Congratulations on quitting! I would think that any activity that would be good for anyone else would be good for someone in your situation. Any activity that involves physical exertion that goes on continually for 20-30 minutes or longer will build cardio-respiratory capacity. You could do it in less time with high-intensity exercise, but it’s best to hold off on that until you build up a base of conditioning with exercise of more moderate intensity. That can be anything you like to do that would maintain an elevated heart rate.
The goal is to keep your pulse within a range of 60 to 80 percent of your maximum rate. To find out your estimated maximum rate, subtract your age from the number 220. So, for example, if you’re 30, then your estimated max. is 190, and you should exercise at an intensity that keeps your heart rate at 60-80 percent of 190, or between 114 and 152 beats per minute.
If you don’t want to get into all the math, and checking your pulse, you want to exercise at a level that gets you breathing deeply without making you completely out of breath. The old tried and true guideline is that if you are breathing heavily but not too heavily to carry on a conversation, you’re at the right level of exertion. People in top condition who work out seriously may push it beyond this, but that’s a pretty good guideline for someone trying to start getting into shape.
Some possibilites: running, brisk walking, bicycling, swimming, hiking, vigorous dancing, rowing machine, actually rowing or paddling in a boat or canoe or kayak, cross-country skiing, punching a heavy bag, stepper machine or stair-climbing, etc.
Any other activity that gets you moving and breathing deeply will work. Just don’t overdo things when you’re starting out. It’s also a good idea to avoid getting over-ambitious. Don’t push for too much too soon, or you risk injury, but do get enough activity that you know you are exerting.
.I’d go for some brisk walking on a treadmill. Get yourself a walkman/ipod/mp3 player or watch tv for half and hour. Do this 2-3 times a week and eventually start doing some short bouts of running in between walking. Eventually you’ll be running straight for 30 minutes.
You can also do this outside….start out walking the whole way, then eventually work in some running…walk for a bit, run to the next tree, walk some more, repeat..
Congrats on quitting! The hardest part is behind you!
{ 1 comment }
I mentioned that bicycle riding has me helped quite a bit and wanted to update that. I’m 43 yrs old and quit smoking 16 yrs ago at age 27 after smoking for 14 yrs — quit cold turkey after experiencing what felt like early stages of COPD. Although my breathing did improve noticably right after quitting my lungs were never at the point where they should’ve been and I’d get out of breath too easily and tried breathing exercises listed on COPD websites and exercising. Well I mentioned bicycle riding and that’s what I wanted to update since warmer weather is here and I just started riding more reguarly again. What I’m finding out is simply amazing on how much less out of breath I am now compared to just 1 yr ago from sticking with this cycling routine. I go out for about 45 min-1 hr every couple days and where I was absolutely dying with all the huffing and puffing a yr ago I can now ride and breath so much better there’s no comparison. So what I’m saying is that although I did quit smoking 16 yr ago it’s the cardio exercise of late that has been a huge beneft to my breathing and all around lung function. So I’d strongly recommend trying a cardio routine like jogging, running, cycling, swimming, etc and although you might get rediculously out of breath in the beginning you will improve. Personally I like to road cycle because I can coast when I need to and vary the cardio rate easily enough by shifting gears and such but now I’m thinking about doing a little jogging too since I’ve built up more endurance. Good luck in whatever exercises you choose and congrats on quitting smoking
Matt, Toronto
Comments on this entry are closed.