Training and smoking?

[Tim huges]

I appreciate this may have an obvious answer (quit smoking) but i was curious if anyone else currently smokes or used to smoke whilst rowing, or indeed any other sport like running.

Ive smoked since i was 14 and have tried numerous times to quit. Im wondering with my new found addiction to erging and the lure of PB's might be a great motivation to have a go at quitting again. Ive been a gym goer for almost as long as ive smoked, i used to run outdoors for cardio...nothing sensational, just jogging to keep the beer belly at bay! My point being that smoking never seemed to get in the way, it was tolerable...perhaps because it was of low intensity?

Im curious if anyone else has had a similar experience of quitting smoking and what differences did they see in their erg times? Will the benefits be aerobic or anaerobic? What differences in times might be possible?

I know im not alone in being a smoker and training, a guy i know from a gym i used to go to smoked 30 a day and competed in triathlons...not sure how good he actually was but even so...

[mitchel674]

As a throat doctor, I'm going to go out on a limb and state that you should not be smoking.

Who cares if quitting will have an immediate impact on your erg times or that you know some bloke who smokes and runs triathalons. The harm and damage from smoking is a bit more insidious. You will gradually decrease your lung function over the years. Not to mention your risk of throat and lung cancers.

Take this moment to channel your new erg addiction in an effort to help you quit smoking. Good luck. You can do it!!

[Gammmmo]

Im curious if anyone else has had a similar experience of quitting smoking and what differences did they see in their erg times? Will the benefits be aerobic or anaerobic? What differences in times might be possible?

Not sure about erging and smoking, but I used to know a guy who smoked and did cross country mountain-biking. I distinctly remember him smoking a cigarette WHILE racing at Ashton Court near Bristol. I think he was doing it mainly for comedy value. Just give up...

[Tim huges]

@mitchel absolutely...offcourse there is the wider picture to think about regardless of erg times. Not to make BS excuses but its such an ingrained habit and i have done my utmost best to quit in the past. Patches i quit for 6 months and i tried e cigerettes and stopped for 2years. Yet here i am smoking! I am building up to another effort, hence this post. Just wanted something tangible to go on in regards to rowing...quite honestly im bordering on obsessed with erging, if i could see my times improving or intervals feeling easier im certain that would motivate me. Im pretty sure they would, just wanted to get other people takes on it

Thankyou for wishing me luck...by god im gunna need it.

[mitchel674]

@mitchel absolutely...offcourse there is the wider picture to think about regardless of erg times. Not to make BS excuses but its such an ingrained habit and i have done my utmost best to quit in the past. Patches i quit for 6 months and i tried e cigerettes and stopped for 2years. Yet here i am smoking! I am building up to another effort, hence this post. Just wanted something tangible to go on in regards to rowing...quite honestly im bordering on obsessed with erging, if i could see my times improving or intervals feeling easier im certain that would motivate me. Im pretty sure they would, just wanted to get other people takes on it

Thankyou for wishing me luck...by god im gunna need it.

Great attitude!

This may sound cruel, but the only way to really quit smoking is to just make up your mind and do it cold turkey. All the patches, e-cigs and other substitutes just don't work. Most people are back smoking within 6 months. Cold turkey is the most effective way for long term smoking cessation. The key is that it often takes 3-5 attempts for it to work. The key is to not get down on yourself if you fail. Just work up the courage to try again and you WILL succeed.

Perhaps row a quick 2k every time you get the urge to smoke?

[Tim huges]

Not sure about erging and smoking, but I used to know a guy who smoked and did cross country mountain-biking. I distinctly remember him smoking a cigarette WHILE racing at Ashton Court near Bristol. I think he was doing it mainly for comedy value. Just give up...

Yeah i can see how that would be kinda funny! I know how disgusting and how incredibly damaging they are, cancers etc. But i carry on regardless, just goes to show how addictive they actually are...i mean they even have pictures on the packs to tell you! Even so, im building myself up to it.

[Tim huges]

@mitchel i think you are spot on, its tough but cold turkey seems sensible, grit your teeth and suck it up...an then its over with. I like to think im motivated enough.

Nice idea about the 2k when i get cravings, one way to get a new pb! Id be rowing 10 a day lol. Plus with all the money id save id be able to buy my own instead of having to walk 30min to get to my local crappy commercial gym.

Nice idea mitch!

[mitchel674]

@mitchel i think you are spot on, its tough but cold turkey seems sensible, grit your teeth and suck it up...an then its over with. I like to think im motivated enough.

Nice idea about the 2k when i get cravings, one way to get a new pb! Id be rowing 10 a day lol. Plus with all the money id save id be able to buy my own instead of having to walk 30min to get to my local crappy commercial gym.

Nice idea mitch!

Keep your chin up, Tim!

I'll get off my soap box now.

[Anth_F]

Not to make BS excuses but its such an ingrained habit and i have done my utmost best to quit in the past. Patches i quit for 6 months and i tried e cigerettes and stopped for 2years. Yet here i am smoking! I am building up to another effort, hence this post.

I used to smoke, for about 8 years. My mother and father as well, my father very heavy. They never could quit, it was just too difficult for them after many many years of it. I quit in 2006. I eventually started suffering bad anxiety and panic attacks when i smoked a cigarette... so it started making me smoke less and less and weened down to smoking a half cigarette per day then eventually to nothing. It was a lucky blessing in disguise for me tbh!!! I can't believe it now looking back that i used to smoke. Now just the smell makes me feel sick if someones smoking nearby.

Why would you start up again after 2 years off them?

[Tim huges]

I used to smoke, for about 8 years. My mother and father as well, my father very heavy. They never could quit, it was just too difficult for them after many many years of it. I quit in 2006. I eventually started suffering bad anxiety and panic attacks when i smoked a cigarette... so it started making me smoke less and less and weened down to smoking a half cigarette per day then eventually to nothing. It was a lucky blessing in disguise for me tbh!!! I can't believe it now looking back that i used to smoke. Now just the smell makes me feel sick if someones smoking nearby.

Why would you start up again after 2 years off them?

I was the same when i vaped for those 2 years, if i got a whiff of fag smoke i felt repulsed. I dont know why i started again in all honesty, i lost my job and went through a little rough patch. It was like an act of rebellion where i thought "sod it"...doesnt make much sense i know. I was drinking heavy and partying in other ways...was just a little phase that i got over but the smoking remained. Im glad you are over it, do you still get cravings all these years later?

[jackarabit]

Ciggy and pipe smoker 46 yrs, right thru 12 yrs. of mtb and road biking in the nineties and oughts. Did a half dozen century rides per yr. and a supported tour every summer. Smoked at every rest stop. Week in Tuscany with Andy Hampsten in Y2k. Smoked. Came home; contracted pneumonia in late June. Recovered. Burned my way thru a lot if 35$ cans of pipe baccy and name brand cigs in the next decade. By the time I retired in 2012, diagnosed with COPD and slowed down enuf to just plain quit (12 Aug. 2012). No more leaning on Nicorette gum, Welbutrin, etc. for a month or two and going back to the habit/addiction/coping crutch/time killer. Quit. Stayed quit but in the final period of the game. Angina in late 2013. Coronary arterial disease diagnised and arterial stent in March 14. Cardiac rehab and the C2 rower (started June 14) gave me back something reminiscient of a life worth living. One lucky old duck!!!

Please don’t send your life up in smoke! No matter how long you’ve smoked, quitting will improve the quality of the life you have left to live. That doesn’t give license for delay. Quit now today. JackG

[Anth_F]

I used to smoke, for about 8 years. My mother and father as well, my father very heavy. They never could quit, it was just too difficult for them after many many years of it. I quit in 2006. I eventually started suffering bad anxiety and panic attacks when i smoked a cigarette... so it started making me smoke less and less and weened down to smoking a half cigarette per day then eventually to nothing. It was a lucky blessing in disguise for me tbh!!! I can't believe it now looking back that i used to smoke. Now just the smell makes me feel sick if someones smoking nearby.

Why would you start up again after 2 years off them?

I was the same when i vaped for those 2 years, if i got a whiff of fag smoke i felt repulsed. I dont know why i started again in all honesty, i lost my job and went through a little rough patch. It was like an act of rebellion where i thought "sod it"...doesnt make much sense i know. I was drinking heavy and partying in other ways...was just a little phase that i got over but the smoking remained. Im glad you are over it, do you still get cravings all these years later?

Yeah wow... starting up again wasn't the best move was it. But i wish you the all the best with it in the future.

Nah i don't get any cravings for that!!! Whats really hard for me is cutting out the chocolate, and reducing the sugar in my coffee's and tea's. It's unbelievable haha!!! I cannot cut that stuff out. I eat very healthily for the most part, but i really like to have chocolate with my coffee or tea.

[Quatroux]

I knew a successful competitive soccer player that smoked a pack a day. I can't say they encountered any sudden increase in performance when they quit nor would they say they felt smoking ever held them back.
I do not know any competitive rowers that smoke other than recreational cigar or pipe smokers.

A response free from unsolicited advice! it is possible!!!

[Tim huges]

@anth tell me about it, the battle with the knife and fork is a difficult one. Im winning on that front...for now!

Thanks for the well wishes...need a week or two to gear myself up for "day zero"...but i feel its on the cards.

[jackarabit]

A response free from unsolicited advice! it is possible!!!

Yes, and smoke free will also get him to advice free. Smokers shouldn’t make book on their chances of life after suicide.