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What Smoking Do To Your Muscles
We all know that cigarette smoking increases the risks of many
diseases such as lung cancer, heart diseases, high blood pressure, stroke and
so on and so forth. Do you know that smoking also can severely damage your
muscles and inhibit your quest of building a muscular body? Well, that is a
fact, according to researchers at Nottingham
University (NU), United
Kingdom.
In a study of smokers in their sixties, the NU researchers
discovered that the subject of their studies have about 25% less muscle than
the non-smoker. The smokers also continue to suffer break down of muscle
proteins at a much higher rate than non-smokers. Another bad news for smokers.
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Although the study subjects are elderly people, the lead
researcher Professor Michael Rennie said he would be surprised if this
phenomenon is not common in younger smokers too.
Professor Rennie warned young, gym workout lovers who think they can carry on
smoking because they are active that this health bashing habit severely
decreases muscle-forming processes. So if you want to build
a lean and muscular body, you should quit
smoking now.
The good Professor said: "This is an entirely new finding of another damaging
side effect to the body caused by cigarette smoking which was not ascertained
before. Although the study concentrates on the effects of smoking has on
muscles in older people, I would eat my hat if it turned out not to be true
for people of all ages".
He went on to say, "Some people like the gym-rats who think they can just
carry on smoking just because they still have muscular bodies are wrong. It
will really mean that they can't carry on having muscular
physiques in a matter of time". Hear ye, hear ye,
muscle lovers and bodybuilders.
Muscle Loss
In the NU study, the researchers measured the rate at which
muscle protein was created in eight people who smoked at least 20 cigarettes a
day for at least 20 years, and eight non-smokers with the same lifestyles.
They gave all the research subjects an infusion of blood with a "tagged" amino
acid - substances that help form proteins. Then samples of muscle were taken
from the thighs of the subjects before and after the infusion to measure the
rate of muscle protein creation which helps in the daily maintenance of body
muscle mass.
They found that the rate of muscle protein creation was "substantially less"
in smokers, with them making about 25% less muscle protein. In otherwords, if
you are a young and healthy individual who is building muscles, your muscle
growth rate could be 25% slower than your non-smoking counterpart.
Easy Way To Quit
Smoking
Another negative effect was that smokers had more myostatin. Myostatin
not only inhibits muscle growth, it also breaks muscles down.
Professor Rennie, a professor of clinical physiology said the muscle-wasting
effects of smoking were particularly damaging to older people because the
muscles on their thighs in particular are badly affected and they are more
prone to falls and accidents and these falls could sometimes cause permanently
disability and even death.
"While I am sure this phenomenon is happening to people of all ages, it is
especially worrying for smokers as they get older. As these smokers age, their
ability to maintain muscle is drastically curtailed”, the Professor said.
One of the main areas where muscle mass is being rapidly lost is in the thighs
(quadriceps and hamstrings), which stabilizes the movement in hips, so these
are too precious muscles to lose.
Senior citizens who smoke should imagine not being able to get off the toilet
as their muscle mass decreases. And then once they lose more than a certain
threshold they can even lose the ability to move. That is indeed tragic
because they will start losing their balance and having frequent falls which
could be fatal. So you gym rats, is it time to give
up smoking?
How To Quit Smoking Easily
Some of you who know me may ask why am I writing this article since I am a
heavy smoker for more than 30 years, right? You know something? I finally quit
smoking after several attempts over the last few years.
Quitting smoking through sheer will power and dogged determination may not be
effective for most people because nicotine is a very addictive drug, and
especially so if you are a heavy smoker like I was.
So how did I do it? Well, I used quit smoking aids such as "quit
smoking self hypnosis" and also nicotine gums. So, for the sake of
your muscles, QUIT SMOKING NOW.
Best Wishes
