Smoking...or not smoking



Hassaan

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Sep 21, 2003
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Well, I would like to ask opinions about smoking and its effects on sporting activities (like cycling and swimming).

It is true that it decreases the stamina, but what if one is only puffing the smoke and not inhaling, and smoking not more than 5 or 6 cigaretts daily. Does that harm aswell?

And another thing...if anybody knows: Is it true that cigar and smoking pipe are far less harmful than cigaretts because they dont contain the smoke of paper (which has carbon mono-oxide)?
 
Originally posted by Hassaan
It is true that it decreases the stamina, but what if one is only puffing the smoke and not inhaling, and smoking not more than 5 or 6 cigaretts daily. Does that harm aswell?

I started to bicycle , as an adult, after smoking for over 20 years. After about a year of cycling I had a BIG decision to make... Do I quit smoking so I can become a better cyclist or do I continue at this level? It so happened that I wanted to do more in cycling than my smoking would allow and I quit. The best thing that I have done for myself in my life! When I finally quit, I had cut down a lot, I was only smoking your suggested 5 or 6 a day. Does that harm as well? YES!
What you are asking is permission to continue smoking and that is OK, you have my permission. But, I think you know the answer to your question and I wish you luck in your attempt to quit. It is difficult but if I can do it then anyone can!
 
Originally posted by Hassaan
It is true that it decreases the stamina, but what if one is only puffing the smoke and not inhaling, and smoking not more than 5 or 6 cigaretts daily. Does that harm aswell?

If you are only puffing then why smoke? You need to inhale the smoke to get the nasty stuff in your lungs and let the nicotene flow through your blood. If you smoke one or twenty a day, it is unhealthy. It takes only one cigarette to get addicted to nicotene...Yes only one...besides that, but did you know if you had to take the nicotene from one cigarette and injected it directly into the bloodstream, you would die :eek:

By smoking you are decreasing your body's capacity to move Oxygen through your body ... this in result means no oxygen to feed your muscles etc. Thus your stamina will decrease..

Originally posted by Hassaan
And another thing...if anybody knows: Is it true that cigar and smoking pipe are far less harmful than cigaretts because they dont contain the smoke of paper (which has carbon mono-oxide)?

No...they are also harmful as a cigarette...remember it takes one cigarette to get addicted ... your body gets immune to nicotene and you need more and more... A cigarette has a filter where as a cigar you get the burning leaves (tobaco) directly without a filter.

If you want to smoke there is no way, that what I say or do is going to stop you. All I can say is that it is not great to smoke, it does not decrease stress it increases it. It is filthy and expensive.. Don't believe me, go do some calculations. You WILL smoke 20 a day at some stage. That is about a packet. Take that and multiply it by the cost vs the number of days in a month, then a year then 30 years.

Now if you don't smoke yet, take that money and go buy a top of the range bike you want and forget about smoking..

As for me...I was stupid and after 7 years are still smoking ... trying to quit and I can feel the effects of smoking that it has on my cycling.

Hope this helps.
 
Well thankyou RalleighyOke...for warning me against smoking....I am not a smoker, really...but i was just thinking to start now. I have tasted smoking...but i dont agree with you that it just takes one cigarette to get addicted with nicotine. Because i have smoked 5 times in the last 4 months...but i dont think i have become addict. Anyway...i am going to be at arms lengh from smoking...after this. I think so.

And by the way...what do you think of 'using additional filter with the cigarette? You know what I mean? Does that prevent from all nicotine?
 
Originally posted by edlfrey
I started to bicycle , as an adult, after smoking for over 20 years. After about a year of cycling I had a BIG decision to make... Do I quit smoking so I can become a better cyclist or do I continue at this level? It so happened that I wanted to do more in cycling than my smoking would allow and I quit. The best thing that I have done for myself in my life! When I finally quit, I had cut down a lot, I was only smoking your suggested 5 or 6 a day. Does that harm as well? YES!
What you are asking is permission to continue smoking and that is OK, you have my permission. But, I think you know the answer to your question and I wish you luck in your attempt to quit. It is difficult but if I can do it then anyone can!

I sincerely hope you will take the time to answer this, because you were in the exact same boat I am in now, and you seem intelligent and not overbearing (I hate those "you're gonna die!!!!!" people who never directly answer any questions) so I would value your experience.

Once you quit, exactly what happened? What type and how much of performance increase did you see? Do you have records (distances/average speeds, etc) for the year before you quit and records from after?

Honestly I ask because I am not sure I want to quit. Many people have told me that I would never do well without quitting, and they were wrong. I have consistently improved and now ride with the rest of the pack (non-smokers) and at times continue to suprise them by staying glued to their six even when they are pushing 28+mph trying to shake me. Not saying I wouldnt do better, just saying that their lies about me not being able to keep up at all has tainted everything else they said.

Allan
 
I started cycling in college, mainly to get around. I also started smoking a pipe in college. I have since quit smoking pipes but I still have a nite out with the guys once a week, sometimes once every two weeks, where we meet at an irish pub, drink black and tans and smoke cigars.

Is it unhealthy, probably. Is it say, less health then sucking the fumes on my morning commute everyday. Who knows. I enjoy one and not the other.

I try to keep things in balance and not take things to extreme's(although my wife thinks I take cycling to extreme's). If one day my doctor tells me I'm a gonner do to the things I do now, then I'll look back fondly on how I lived my life.

JR
 
Originally posted by flea77
Once you quit, exactly what happened? What type and how much of performance increase did you see? Do you have records (distances/average speeds, etc) for the year before you quit and records from after?
Allan

Sorry, I don't have any of the before and after quantified data that your looking for. My experience is all subjective. This will probably end up a long rambling decription of that experience but here goes.
I'm a tourist, not a racer, and my first tour was 1 week 500 miles after I had been cycling for a little over a year. I was smoking up to the time of, and during, that tour. I struggled but enjoyed myself overall and that is when I decided that I would quit smoking; I had been cutting down prior to that. For my second tour I timed to start to be just days after my quit date; this was to be 3 weeks 1000 miles. I hacked and coughed up stuff during the first week that was not a pertty, but did three centuries with one of them at 146 miles. By the time I finished that tour I was a non-smoker and I have never looked back with any regret. For the next few years I did 3 week or longer tours each year that included one through the Rockies and along the Pacific Coast (that was my longest of 11 weeks and 4750 miles).
Could I have done all of these tours and continued to smoke? Possibly. Would I have enjoyed them as much? Probably not, if my first tour was any indication. I am now 60 years old and am starting to pick up my riding once again after being off the bike for a few years with the intent of doing some more long tours after I retire in 2-5 years. Woudl I have that same ability if I had not stopped smoking? I don't think so when I look at the physical condition of my age contemporaries.
Can you continue to smoke and still maintain high performance? Possibly, you may be one of the lucky ones; most of the general population can not do it. How long can you do it? Will stopping now allow you to do so longer? These are question that you need to consider.
Enough I'm sure. Good luck which ever way your decision takes you! ED
 
Hi Hassaan,

I have been meaning to reply to your post since I saw it last week. The following is a shameless plea for you NOT TO START SMOKING, because it is a nasty and obviously addictive habit that will be very hard to break (and you'll gain weight if you ever manage to do it!). I quit 3 months ago.

I began smoking at 22 ! Like you, I knew all the bad stuff about smoking. But after work (waitress at the time), I'd go hang out with my colleagues, and one night I bummed a smoke. Made my head spin, was pretty weird. No big deal.

Then on a slow night at work, bummed another. Same effects, except my body had already made a pleasure-association with the cigarette. Then I started bumming (asking someone for a cig) from time to time. Still, under control.

Then I went down to see some friends in Richmond, VA one week. They were smokers. Bummed one one day, three the next, four the next... So then I bought a pack.

ANd the rest is 13 years of history. Smelling like an ashtray, yellowing teeth, premature signs of aging, empty pocketbook.

Just don't do it. Don't give the cig. companies any of your money. It's a trap, you can fall in without realizing it. Ask any smoker, they'll all tell you, don't ever start smoking.

End of shameless plea.

Take care,
Sara

Originally posted by Hassaan
Well, I would like to ask opinions about smoking and its effects on sporting activities (like cycling and swimming).

It is true that it decreases the stamina, but what if one is only puffing the smoke and not inhaling, and smoking not more than 5 or 6 cigaretts daily. Does that harm aswell?

And another thing...if anybody knows: Is it true that cigar and smoking pipe are far less harmful than cigaretts because they dont contain the smoke of paper (which has carbon mono-oxide)?
 
Just a couple quick things to add. You asked if filters remove all the nicotine. They remove some along with tar which you can see after smoking the cigarette as the filter turns brown. However plenty will get through. Puffing is certainly still addictive as nicotine is very readily absorbed through the soft tissues of the mouth and throat, just like with cigars or chewing tobacco. Puffing will reduce lung damage and carbon monoxide intake initially. However, you'll likely just start inhaling as you become accustomed to smoke and your body begins to crave more and more nicotine. Also if it burns, it'll produce carbon monoxide, whether it's rolled in paper or not. I don't know if one cigarette is addictive, but continually have a few here and there and it very quickly does become addictive. As far as performance goes, my experience was just what the school athletic coaches and the doctor who help me quit said it would be. It didn't seem to hurt too much in my teens and early to mid twenties. However as I approached my thirties and hormone levels start to naturally drop I really began to lose my wind. The body just doesn't seem to be able to as readily repair the damage of smoking as you get older and youth slips away. Also, as this happens you get lazier and weight gain tends to set in and it just gets worse and worse. I finally quit six years ago and am fairly athletic now, but my friends who still smoke are in lousy shape now. A couple are showing the beginnings of heart diasease in their thirties, such as hypertension and easily getting winded. I don't want to sound like your mother but staying away would be a good idea. It's really hard to get away from this stuff when hooked, hence the very low success rates of quitters. Most people take several tries, a lot of money and lot of time to get away from tobacco. And many still end up back on the stuff, even years later. It's too bad becuase it's enjoyable to share with friends and gives a good buzz, but the long term effects really beat you up. Anyway, good luck in whatever you decide.
 
I am really amazed the way people condemn smoking and they are still doing it themselves. If people know its such a bad deal, why do they start smoking then. Well, that atleast disproves Adam Smith's idea of Rationality;

I did not think it is so disastrous as every other person around me was enjoying cigaretts, and I used to imagine and feel the eternal pleasure on their relaxed faces. Well but these mails made me scare really.
When I recently turned 22, I thought maybe the time has come to start the playful activity. And moreover it was the stress of studies and a little bit depression that was urging me to smoke...I had in my mind and I guess I still have that smoking relieves the mind to certain extent. Because I always examine people giving very calm looks while smoking, but ...I seldom thought of its after effects in the longrun.
But I feel I am not going to start smoking....dont scare me anymore. :)
 
Promise not to scare you anymore, although if it keeps you from smoking, it was worth it.

But to answer what you said about:

"am really amazed the way people condemn smoking and they are still doing it themselves. If people know its such a bad deal, why do they start smoking then. Well, that atleast disproves Adam Smith's idea of Rationality; "

smoing is HIGHLY ADDICTIVE. You get hooked and then you are already a smoker before you realize it. ANd addiction is not something you rationalize away. It is. When you're smoking the cig you longed for you can say "Okay, that's it, this is the last, no more..." But when you start "Jonesing" for it (the word for when your body begins to demand a substance) it takes a mountain of strength to resist. If it didn't, people wouldn't have such a hard time quitting cigs, or heroin, for that matter.

Don't start.

Sara :)
 
what about marijuna & cycling, i smoke 1 before every ride
i dont get dropped finish with the fastest guys, been smokin
it for 15 yrs. the myth about 1 joint is like smoking a pack of
cigs is a lie or all my buddys and myself would be dead.
i know a 83 year old lady smokes it been smokin it for 50 yrs
shes healthy as can be.
 
Originally posted by zaskar
what about marijuna & cycling, i smoke 1 before every ride
i dont get dropped finish with the fastest guys, been smokin
it for 15 yrs. the myth about 1 joint is like smoking a pack of
cigs is a lie or all my buddys and myself would be dead.
i know a 83 year old lady smokes it been smokin it for 50 yrs
shes healthy as can be.

All one has to do is read your post and they know everything they need to :)


Allan
 
Originally posted by zaskar
what about marijuna & cycling, i smoke 1 before every ride
i dont get dropped finish with the fastest guys, been smokin
it for 15 yrs. the myth about 1 joint is like smoking a pack of
cigs is a lie or all my buddys and myself would be dead.
i know a 83 year old lady smokes it been smokin it for 50 yrs
shes healthy as can be.

All I know about marijuana is that it may enhance vitality instantly but if one takes it consistently over the years, he will get old earlier and die earlier.
 
Originally posted by zaskar
what about marijuna & cycling, i smoke 1 before every ride
i dont get dropped finish with the fastest guys, been smokin
it for 15 yrs. the myth about 1 joint is like smoking a pack of
cigs is a lie or all my buddys and myself would be dead.
i know a 83 year old lady smokes it been smokin it for 50 yrs
shes healthy as can be.

I must disagree with one thing that you said and that is that a pack a day for 15 years will kill you. If you have been smoking 1 joint a day for 15 years then even if the "myth" (as you refer to it) is true, you have some years to go yet. However, I doubt seriously that you have smoked only 1 per day so the damage is going to be somewhat greater.

The odds are not in your favor to match or exced the 83 year old lady in longevity.

Good Luck.
 
Originally posted by edlfrey
I must disagree with one thing that you said and that is that a pack a day for 15 years will kill you. If you have been smoking 1 joint a day for 15 years then even if the "myth" (as you refer to it) is true, you have some years to go yet. However, I doubt seriously that you have smoked only 1 per day so the damage is going to be somewhat greater.

The odds are not in your favor to match or exced the 83 year old lady in longevity.

Good Luck.


yea its more then 1 a day, we all have to die of somthing
id rather be fit, watch what i eat and smoke a few.
thats got to be better then being fat eating junk all
day and being a couch potato, i should have more
longevity then the lazy fat ****, unless i get so stoned
i get hit by a car;)