In a surprise study, teenaged men fared better on exercise programs when trying to quit smoking that teen girls did. Teen girls actually did better with their endeavor to quit smoking without the exercise. This shocks me, because I think exercise gets rid of a lot of the nervous energy that is behind why smokers smoke.
They think that it calms them, when in fact smoking actually increases the stress hormones in the body. However, the study results are not arguable since they clearly showed that teen women did better quitting smoking without the exercise.
Teen boys though, experienced a definite benefit when exercising and trying to quit. The physical activity part of the progam which helps teens quit smoking so they don’t turn into adult lifetime smokers, said that adding a relatively modest amount of physical activity to the program really boosted the results in the boy’s group.
They were much more likely to make it through the smoking cessation program when the exercise component was added in, which was to be expected. The girls are a bit of a surprise though. I remember when I quit smoking so many years ago.
I think the fact that I loved exercising not only helped me stay off cigarettes, but it was a major reaosn I wanted to quit in the first place. I didn’t want to be the one who was out of breath and couldn’t finish my workouts.