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2003/03/29, 07:21 PM
Does smoking cigarettes prohibit you from getting bigger? I was wondering if I quit smoking would I get even bigger than I am now? I know it affects your lungs and stamina, but muscle growth?
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2003/03/30, 06:07 AM
Smoking has a negative impact on anything you do, whether it be building muscle or walking up stairs. If you are serious about being healthy and putting on muscle, then ditch the smokes.
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2003/04/01, 04:49 PM
I think it says on the package of cigarettes!
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We must become the change we want to see.
Ivan Montreal Canada
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2003/04/01, 09:04 PM
In a nutshell... Smoking is very taxing to the immune system. Without your immune system fuctioning properly, you will not recuperate as quickly after a workout as a nonsmoker. Based on that, I would say that yes, smoking will negatively affect muscle growth.
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--JBennett
"I've up-ed my intensity.... now up yours!"
"Pain is only weakness leaving the body."
"Never think of how weak you are; think of how strong you're going to be."
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2003/04/02, 05:56 PM
Smoking also affects your circulation negatively - so you know that your cells aren't getting the nutrition they need.
One cigarette depletes an entire days worth of vitamin C.
If you are working out to get healthier or better looking why defeat yourself by smoking - the sooner you quit the less your odds of getting lung cancer and emphysema.
Don't wait until your lungs hurt when you wake up in the morning (and that will ahppen if you smoke long enough) quit now!
If you are strong enough to stick with an exercise program and lift weights, you are strong enough to quit smoking!!
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Challenge + Consistency = Results
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2003/05/02, 09:07 PM
Smoking is stupid, and so am I. I still smoke a pack a day, and here's an article I put out on WebMD about it at http://boards.webmd.com/message.asp?message_id=3342074:
"Smokers, you have no excuse for avoiding the gym
by kkierste, on 1/10/2003 10:42:46 AM
I felt compelled to write this to maybe set a fire under some smokers' butts.
I've smoked for almost 20 years. It's stupid and unhealthy, we know that. That doesn't mean we can quit.
When you factor in all the variables of a healthy lifestyle, smoking is such a thorn in the side. Yet I would choose being the most fit smoker I can be over being a fat, lethargic one eating McDonalds and waiting for the miracle pill.
Divorce was the spur for me (yes I filed) because I noticed the free weight loss that came with the stress. I was up to 252lbs (on a 6'5 frame) in May, 2002. By mid July, I was down to 230 (although I had been riding my mountain bike pretty regularly, it wasn't enough to lose that kind of weight w/o the stress).
Add to the mix that I had a back surgery in June, 2001 (L4-L5 removed, L5-S1 still bulging) and two knee surgeries in the early 90's, including an ACL reconstruction, and I looked like a smoker without a cause.
So I decided to up the pace in July; keep the mountain bike routine (which I gradually raised from 3 miles round trip to over six miles, 3x per week on hills with child on back of bike) but add a weight training regimen.
I'm 30; have no patience for starting off wrong, so I joined a gym that gave 4 free hours of personal training. I learned technique. I started a 3 day per week, 3 set routine using nautilis machines with gradual weight increases. The only other machine I used was the cross trainer, which is like a nordic track, but better.
As a smoker, everything was exhausting me. I could only do 10 minutes on the cross trainer, hill program, and a mediocre level (levels range from 1-20, I was doing level 5, then gradually increasing it). On the weight machines, I was pulling off only puny numbers.
So why not quit smoking, idiot? That's easy to say. If you've ever been a smoker for a long time and going through the most stressful period of your life, you'd know it's next to impossible.
Now, I do 30 minutes on the cross trainer at THE HIGHEST LEVEL (20) on the hardest program, Hill. I'm down to a lean and muscular 213 lbs. I've tripled my weight lifting capacity on most of the machines, and on three of the 12 machines I use for lifting, I've literally maxed the weight out at 259 lbs (those machines being abs, adductor, and abductor). I also added captain's chair (abs, 3sets 12) incline bench (abs, steepest level, about 15 slow, concentrated reps) and free weights for shoulders, triceps, and chest, and the inverted leg press for calves and thighs (I'm up to 350lbs now for calves; when I started, could barely do 100lbs.)
I feel like my only unfair advantage was a generalized anger from issues surrounding my divorce; it was that which got me the extra rep, the one final push on the cross trainer, the last stroke of the pedal on the mountain bike to get up the hills--the same hills I was pushing the bike up while walking when I first started.
I only hope you can find an equally powerful (and preferably, less negative) motivation. If you're going to be stupid and smoke like I do, don't use it as an excuse not to go to the gym or get fit. The only thing stopping you is you. Don't let that be an excuse, or any medical problem either. I can just about assure you that your level of happiness will be inversely proportional to your lack of activity and fitness."
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--There are no versions of the truth.--
Jeff Goldblum, Jurassic Park II
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2003/05/02, 09:46 PM
Nice Success story Ogun. Keep up the great strides!
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We must become the change we want to see.
Ivan Montreal Canada (aka SpongeBob Square Pants to some!)
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2003/05/02, 10:10 PM
Thanks :D Hey wasn't that Ghandi that said that??
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--There are no versions of the truth.--
Jeff Goldblum, Jurassic Park II
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2003/05/03, 03:14 PM
nice, man, nice! i envy your dedication! you should put that story in your profile...
just a question: why don't you try smoking one cigarette less a day with every week/month? quiting just like that is a massive thing, next to impossible as you said. but over a long period of time?
i have no clue about the situation your in, coz i've never been there, but wouldn't that be possible, if with every month you smoke one less a day, and by next year your only smoking half a pack a day? then you could be motivated to do it another year and then....?
like i said, i don't know what its like being addicted, so i have no idea...
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2003/05/03, 03:33 PM
Skinnyrobin ...any addiction is like a pregnancy, you either are, or aren't. For some, there is no such thing as 1 cigarette a day. Including myself. So I also had to quit cold turkey...Feels great.
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We must become the change we want to see.
Ivan Montreal Canada (aka SpongeBob Square Pants to some!)
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2003/05/03, 04:15 PM
Skinnyrobin, I will try that...I didn't really have a plan in place because I simply know myself very well psychologically and I know that I'll fail any attempt right now..
However, in a year or so, when I calm down, I'll be looking for an approach. I've tried Wellbutrin, worked kind of. But my addiction isn't quite physical...example is when I joined the Air Force and couldn't smoke for 7 weeks of basic training. The physical addiction ends in about 4 days. Guess what I did the day I got out of basic? Bought a carton of cigarettes. There is deep psychological ties that have to be severed, and your method seems gentle enough :D Thanks!
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--There are no versions of the truth.--
Jeff Goldblum, Jurassic Park II
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2003/05/03, 09:10 PM
Good luck Ogun, and keep your positive mindset, you WILL succeed. You have taken the biggest step by knowing that this is a big problem and admitting so. Good luck once again and we are all here to support you in your efforts.
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2003/05/05, 10:29 AM
yeah, good luck to you, and you will make it if you really want too!
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2003/05/06, 10:42 AM
Do roses have thorns?? Ofcourse they do, and anything that involves smoking is a big no no for you, especially in fitness and staying healthy. Good luck!!!
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Bettia.... The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
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2003/06/16, 10:29 AM
Well Duh!!! smoking inhibits the flow of oxygen which is of utmost importance when trying to build muscle not to mention it depletes many vital nutrients and vitamins from your system which can be fixed ie...quit while you still can good luck. Lift on
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