You lace up your trainers, press play on your gym playlist, and begin your workout. But within minutes, your chest starts to feel heavy. Breathing becomes difficult. Your legs cramp, your head spins, and the energy drains faster than expected.
If you’ve been a regular smoker, this is all too familiar. And it’s frustrating.
In this guide, we’ll help you build a healthy routine, plus offer an alternative option to satisfy your nicotine cravings.
How Does Smoking Affect
Smoking slows down your progress in every way, even if you work out, eat healthily, and get enough sleep.
Research conducted by the NHS claims that smoking makes your heart work harder during exercise. It also causes your arteries to tighten, which slows down how fast your body heals after training.
Smoking affects your workout in multiple ways, including the following:
● People who smoke are more likely to get colds, infections, and wounds that take a long time to heal, which makes it hard to stay consistent.
● When you smoke, your body doesn't use energy as well. No matter how good your diet is, it implies it will be harder to lose weight or gain muscle.
● After an exercise, your muscles require blood that is rich in oxygen to heal. Cigarettes let off carbon monoxide, which competes with oxygen and slows down the process.
● Blood flow is limited, which affects performance and even mental focus while training.
Want to see progress? Stop smoking and let your workout finally pay off.
How to Quit Smoking
Quitting cigarettes isn’t easy, especially if they’ve been part of your daily life for years. But it is possible, and doing it in stages is more effective than going cold turkey.
Here is a simple step-by-step plan for you to get started:
|
Week |
Goal |
What to Do |
|
Week 1 |
Cut Down Gradually |
Count how many cigarettes you smoke a day. Reduce by a third. Start using an alternative device (like an Oxva or Vaporesso vape kit) to fill in gaps. |
|
Week 2 |
Replace More Cigarettes with Vaping |
Vape through the cravings instead. |
|
Week 3 |
Drop Cigarettes Completely |
Stop smoking. Use your vape device when cravings hit. Make sure your e-liquid has the right strength. |
|
Week 4 |
Lower Nicotine if Ready |
If things feel stable, drop your vape’s nicotine strength slightly. |
Note: Public Health England reported that e-cigarettes are at least 95% less harmful than tobacco products. One reason: vape aerosol doesn’t contain tar, and switching reduces carbon monoxide levels in the blood. That means your red blood cells can start delivering oxygen more efficiently.
Does Quitting Really Improve Performance
Absolutely. Your body is remarkably good at repairing itself when you give it a chance.
Within 2 weeks of quitting smoking:
● Circulation improves
● Lung function begins to recover
● Oxygen levels in your blood normalise
By the 3-month mark, lung capacity can improve by up to 30%. That’s like going from a 4-cylinder to a V6 engine. You’ll notice it on the track, in the gym, or during your lunchtime walks.
What Happens When You Quit? Quick Overview
Here’s a quick timeline of what your body starts doing the moment you stop smoking:
|
Time Since Last Cigarette |
What Happens |
|
20 minutes |
Heart rate drops to normal |
|
12 hours |
Carbon monoxide levels drop; oxygen rises |
|
2 weeks–3 months |
Lung function improves, and circulation increases |
|
1–9 months |
Coughing and shortness of breath reduce |
|
1 year |
Heart disease risk halves |
Wrapping Up
Want to run a faster 5K? Cycle longer without gassing out?
Non-smokers outperform smokers across all athletic benchmarks (source: Mayo Clinic). The difference gets bigger as you get older, in your 30s, 40s, and beyond. Most individuals already lose fitness as they become older, and smoking makes this happen faster. You slow that curvature down if you quit now. You offer yourself extra years of strength, vitality, and performance.
So, start your journey today.
Get your diary, plan, and vape kit ready. Make sure to buy your alternative vaping device from a reliable and licensed vape store that offers TPD-compliant products. Also, buy the ones that are registered on the MHRA’s official website, to ensure they are safe.