How smoking and exercise go together

How nicotine affects the body

Nicotine workingThe Nicotine Content of Common Vegetables as a stimulant: enhances the release of norepinephrine and inhibits its reuptake. Due to this, the sympathetic nervous system is activated - the heartbeat at rest increases and blood pressure rises.

Nicotine also improves cognitive functionsCognitive Effects of Nicotine: Recent Progress: concentration, attention and working memory, promotes increased release dopaminePHARMACOGENETICS OF NICOTINE ADDICTION: ROLE OF DOPAMINE - a neurotransmitter that provides pleasant sensations.

All of this contributes to addiction.

You can get nicotine not only through smoking tobacco, but also through placing it on the mucous membrane (snus, snuff), as well as with the help of nicotine replacement therapy - in the form of tablets, chewing gum, patches, sprays.

Such forms more oftenThe acute effect of nicotine intake on anaerobic exercise performance used by athletes to obtain - in their opinion - some positive effects. But since most people get nicotine more often from cigarettes, we'll start with smoking.

How smoking affects overall stamina

Because smoking increases resting heart rate, cardiac contractility and cardiac output (the amount of blood that is pumped out of the heart per minute), it seems to be supposed to help aerobic work. After all, the more blood the heart pumps, the more oxygen will be delivered to the muscles. But in reality, there is no advantage.

After smoking, the amount of carbon monoxide (CO), or carbon monoxide, increases in the blood. It binds to hemoglobin and hindersThe acute effect of nicotine intake on anaerobic exercise performance to carry oxygen.

In smokers, the body is supplied with oxygen less efficiently, which affects sports performance.

This is especially important for sports in which the main work falls on the muscles of the legs: running, cycling, skiing, skating. In one research Immediate Effects of Smoking on Cardiorespiratory Responses During Dynamic Exercise: Arm Vs. Leg Ergometry The researchers compared how smoking affects endurance while working with arms and legs. It turned out that if people smoked before pedaling with their feet, they got tired much faster than non-smokers, but there was not much difference when working with their hands.

The fact is that there are much more slow muscle fibers in the legs, which require oxygen to work. Therefore, the lack of oxygen after smoking greatly reduces the possibility: you are faster get tiredSmoking‑induced elevations in blood carboxyhaemoglobin levels. Effect on maximal oxygen uptake. and you can do less.

How smoking affects strength training

The effect on strength training is not as pronounced as in the case of endurance sports. Smokers even have a slightly increased ability to voluntarily contract their muscles. Although in the end it does not affect the ability to produce force.

Scientists don't discoveredSkeletal muscle properties and fatigue resistance in relation to smoking history difference in maximum strength, quantitySkeletal muscle morphology, metabolism and function in smokers and non‑smokers. A study on smoking‑discordant monozygous twins. muscle mass, its ability to contract, the volume of capillaries in the muscles and short-term muscle endurance in smokers and non-smokers.

The difference comes when strength endurance comes into play - the ability to produce force over time. Here smokers lose to non-smokers: their muscles get tired faster.

Scientists suggest that this effect explainedSkeletal muscle properties and fatigue resistance in relation to smoking history a decrease in the activity of cytochrome oxidase, an enzyme that is involved in creating energy in the mitochondria of cells. This confirms studySkeletal muscle morphology, metabolism and function in smokers and non‑smokers. A study on smoking‑discordant monozygous twins., carried out with the participation of twins: with the same genetic profile, amount of muscle mass and strength, the muscles of siblings who smoked tired faster than those who did not smoke.

So if you're doing a heavy weight, low rep set, smoking won't work. will provide a negative effect, but if you work on multi-repetition, you will do less than if didn't smoke.

The effect does not depend on gender, the number of cigarettes per day and the length of smoking. If you smoke, your muscles will tire faster.

But there is also good news: the activity of cytochrome oxidase comesEffect of smoking cessation on mitochondrial respiratory chain function. back to normal within 7-28 days after giving up cigarettes.

How other forms of nicotine affect performance in sports

Many athletes, especially in team sports - hockey, American football, baseball - take nicotine in non-smoking forms, hoping for an ergogenic effect. However, in the metaanalysisNicotine: Sporting Friend or Foe? A Review of Athlete Use, Performance Consequences and Other Considerationson the effect of nicotine on athletic performance, did not confirm its benefits.

Of the 16 studies, only two showed an improvement in performance: one noted a 17% increase in endurance, the other a 6% increase in peak torque. In other studies, scientists did not find any effect.

Recall that the studies involved people without addiction, and even nicotine did not have a special effect on them.

If you are used to the intake of this stimulant, you should not expect any effect at all.

Maybe that's why the use of nicotine is not forbiddenNicotine: Sporting Friend or Foe? A Review of Athlete Use, Performance Consequences and Other Considerations world anti-doping agency. What is the point of banning if there is no sense from it anyway?

Can I smoke and play sports

If you can quit throw. This is good for your productivity and overall health. But if it doesn't work out yet, go in for sports.

Physical activity reducesPhysical activity trajectories and mortality: population based cohort study increased risk of life-threatening diseases due to smoking: cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke.

Although training of any kind is not helpCan exercise help people quit smoking? quit smoking, at least you will reduce your risks a little.