Cigarettes

[.V.]

We all know the health risks of smoking. But the thing that hasn't been mentioned as far as smoking related to bodybuilding is it reduces nitrogen retention. This slows down muscle growth, reduces the "pump", and generally makes you look smaller.

See, your grandma was right, smoking will stunt your growth.

Now if I was just man enough to lay them down.

[m@xpower]

another victim of tabacoo company.

[.V.]

Originally Posted by m@xpower

another victim of tabacoo company.

Nope, another victim of making a bad personal choice. A really bad one...but the smoker has no one to blame but themselves. No one has ever held a gun to my head and made me light one up. If I don't succeed on one of my many failed attempts at quitting, It'll be my own fault when I'm dead.

[akuma]

Originally Posted by a_welch503

Nope, another victim of making a bad personal choice. A really bad one...but the smoker has no one to blame but themselves. No one has ever held a gun to my head and made me light one up. If I don't succeed on one of my many failed attempts at quitting, It'll be my own fault when I'm dead.

Well until you do quit, my doc said a smoker needs to take in an extra 25mg of C for every cig you smoke in addition to what you normally take.At least try to minimize the damage being done till you do the right thing.

[threenorns]

i quit 3 packs a day of John Player Special back in '97.

cold turkey.

it's the ONLY way that works - to use crutches and props just gives yourself a way out. going through withdrawal is the price you pay for better health.

[eric]

Originally Posted by RuNaWaY

i was wonderin how much of a negative effect cigarettes have on lifting does anyone know?

You substantially increase the possibility that you will die early.

[threenorns]

Originally Posted by RuNaWaY

i was wonderin how much of a negative effect cigarettes have on lifting does anyone know?

depends what it is you want lifted. i found this on another site:

* Give up butts. "Absolutely do not smoke--that just clenches down on your blood vessels and prevents them from being reactive," he says. Smoking restricts penile bloodflow and weakens erections, making smokers twice as likely to experience erectile dysfunction.

[jimmyv]

Some anecdotal evidence for ya:

I quite smoking January 2, 2005. In the past 8.5 months, I have gained more strength than I ever have before.

Now, I suspect that most of my strength gains come from also lifting with greater consistency than I ever did when I smoked -- it's hard to say whether the actual effects of the cigarettes were screwing me up, or how much the effects were secondary. But suffice it to say that it's hard to get psyched up for a workout of heavy squats when you know that you're going to be ridiculously dizzy and heaving for air halfway through your warmup sets.