Can an X smoker really build up lung capacity to get to 5K

[beanpole]

I found this site by accident but am feeling quite inspired and motivated by it. I have been a 40 a day man for best part of 30 years and any attempts to run have left me breathless very quickly. Can this be improved on or is it my self inflicted lot ?

[completerunner]

Try this website….

powerlung.com/region/uk/

They have three styles of a training device for your lungs to increase lung capacity. Each one is targeted at different requirements, and I believe Amazon stock them.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

I quit smoking many years ago and have only been running for three months, so I am not best qualified on that side of things, but C25k does start off gently. Many people have trouble with their breathing at first, but by taking it steady and repeating runs if necessary, you will slowly build up your recovery rates and no doubt your lung capacity as well. This course will show you what can be done with a bit of self belief and determination and will get you in touch with your body in a whole new way.

Give it a go, beanpole. You have nothing to lose and, as many folk on here will tell you, it can change your life.

[beanpole]

Thanks Guys, that website looks interesting and I think I will pursue it, I might feel a little out of it at my age but I am going to give this a go as the benefits far out weigh the effort

thanks again

[bjammin Graduate]

Hi beanpole

I'm an ex smoker and overweight. I started the c25k programme with my wife as a way to get fit. I have never been a runner and hadn't done any exercise since leaving school.

I found the whole breathing thing difficult until I stopped trying to breath through my nose. I now breath through my mouth and find it a lot better.

The good thing with the C25k is the pace. Take it slow and steady first to build up your fitness, speed can come later!

I now run 5k 3 times a week and love it. The benefits are not just physical ones. I now feel more confident and feel a sense of achievement after every run.

Good luck!

[beanpole]

Thanks bjammin. I feel my first outing coming on later today ... just finished downloading the podcasts and I am sure I already own trainers just got to figure out where they live, if not, its shopping for me

[Rollertoaster Graduate]

Totally! I quit smoking 3 years ago after smoking for 15 years and I'm doing a half marathon in a couple of weeks (I did C25K last autumn). You can do it! You'll find loads of ex smokers on here with some amazing achievements.

[chickens01 Graduate]

i stopped smoking four years ago and as bjammin said i also found it difficult to breath through my nose and so breathe through my mouth. I'd say it's definitley worth a try and i'll bet you get the bug very quickly we all did

[louisew99 Graduate]

A friend of mine still smokes, not that I approve and she can easily run 10k and some what quicker than I can. Go for it, lung capacity grows gradually throughout the programme. Good luck!

[narcrow]

I quit smoking at the end of last November and started C25K in December. I ran my first 5K in April doing it in 25 mins 17 secs. When I started to run for 1 min in December I could hardly breath but I soon found sticking to the C25K my breathing improved each week. So just stick at it take it slow and you will find your breathing improving. I also eat a lot of pineapples after stopping smoking as they are meant to help repair damage, no idea if this helped but eating a slice of pineapple is so much healthier than smoking.

Check out step 2 on this link

livestrong.com/article/2092...

Dave.

[caribougrrl Graduate]

sheepishly admitting that the first time I did a c25k program I was a smoker... I am quit now but still view aerobic exercise as carbon credits for smokers (as in, if I insisted on continuing to harm my lungs, I should likewise make an effort to help them)...

you will build up lung capacity but more importantly, you will build cardiovascular efficiency... part of the struggle and fatigue comes from insufficient oxygen permeating muscle tissue... the more you exercise, the more effective you become at delivering oxygen where it's needed

so start slow and don't be discouraged by how slow you might have to be just to finish... and if week 1 is too much, start by using the week 1 podcast for slow walking with intermittent fast walking until that's comfortable then move on to faster walking then to running

[FirinBlanks Graduate]

My last cigarette was about a year ago now but I still use electronic cigarettes. Last week I completed a 10K charity run in under an hour and now run 20+ kilometres a week, so if that gives you hope, I say go for it.

[tantrumbean Graduate]

I only gave up smoking in February (and I had been on 20 a day), managed to get through the whole of C25K while smoking, and to be honest, it never felt like much of a problem and I didn't notice much of an improvement after I stopped (apart from to my bank balance)

[gracecassar Graduate]

Hi ok GUILTY, I am a smoker and I jog. Finished week8 run 1 today. I do not smoke for an hour before and not for at least and hour after. Have no breathing problems at all. I even went jogging to the doctor when I had a lung infection. I smole about 10 a day.

[groovyforster]

I haf been smoking on average 16 cigarettes per day fot 20+ years before I quit. That was 4 years ago. Since then I've been going to the gym 5 days a week. Since February, I've been with a personal trainer to help with fat loss. He had me doing some treamill work. I started looking into 5 k's on my own. I found a program on the net to go from couch to 5k. Basically, you jog 1 minute, walk 1 minute for 30 minutes. Every run increases by jogging an extra minute but still only walk a minute until you are able to jog for 30 minutes with no break. I've come a long way since February. I'm down to running a 5k in under 23 minutes. Not bad for a 42 year old former smoker.

[Hidden]

OK...so I'm really late to this post but I wanted to share. I had been smoking for about 23 years at about a pack a day and decided I wanted to start running again as I was a casual runner in my teenage years and looked back on it fondly. I was pretty fit to begin with but was a pack-a-day smoker. I started slow and built things up quickly. Within about 4 months of training I was doing 10km every other day with a personal best of about 45 minutes. My desire to smoke had reduced dramatically to the point where one day I just dropped the awful things all together, no patch, no gum, no pills, no nothing. The key for me was to start small and build a bit every week.

Anyhow, what I am trying to say is it's never too late. Before starting anything like this go see your doctor.

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