some overlap between those two figures. Can smokers get the most out of gym memberships?

Let’s look into the effects of smoking on working out and explore some options for working cigarettes out.

How Smoking Affects Your Workout

At this point, it doesn’t need to be stated that smoking is pretty much the single worst thing you can do for your health.

There’s a school of thought that smoking-related diseases come later in life, and the effects can be negated for now with a regular fitness schedule.

While it’s true that the risk of certain diseases can be reduced to that of a never-smoker in the years after quitting, that fails to recognize the inhibition on performance smoking carries in the now.

Lung Function

Smoking drastically reduces lung function and capacity by coating you lungs with tar and reducing the elasticity of the air sacs. That means cardio is going to be much harder.

Endurance will be affected as the body can’t get enough oxygen into the blood to pump around the muscles effectively. The carbon monoxide present in tobacco smoke binds to hemoglobin in red blood cells, preventing oxygen from being able to.

This doesn’t just affect cardio. While a powerlifter may notice it less due to the quick and intense nature of that exercise, any strength training involving multiple reps will become more difficult.

Heart Rate

Smoking can also increase your resting heart rate, meaning you can’t put in as much work before you’re dangerously high when exercising.

The willpower it takes not to quit a session would be better employed to quit smoking.

How to Beat Smoking

If you’re looking to cut down or quit entirely, many paths can be taken.

Snus

Swedish snus has had a push in the US of late; it’s similar to dip pouches in that it’s small portions of tobacco packed into a paper casing.

Unlike American chewing tobacco, there’s no need to spit, and the tobacco is pasteurized, so it is considered purer than its US counterpart. However, it is still tobacco, and snus has been linked to oral and gastric cancers.

Nicotine Pouches

Nicotine pouches, particularly Zyn, have soared in popularity over the last two years.

For a tobacco-free experience, the nicotine pouches listed on Prilla may have an option to suit. These pouches are filled with tasteless plant fiber, which is then soaked in nicotine solution to a precise dosage.

Common strengths are 3, 6, and 12mg per pouch, similar to the nicotine content per ml in vape liquid. Also similar to vape juice, the pouches come in a myriad of different flavors, versus the more basic tobaccos and wintergreen of snus.

Nicotine isn’t carcinogenic in itself, which is why traditional nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) have been FDA-approved for over 25 years. 

Patches

Patches such as Nicoderm CQ slow-release nicotine into the bloodstream over the course of a day, cutting cravings.

On the other hand, if there are flashpoints where the urge becomes stronger - taking five minutes to chill after coming out of the gym, say - nicotine gum releases the nicotine much more rapidly and should be disposed of after 30-60 minutes.

Working out and cutting cigarettes can be a vicious cycle. The Department of Health and Human Services states that exercise can be an important way of lessening cravings and reducing stress.

As the respiratory system starts to heal and blood pumps around the muscles faster, performance improvements become noticeable fairly quickly.

Perhaps it is time to feel the burn in your legs, not in your lungs.