Two of the most dangerous substances for athletes, and those who work out to keep fit, who smoke are tar and carbon monoxide. Together they can ruin your chances of physical health and strength because they limit your ability to build muscle, make you feel more tired and out of breath, and lower your physical stamina. A bout of research on Electronic Cigarette Tree revealed that e-cigarettes are not manufactured with either of these chemicals, or any of the other 4000 chemical in tobacco cigarettes that can affect your attempts at building your body and maintaining health and fitness. They are also available without nicotine so you can be sure that all that is going into your body is water vapor.
In short smoking decreases the amount of oxygen in your body and increases your airway resistance and, for those who are interested in staying healthy this means an adverse effect on your fitness routine. For fitness training you need optimal oxygen uptake and it is the responsibility of the lungs to transfer oxygen to the blood so the muscles can use it to provide the energy demanded by physical exercise. If your muscles do not have the energy they need your energy levels drop, your endurance suffers and you will tire more easily.
The reason that smoking affects oxygen levels is because of carbon monoxide. In order for oxygen to be transported around the body it has to attach itself to hemoglobin in your red blood cells but hemoglobin has more of an affinity for carbon monoxide and is chemically attracted to it. Carbon monoxide will take preference over oxygen in a smoker’s body and they will receive less oxygen as a result.
In terms of increasing airway resistance, it is tar that affects smokers the most. Tar is a sticky substance when inhaled and it attaches itself to the lining of the lungs, preventing oxygen from being absorbed and affecting the rate at which it moves in and out, which is referred to as airway resistance.
By eliminating these two chemicals you have a better chance of improving your fitness. For people who have smoked for many years and are too deeply entrenched in their habits to think about giving up cold turkey, e-cigarettes offer a support line by enabling you to carry on with the physical act of smoking but allow you to eliminate the chemicals from the process. Many people have found electronic cigarettes can bridge the path to quitting while others continue to use them, inhaling only water vapor, and rebuilding their body’s health in the process.