How often do you see elite athletes smoking on the sidelines?

Probably never.  This is because sports people care about their health and fitness and most know cigarette smoking is detrimental to their performance.

 

People who smoke are less likely to participate in sport and physical activity.

When smokers do play sport, poisons from cigarettes reduce their ability to perform.  The poisons that really hurt sports performance are carbon monoxide, nicotine and tar.

 

Carbon monoxide causes:

• Swelling of the respiratory tract lining, which makes the passageway smaller.  So a smoker has to breathe harder to get air into the lungs.
• Reduced availability of oxygen.  Instead of delivering oxygen to the muscles the red blood cells are carrying carbon monoxide and poisonous gas.
• Reduced ability of muscle cells to take up oxygen.  This means that muscles don’t function as well and sports performance is reduced.
• Damaged vision.

 

Nicotine causes:

• Increased heart rate, which means the smoker’s heart has to work much harder to produce the same effect as a non-smoker’s heart.
• Constriction of blood vessels, leading to reduced blood flow and increased blood pressure.

 

Tar causes:

• Reduced elasticity of the lungs, resulting in less air being breathed in and out.
  

 

During exercise, smokers:

• Are more easily exhausted.
• Suffer shortness of breath.
• Have reduced endurance.
• Are slower to react.
• Have poor visual judgement.

 

BENEFITS OF QUITTING SMOKING: Within one to two days, carbon monoxide and nicotine will be cleared from the body.  After one month, blood pressure returns to normal and lung function improves.  After three months, the lungs are able to clean themselves and blood flow improves.