smoking cigs & steroids

[james_trudee]

Before I started my cycle I was smoking close to 8 cigs a day. I planned to quit cold turkey when I started this cycle but was unable to. I have cut down to 2-3 cigs/day sometimes taking 2-3 days off without them. My question is what effects does smoking have while body building, is the amount I'm smoking now greatly going to effect my gains.

[HawaiianPride.]

The smoking you did prior to your cycle will probably hinder your cardiovascular performance. Cutting down is better then nothing.

[D7M]

A couple cigs a day are not going to effect your gains,

but, yah, quitting is the best choice.

[jonny-69]

and smoking?

[MACHINE5150]

and smoking Edited

same thing.. you ever watch Pumping Iron?? Arnold smokes a joint in it.. a lot of body builders do it to help appetite and sleeping... myself included

[D7M]

and smoking ?

Edit your post please,

no Rec drug talk allowed.

[jonny-69]

well alrighty then!

[HawaiianPride.]

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=368651

[TKO Performance]

Back to the topic at hand, I agree that cutting down is better than nothing, but as a reformed smoker myself be aware of the dangers of this. Every time I did this it took me back to when I'd first started smoking a cigarette or two when I was like 14. The romance came back, and within a month I was back up to a pack a day, or more.

The best way to stop smoking is cold turkey IMO. That's what finally stuck for me, and I've been smoke free for over ten years now. I don't knock the gum, the patch, hypnosis, or any other method; hey, whatever gets you off of them. I have simply found that cold turkey has the lowest incidence of relapse. At the levels your smoking now it shouldn't be a big deal if you really are committed to quitting. If you're not committed don't waste your time. You'll just relapse if you quit for the wrong reason. You have to get to a point where you despise what you're doing to yourself and know that quitting will be hard, but that it's worth whatever it takes to rid your life of the addiction.

Will it affect your gains? Not in the quantity you're doing. Nicotine is not the problem, and actually has been found to have a positive affect on cardiac muscle. It's the tar and fiberglass and other toxins you're clogging up your lungs with. That's going to hinder lung function, which reduces the amount of oxygen that can get into your blood, which will put you into anerobic cell respiration sooner. Translation: you'll tire out faster and won't be able to push as hard. Still, I've seen some smokers i really good shape, myself included, but I always have to wonder how much better shape they'd be in if they didn't smoke.

[AlphaMaleDawg]

cigarettes have no effect on gains the in the gym, only cardio

[HawaiianPride.]

Hindered cardiovascular health has correlation to your performance and work out put in the gym.

[TKO Performance]

I don't know if that is 100% true. I'd like to see a study done to verify this. I certainly was plenty strong when I did smoke, but my knowledge of diet and proper training was terrible. I did supplement with creatine, but nothing else, not even vitamins. This was in my teens and early 20s.

Years later I became much stronger, but I had learned proper diet, training and supplementation (and the supplements had gotten better).

Would my results have been the same had I not quit smoking? I can't say with any certainty. I will say this though, when you're young your body can tolerate a lot more abuse without much ill affect. As you get older you lose some of that ability.

[HawaiianPride.]

It's true to an extent. Maybe not with everyone, but I've seen it personally with people I have trained, friends, and myself.

I'm not a smoker (anymore). So I can compare the way I use to train with the way I do now.

I can tell you this... I could in no way go for straight 1.5 hours doing super sets left and right the way I was smoking back then, compared to now. If your cardio is crap, and you go up against someone who has never smoked and does cardio outside of bodybuilding, who is going to last longer in a training session? I'm not talking about strength gains here, I'm talking about endurance while your bodybuilding.

From my experience, I would have to take prolonged breaks between each set just to catch my breath when I smoked. I will agree, it never hindered my strength, but it sure as hell made my workouts a lot tougher.

Now I can bang out sets with minimum rest between, running from machine to machine, getting my training session done and feeling great walking out the door when I'm finished. I could not do that back when I smoked. Just wasn't possible.

So yes, there is a correlation to your cardiovascular health, and bodybuilding in general.

[james_trudee]

Sounds like quitting cold turkey is my best option. Any tips/advice quitting? I tried out the nicorette inhaler which definitely helped out with my cravings. But I still crave the smoking aspect. I've been told its all mental but any tips would be appreciated.

[sixey]

i know plenty of guys who smoke and still do fine in the gym...but smoking will eventually have a negative effect on bloodflow/circulation. for bodybuilding, that can be a big setback, that blood needs to be flowing fast and smooth to carry the nutrients and everything else to the muscles. quitting is up to you, but its in your best interests for general health and life extension...and also maxing out your gym performance and muscle gains to come

[sixey]

Sounds like quitting cold turkey is my best option. Any tips/advice quitting? I tried out the nicorette inhaler which definitely helped out with my cravings. But I still crave the smoking aspect. I've been told its all mental but any tips would be appreciated.

i dont have much experience with this kind of thing...but if it were me, i would find a website that just showcases pictures and stories of all the terrible shit smoking does to your body. pictures of black lungs, people with breathing tubes, cancer, etc. it will be grim as hell to look at, but if you force yourself to look at that at least once everyday, when you have a craving you'll think back to that terrible stuff and be like "hell noooo" and toss the butt away.

tough love and the shock factor, kick it quick and hard. good luck man

[cherrydrpepper]

My dads neighbor died of lung desease. He weighed less than 90 lbs when he died. It aint no good way to check out. I recommend quitting.

[TKO Performance]

Like I said, cold turkey is a bitch, there is no easy way. I recommend making up your mind, I mean really making up your mind. Get into the mindset that you are going to accomplish it, no matter what. Then, set a Monday as your quit day. If they can still smoke in bars where you live stay away for a couple months if you're a bar fly. If you have friends that smoke stay away, or if impossible ask them not to smoke in front of you. You need to reduce the triggers that mentally cause you to smoke. You have to treat this like a drug addiction, which it is, and the key step to overcoming any drug addiction is to change your behavior and associations.

I'm not a big fan of nicotine replacement. You are prolonging an addiction unnecessarily. It only takes two weeks for your body to resume normal seratonin production, which is why you get withdrawl in the first place. My advice is tough out the two weeks. After that it's all mental. Truthfully it's all mental. I still had intermittent cravings for two years after I quit. I'd have dreams that I was smoking and wake up pissed at myself. It tapered off over that two year period, but I don't think I was really out of the woods until year three. Now it's been so long that I have no desire to smoke, and my hypersensitivity to the smell makes it unpleasant to be around anyone who is smoking. I can smell cigarette smoke in my car with the windows closed when a person is smoking three cars in front of me stopped at a traffic light. No BS.

Good luck with it. If you need any other info/advice post back or PM me.

[scotty51312]

Smoking also raises blood pressure, stack that with a couple different compounds that raise BP as well (test, EQ, Drol etc) and you put yourself at higher risk for stroke and heart disease in the long run IMO

[dec11]

i smoked for 16yrs and am off em almost 8yrs now. i got alot stronger and bigger within a year of quitting and my energy seemed endless. knock em on the head if you can, they strangle your body. i hate the fvckn things now, disgusting.

[TTexas]

Chantix... its a insane drug on.y by rx. It was given to me by my dr. I had no desire to quit but I started aking it as directed and I didn't even notice that I would go all damn day without a smaoke.
Just something to check into. Its a bit expensive but insurance covers it.

[james_trudee]

I live in Canada

Thanks all for the info

[stevey_6t9]

i enjoy a ciggy every now and then, hey markus ruhl smokes.... but he will live for another 5 years lol

[dieseljimmy]

Chantix... its a insane drug on.y by rx. It was given to me by my dr. I had no desire to quit but I started aking it as directed and I didn't even notice that I would go all damn day without a smaoke.
Just something to check into. Its a bit expensive but insurance covers it.

Chantix is the shit. worked like a charm for me. also gave my very lucid dreams. I have recommended it everyone I know that smokes. plus food more tasty without cigs. However I still want one everytime I have a cup of coffee or any other heavy stimulate

[jojomcgo]

Sounds like quitting cold turkey is my best option. Any tips/advice quitting? I tried out the nicorette inhaler which definitely helped out with my cravings. But I still crave the smoking aspect. I've been told its all mental but any tips would be appreciated.

I have just stopped smoking about a month ago myself and what i find is that having some thing on you like gum helps me out alot pluss i keep some hard candy in my car i have heard that some suger and choclate can help by releaseing feel good hormones from the brain much in the same way that working out does so far it seems to be working but no lie it's sh!tty when you first stop ..plus i did what you did i din't just stop cold turkey i cut down first by the time i did decide to stop smoking all the way i was only smoking like 2 cigs a day i think that helped alot IMO.

ps. like i said it's only been a month but i do feel better and more healthy.

[TKO Performance]

What I found wasn't how good and healthy I felt after quitting, but rather how shitty I'd felt for the years I smoked. I also went from a pack a day to none cold turkey. I was a miserable SOB for about two weeks, but hey, it worked.

[Ashop]

Before I started my cycle I was smoking close to 8 cigs a day. I planned to quit cold turkey when I started this cycle but was unable to. I have cut down to 2-3 cigs/day sometimes taking 2-3 days off without them. My question is what effects does smoking have while body building, is the amount I'm smoking now greatly going to effect my gains.

You know the answer already. Smoking is bad for you period. It kills millions yearly. Its great you have cut back and tapered off,,,sooner or later you will be smoke free.

[jack85]

Blood is a vehicle for delivering oxygen and nutrients to our body's tissues and organs. Without it they die. Our blood vessels (circulatory system) are the piping highways in which our blood flows,The more and longer you smoke, the higher percentage of carbon monoxide is in your blood. Resulting in less oxygen and nutrients to your muscle cells.

[james_trudee]

Well i'm going to quit next week starting monday cold turkey.

I have my mind set this time though, I hate how im smoking while on this cycle. I've already gained 10 lbs in 2 weeks and just wondering how much better training would be with the better oxygen flow.

Darts a thing of the past

[bigboomer]

Well i'm going to quit next week starting monday cold turkey.

I have my mind set this time though, I hate how im smoking while on this cycle. I've already gained 10 lbs in 2 weeks and just wondering how much better training would be with the better oxygen flow.

Darts a thing of the past

By far from personal experience I feel a thousand times better not smoking and working out..I used to be the guy walking up to the gym smoking before I went in and getting to my car lighting one up..I know! How Fu@king stupid but that was me..and I was cycling during all this too..I just got to the point were it made no sense to smoke anymore.Money,health,workouts..etc..I did after a couple months feel that I was able to train way harder without getting shortness of breath..that's about it, but that's a world of difference in the gym..Cold turkey for me was the only way. It's all mental man, just DO IT!! A few smokes a day may not be a big deal, but why train hard, diet hard, and then continue to smoke? Anyways jmo, best of luck to you..

[SnaX]

Good sh!t bigboomer!

@ james_trudee. Be as healthy as you can be.
Whatever mind tricks it takes to overcome that, do it. You owe it to yourself.

[TKO Performance]

By far from personal experience I feel a thousand times better not smoking and working out..I used to be the guy walking up to the gym smoking before I went in and getting to my car lighting one up..I know! How Fu@king stupid but that was me..and I was cycling during all this too..I just got to the point were it made no sense to smoke anymore.Money,health,workouts..etc..I did after a couple months feel that I was able to train way harder without getting shortness of breath..that's about it, but that's a world of difference in the gym..Cold turkey for me was the only way. It's all mental man, just DO IT!! A few smokes a day may not be a big deal, but why train hard, diet hard, and then continue to smoke? Anyways jmo, best of luck to you..

Yup, I was that guy too. When I was training for wrestling I used to go on an 8 mile run, come home, and within ten minutes light one up. I beat several guys with my endurance as well, because we'd get into the third period and I'd still have gas in the tank, but they were spent. I think now how much better I'd have been if I had quit, or never started. The dumb stuff you do when you're a teenager...

[lovbyts]

Also it's damn expensive, $75 a carton? My last trip to the Philippines on my way back in Japan I bought 6 cartons of cigs at $24 a carton to re sell here. hehehehehe

I use to smoke but when I got back into working out I quit cold turkey. I think I have had one since then. I dont like anything that I have a craving for and feel like it has a hold of my life or will power.... except sex...

[NMacFar]

I recently quit myself. Smoking cigarettes burns a few hundred calories a day plus its an appetite suppressant. Those two alone should be red flags for BB's. Not to mention the loss of oxygen through your body to help feed your muscles.

[Wilburn Adam]

If a guy is responsible, and has the desire to take steroids why should the government say you shouldn't? i mean they let us smoke cigs and drink alcohol which is bad for you so why can't we take steroids? if we know the risks i think its personal choice, besides it's not a drug that gets you mentally messed up, it can mess with you a little but nowhere near alcohol