SMOKERS PAGE
Exercise can help you to stop smoking and to minimize the weight gain
that many smokers fear. A study (Archives of Internal Medicine, June
14, 1999) found that exercise helped smokers to abstain from smoking
by easing stress and to reduce the anxiety about gaining weight
(weight gain was half the amount in the exercise group as compared to
non-exercisers).
To begin an exercise program, do the following:
- Check with your physician and get permission to start an aerobic
program.
- Start your program slowly and increase gradually. If, while
exercising, you're getting out of breath, slow down. Also, stop
exercising if you feel tightness in the chest or have other
cardiovascular problems.
- Increase your aerobic activity sessions at appropriate intervals
until you reach sessions of 45 to 60 minutes.
- Exercise three times a week.
- Read a book on smoking cessation for ideas on exercise, behavior
modification, and motivation.
Nicotine is a stimulant that increases nerve activity. It mimics the
action of the hormone epinephrine, a natural stimulant that causes
normal increases in heart rate and blood pressure. Research indicates
that after extensive use of nicotine, a smoker's heart becomes less
responsive to epinephrine when it orders the heart to speed up to
handle the extra demand of exercise. This impaired response can be
deadly.
The American Heart Association has reported that if your heart rate
fails to increase during exercise, you may have up to a five times
higher risk of heart attack or death than non-smokers with a normal
heart-rate response.