Exercise can help reduce nicotine cravings Published Nov. 17, 2010 By Master Sgt. Sabrina D. Foster 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Tobacco and fitness are like oil and water; they just don't mix. It doesn't matter how hard you try to combine the two, evidence confirms that tobacco use negatively impacts fitness and physical health. According to data compiled by the Air Force Medical Operations Agency in August 2009, tobacco use negatively impacts run time for every age group with an increasing impact the longer the member smokes. This data relates only to smokers and does not include smokeless tobacco users as those numbers were not significant in the analysis. On average, smokers run 30 seconds slower than non-smokers. Getting in excellent physical shape is not easy, but it's a critical part of a healthy lifestyle, and especially important for servicemembers. Not only does quitting tobacco improve exercise performance, exercise increases your chances of quitting tobacco and getting on track to a tobacco-free lifestyle. Tech. Sgt. Gregory Stauber, 906th Air Refueling Squadron resource advisor and NCO of programs, recently decided it was time to kick the habit and move forward to a healthier lifestyle. "I quit smoking for multiple reasons," said Sergeant Stauber. "It stinks, it wastes time, my physical training scores were borderline, but more importantly it will kill me. I truly believed at the age of 31 I was at the make or break age in my life because I had smoked for 18 years, and if I was to continue, I believe that I would have less years ahead of me than I had behind me." Sergeant Stauber has been smoke-free for a little more than three months, and he has already seen improvements in his run time for the 1.5-mile run. "I've seen a dramatic change," said Sergeant Stauber. "Within the first two days I dropped 20 to 30 seconds off my time. One month before I quit smoking, my run time on a mock PT test was 13:06. Forty-five days after I quit, I took my bi-annual PT test and ran the 1.5 mile run in 11:37, which helped guarantee an excellent on the test. The fastest I have ever been able to run during the PT test as a smoker was 12:26, but I was 22 pounds lighter than I am now and endured a lot of physical fitness training." Exercise can diminish nicotine withdrawal symptoms and help avoid relapse. Just 10 minutes of moderate intensity exercise can reduce the desire to smoke. Boredom, stress, and anxiety are common withdrawal symptoms and can cause cravings, but recent studies have found that a group of tobacco users who exercised had better mood and fewer tobacco cravings than a group who did not exercise. "Running helped take my mind off smoking when I had withdrawal symptoms," said Sergeant Stauber. "Smoking is nothing more than a subconscious breathing exercise that calms you down, so I practiced that without the cigarette. My wife also quit with me, which was a huge help as well, but the thing that worked best was an extreme desire to quit. I had to truly hate it and what it stood for. To me it was death seven and a half minutes at a time." Whether you're getting in shape for fitness testing or just want to get healthy, quitting tobacco is an important step in your fitness journey. Quitting tobacco and exercising is a winning combination that can help you get stronger, healthier, and physically fit. "My overall health is like night and day since I stopped smoking," said Sergeant Stauber. "I can smell and taste 10 times better and my run times are still getting better. The coughing stopped, and I can go through every day knowing that I'm not endangering my child's life by smoking around him." Facts about smoking - Cigarette smoking alone is directly responsible for approximately 30 percent of all cancer deaths annually in the United States. - Cigarette smoking also causes chronic lung disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis), cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cataracts. - Smoking during pregnancy can cause still birth, low birth weight, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and other serious pregnancy complications. - Cigarette smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. - Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. - Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day costs $1,600 per year, which equals one month's pay for an enlisted airman first class.