Does smoking hinder your progress from weight lifting? Do cigarettes influence your muscle gains & endurance negatively? Would you get better results if you quit smoking or can you get away with it?

I was a smoker for 10 years and quit smoking more than 3 years ago. This post will give you my experience before and after I quit. As well as how I finally quit smoking cold turkey after many failed attempts, and how you can too.

My Story. I smoked the 1st time age 15. Smoked more & more by the time I got 18. Then quit when I got into lifting because I suddenly couldn’t stand the taste anymore. Took up smoking age 21. This time more than before.

I was a weekend smoker: 1 pack/night during weekends, nothing on weekdays. After many failed attempts, I finally quit smoking cold turkey April 2006. I have never smoked since and will never again.

Why I Quit Smoking. I believe some people can handle cigarettes better than others. But I wasn’t made for it. While strength training & cardio never seemed to suffer, things were different health-wise.

• Sinus Infections. I had constant colds & sinus infections. Especially after nights out — during which I smoked 1 pack in 8 hours.
• Asthma. My lungs began to peep age 23. This turned into asthma 2 years later. I often couldn’t breathe after a night out smoking.

The onset of asthma scared me into quitting smoking. Here’s a quote from the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca, who suffered from asthma:

I’ve been visited by all the troublesome or dangerous complaints there are, and none of them, in my opinion, is more unpleasant than this one – which is hardly surprising, is it, when you consider that with anything else you’re merely ill, while with this you’re constantly at your last gasp? This is why doctors have nicknamed it “rehearsing death” [..]

- Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, Letter LIV.

How I Quit Smoking. I was never able to quit smoking using willpower. Then I read Allen Carr’s book. He made me understand why each time I quit smoking, I felt as if I was missing on something.

Willpower doesn’t work. You have to understand your smoking behavior and be honest with yourself. Once you do, you’ll quit cold turkey. I didn’t use gums and I didn’t gain weight. And I never smoked again.

• Understand You’re Addicted. You aren’t controlling smoking anymore. The cigarettes are controlling you. You’re slave to it.
• Understand Why You Smoke. Usually boredom, stress and relaxation. Smoking doesn’t help any of these at all.
• Understand You Won’t Miss Anything. Stop smoking and you’ll gain health, freedom, confidence, happiness, self-respect, …

3 Years Later. My lungs no longer peep, asthma disappeared and I don’t have sinus infections anymore. But when I’m in situations in which I used to smoke, I sometimes have this voice in the back of my head telling me to smoke.

I guess that’s because it takes time to replace the old situations in which you used to smoke by new ones in which you’re now non-smoker. Whatever it is: I don’t feel like I’m missing on anything.

Health Effects of Smoking. You know smoking is unhealthy. But you also know that next cigarette won’t kill you. You have to experience the health effects of smoking to become aware of what you’re doing to yourself.

That’s why bombarding you with the health effects of smoking is useless: you know them and they won’t make you stop. I’m doing it anyway, just in case.

• Slows Down Muscle Building. Smoking increases your cortisol levels and interrupts the absorption of proteins, vitamins & minerals.
• Wrecks Immune System. You’ll be sick more often. This influences your progress since you might miss workouts or not train at full intensity.
• Reduces Oxygen Availability. Smoking limits absorption & distribution of oxygen. This affects your endurance.
• Increases Risk of Death. Increases risks of lung cancer and of heart attacks, increases blood pressure, blocks arteries, …
• And Much More. Smoking ages your body and face, is addictive, ends up controlling you, … For more info, read this.

Why You Smoke. You probably started because your friends/parents smoked or out of curiosity. But smoking quickly became a bad habit you couldn’t control anymore. And now you probably smoke for these 2 reasons:

• Boredom. There’s nothing interesting about a cigarette. You don’t need to hold something in your hands. Get busy with constructive things.
• Relaxation. Nicotine is a stimulant: smoking increases blood pressure. You can’t relax from smoking cigarettes.

Get Allen Carr’s book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. You’ll understand your smoking behavior by reading it.

Wrong Ways to Quit Smoking. One reason why you struggle to quit smoking, is that you were brainwashed into thinking that it’s hard. It’s not. Here are some common but wrong ways to quit smoking:

• Patches & Gum. The withdrawal period lasts up to 3 weeks. Patches & gums take care of your cravings, but don’t change your thinking.
• Cutting Down. Going from 1 pack/day to half a pack will increase your cravings for cigarettes. You’ll want to smoke more.
• Willpower. You won’t succeed at quitting smoking forever as long as you believe you’re missing on something by doing so.

How to Quit Smoking for Good. Allen Carr’s book is key. Check Amazon: +500 reviews, 5 stars. Carr’s method has a 90% success rate. But it only works if you read the book from front to cover with full attention.

• Get Allen Carr’s Material. Read Stop Smoking. Then listen to the audio version for 30mins for 30 days (while driving car or preparing breakfast)
• Don’t Force It. You don’t have to quit smoking yet. Study Allen Carr’s material. It will make you understand your smoking behavior and quit.
• Exercise. You’ll tend to stick better to your diet. It will also help making the decision to stop smoking. Check StrongLifts 5×5.
• Decide to Stop. Once you’re ready to quit smoking, quit. Cold turkey. No patches, no gums, no cutting down. Just quit.
• Never Smoke Again. You’re a non-smoker for the rest of your life. Never ever have another cigarette again.

If you don’t quit, you didn’t finish Allen Carr’s book or didn’t read it attentively. I recommend the audiobook too, so you really get the material drilled down. Be consistent with it for 30 days and you will quit smoking.

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Forum member Beast posted in StrongLifts.com Forum:

If you don’t do any sort of cardio, when doing exercises such as Squats you may hit failure (depending on fitness level) not from the muscle but by breathing, you will find you can’t lift the weight again because your body can’t supply the necessary oxygen.

As member johnnyo replied: “Running will never help you squat more, thats just plain silly.” I already explained how strength training increases cardiovascular fitness. This time I give you practical examples, to make you think.

Remember Your 1st Time. First time 5×5 Squats with empty bar might have got you out of breath. Maybe even body-weight Squats were hard. But you persisted and 2 months later you were Squatting 130lbs/60kg for 5×5.

Warming-up with an empty bar is now a joke. Same with body-weight Squats. You can probably Squat 88lbs/40kg for 15 to 20 reps in a row while you were struggling with that same weight for 5×5 a few weeks earlier.

More Strength is More Endurance. If you can Squat 130lbs/60kg for 5×5, you can Squat 40kg for 20 reps. Increase your Squat to 220lbs/100kg for 5×5, and you can Squat 130lbs/60kg for 20 reps.

Of course 20 rep Squats feel easier if you do it regularly. That’s were specificity comes in. But the principle remains: increase your maximal strength on the Squat, and lower weights – including body-weight – Squats will feel easier.

Watch this video of strongman Jesse Marunde doing a 20 rep Squat. Try to get this kind of intensity doing a 3 mile run.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Take Home Message. This doesn’t meant you shouldn’t do any cardio. If you need endurance for sports or need to lose fat: include cardio. But if you’re only interested in strength and overall health:

• Increase your Squat from 1x BW to 2x BW. Compare how 20 reps with 1x BW and 50 body-weight Squats feel a lot easier.
• Increase your Squat from 1x BW to 2x BW. Notice how your vertical jump increases as your Squat increases.
• Increase your Squat from 1x BW to 2x BW. Running 3 miles with your own body-weight will feel much easier.

You may have never thought of it, but every athletic endurance endeavor is really nothing more than a series of submaximal efforts. – Eric Cressey

By the way, no offence to forum member Beast. I’m often wrong and don’t know everything. Beast isn’t supposed to know everything neither. So no flaming.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Why Do You Get Acne? When skin oil clogs your hair follicles, bacterias multiply. You then get white or blackheads. Plugs can rupture, inflaming the surrounding tissues. Several things can cause excess skin oil:

• Change in Hormones. Puberty, stress, menstrual periods, birth control pills, and yes weight lifting can increase the production of skin oil.
• Drugs. Corticosteroids and androgens. But also anabolic steroids. Check the back of someone using steroids: you’ll always find acne.
• Cosmetics. Hypoallergenic means nothing. Products claiming to get you clear skin often aggravate your problems.
• Diet. Milk, cheese, whey, starches, shellfish, chocolate, sugars, sweets, soda, spicy & fried foods, …
• Digestion. If your digestive system can’t clear toxins, your skin will be forced to do the job. Constipation or loose stool are symptoms.

Strength Training & Acne. If you have acne break outs since starting strength training, they’re usually caused by 2 things:

• Change in Hormones. Weight lifting increases your testosterone levels. This can increase the production of skin oil, causing acne.
• Change in Diet. Whey, cheese, milk, oats, breads, … are staples of lifters’ diet. Eating more of these foods can also cause acne.

How to Get Rid of Acne. There’s clearly a link between weight lifting and acne. You can’t do much about it. However you can control acne by improving your diet, digestion and much more. Some ideas:

• Eat Healthier. Anything that you didn’t prepare yourself or that comes out of a box: stop eating it. Buy whole foods and prepare them yourself.
• Drink Water. 1 US gallon/4 liter per day. That’s 2 cups with every meal, assuming you eat 6 meals per day. This will help your digestion.
• Get Fiber. Green veggies, fruits, oats, brown rice, whole grain pasta, flax seeds, … You need 25g fiber/daily for a healthy digestive system.
• De-stress. You get enough stress from weight lifting. De-stress in other areas. Fix problems instead of caring and worrying.
• Take Zinc. Zinc is the most important skin nutrients. But most people have zinc deficiency. Take a zinc supplement, at least 30mg per day.
• Eat Fish. Reduces inflammation, including skin inflammation. Eat fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines, … Or take a fish oil supplement.
• Quit Using Cosmetics. Most aren’t helping anyway. Look into natural skin treatment. Natural jojoba oil with tea tree extract could help.
• Get a Better Shave. Move to wet shaving using quality products like Musgo Real. Or trim for a while. Or grow a beard.
• Tan. Tanning gets rid of many skin conditions. Sun is life, check plants. Get some sun exposure. No burning, tanning.

Medication. Accutane, benzoyl peroxide, erythromycin, … They can get rid of acne, but they also have side-effects. Heavy medication will stress your liver. For the majority of people, simply fixing your diet will get rid of acne.

Think of it: 100 years ago, there weren’t the kind of acne’s you see to day. The increased consumption of junk food is to blame. Treat causes, not symptoms. Get your diet in check before looking into drugs.

Cleansing Diet. Remove anything that causes food sensitiveness: dairy, oats, breads, shellfish, nuts, soy, … Reintroduce foods 1 by 1 after 2 weeks. This cleansing diet is adapted from “Healing Skin Disorders”

• Breakfast: rice porridge
• Snack: sweet potato, rice cakes
• Lunch: fish, steamed vegetables rice
• Snack: yam, rice cakes
• Dinner: chicken breast, spinach, quinoa
• Lots of water, flax seeds, fish oil

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

Do you need long distance running or jogging on top of weight lifting for healthy heart & lung function? Do you need aerobic training to improve cardiovascular fitness if you do weight lifting? Or is weight lifting enough?

If you’ve done 5×5 Squats with 1.5x your body-weight, you know your heart worked as hard as your legs. The stronger you get the stronger your muscles, your joints, but also your heart becomes. This post will explain why.

Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Exercise. Aerobic exercises use lipids (fats) with oxygen for energy. Anaerobic exercise use ATP-PC or glycolisis (carbs) for energy. That’s one of the reasons you need to eat carbs.

Short, high intensity sports like weight lifting, sprints, MMA are anaerobic. Long, low-intensity sports like jogging, walking, marathons are aerobic. You can find an overview of the energy systems used in sports here.

The Cardiovascular System. Your cardiovascular system is composed of your heart, blood & blood vessels. Some of its tasks include:

• Moving nutrients to/from cells and returning waste from cells
• Carrying oxygenated blood from your heart to your body/lungs
• Returning deoxygenated blood to your heart

Cardiovascular Fitness. Has nothing to do with endurance. It means having a healthy cardiovascular system: healthy heart & long function. Cardiovascular fitness decreases risks of cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure.

Cardiovascular fitness also helps recovery between sets & workouts. Increasing your cardiovascular fitness improves oxygen & nutrients supply to your muscles, but also waste removal from your muscles.

Image credit: Healthwise

Cardiovascular Adaptations to Weight Lifting. Your left ventricle pumps blood to your body. Your right ventricle pumps blood to your lungs. Here’s what happens when you do weight lifting.

• Muscle contractions compress blood vessels.
• This increases resistance to blood flow and thus blood pressure.
• Heart must pump harder to supply blood to your muscles & rest of body.

The stronger you become, the more muscle you’ll have. The muscular wall of your left ventricle will thicken so your heart can deal with the increased blood pressure. This is how weight lifting improves your cardiovascular fitness.

Do You Need Aerobic Exercise? Weight lifting increases cardiovascular fitness above average. Unless you want to run marathons or compete in long distance bicyling you don’t need aerobic exercise.

Actually even if you run marathons, interval training & weight lifting are superior to aerobic exercise. Same thing for fat loss: interval training & weight lifting are superior to aerobic exercise.

Endurance Training for Anaerobic Sports. Sports like MMA demand endurance, strength, speed & power. You can build strength, speed & power with strength training, but you can’t achieve the necessary levels of endurance.

Aerobic exercise is slow. It interferes with strength, speed & power you need for anaerobic sports. The best way to build endurance for anaerobic sports is high intensity interval training: HIIT.

The problem: endurance & strength training are hard to combine. HIIT stresses your central nervous system which can impair performance. But that’s the topic of another article.

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Posted by JD in StrongLifts.com Forum

“I have used ON 100% Gold Standard Whey and some acne developed on me. During training days I take 5 scoops of it: 1 scoop in the morning, 2 scoops one hour before workout and 2 scoops after workout. During non-training days same number of scoops: 1 scoop per meal.”

Food Allergies. There are many theories on food allergies. Some say they’re caused by excessive hygiene in today’s society. Others say vaccines are to blame. And others say it’s lack of breastfeeding. Whatever.

Whey is a dairy product: it’s a byproduct of cheese. Allergic reactions to dairy are common. Lactose intolerance is one example. Acne another. Food allergies are a personal thing. What gives you an allergy, might not give me one.

Quark & Acne. I used to eat 1kg quark cheese daily. That’s +80g protein for less than 1€. 250g quark with berries at breakfast, 250g with apples as snack & 500g 2 hours before going to bed (quark digests slowly).

I often woke up with a red pimple on my forehead, throat or chest. One day I realized this didn’t happen when my quark intake was low. Stop eating quark for a week while keeping the rest of my diet the same confirmed this.

How to Avoid Acne from Whey. You only need more than 3 scoops daily if you want 3g/kg daily protein. Whole food is better than supplements. Alternate your protein sources: ground round, chicken breast, tuna cans, eggs, etc.

Trial & error works best to know what causes the food allegies. Start with 1-2 scoops whey daily for a week. Keep the rest of your diet the same. If you’re ok: try 3 scoops daily.

• Track Food Intake. Keep a journal of what you eat for two weeks. Fitday will help you track your food intake.
• Track Allergies. Mark the days on a calender where you get & don’t get skin reactions like acne.

What Your Skin Says About You. Your skin is the largest organ of your body. Skin problems say a lot about your health, which is influenced by your diet. Besides dairy, eggs, seafood, wheat and many more can cause allergies.

Unfortunately food allergies can not always be detected by laboratory tests. The only way to get to know your body is through by removing what triggers reactions. Topic of a future article. Stay tuned.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.