Exercise can help with the battle to give up smoking, but continuing to smoke hinders performance. Smoking is harmful to overall health. It subjects the body to several ailments, including cancer. Smoking decreases lung capacity and increases the toxins present in the blood. You won't enjoy the full health benefits of running until you give up smoking cigarettes once and for all.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a group of diseases that eventually destroy lung function. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the two main illnesses that make up COPD. According to Mayo Clinic, COPD is one of the leading causes of illness and death in the world. Inhaling the many harmful chemicals in cigarettes causes COPD. Runners who smoke experience deteriorating breathing ability, noticeable even more so during runs. The alveoli -- tiny air sacs in the lungs essential to the breathing process -- collapse, preventing proper gas exchange.
Inflammation
Smoking causes inflammation in the airways. This not only makes breathing difficult, but it also creates mucus. The airways contain small hair-like fibers known as cilia. These cilia help propel mucus out of the airways, keeping them clear. Smoking paralyzes the cilia. Excess mucus makes breathing difficult while you run, because it hinders air exchange into and out of the lungs. You end up coughing and wheezing.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
According to the American Lung Association, cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals -- including carbon monoxide, which is lethal in high amounts. Smoking increases the carbon monoxide levels in the blood. Carbon monoxide bonds with the hemoglobin in the blood more easily than does oxygen, which reduces the blood's oxygen-carrying ability. One of the advantages of running is that it brings a fresh supply of oxygen to the blood and eventually the tissues. If you smoke, you receive much less oxygen.
Reduced Endurance Levels
Smoking is detrimental to endurance levels. The combination of reduced lung capacity and reduced oxygen in the blood greatly affects the distances you can run, as well as your speed. The good news is that if you quit smoking, you can improve or even reverse the problems of reduced endurance, carbon monoxide poisoning, damaged alveoli and COPD.
References
- Running Advice and News; Training: What Is the Impact of Smoking on Runners?; Joe English; March 2008
- Runner's World; How Will My Smoking Effect My Running?; Dr Alison McConnell; August 2004
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking
- MayoClinic.com: COPD
- American Lung Association: What's in a Cigarette?
- American Lung Association: Carbon Monoxide Indoors
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