Thread: Does Pipesmoking Impair Athletic Performance?

I'm well aware of the reported effects of cigarette smoking on athletic performance, but does anyone know about the effects of occasional pipesmoking? So far, the information that I've uncovered online is limited and reaches wildly varying conclusions. Thanks.

I'd say it couldn't do you any good, and I've been smoking pipes for many years. I don't inhale the way cigarette smokers do, but I'm sure I'm inhaling some, even unintentionally. I'm far from an athelete, but I have lifted weights, do ride bicycles on and off road, and I'm active for a 65 year old. I can do a lot of aerobic stuff, but I'm sure I coudl do better if I didn't smoke at all. YMMV.

Thanks for the honest response. I'm in my early 50's and I am a part-time martial arts instructor. I think that an occasional pipe on my back patio would be relaxing (I used to smoke a pipe), but I don't want to do it if it will have any adverse impacts on my (already limited) athletic performance. I appreciate your insights based on your real experience.

Surely your question should include inhaling or not. As an ex-smoker I can't see any pleasure in not inhaling - that's where the nicotine enters your blood stream. However, I do see cigar smokers who seem to enjoy a smoke without inhaling - wish I had that self control.

Inhaling any smoke be it cigars, cigarettes or from the plant down the road isn't good for you period. Whether you inhale or not the chemicals get into your bloodstream anyway. it's just a matter of the degree. I would imagine a cigar or pipe every now and then wouldn't do you any serious harm but if you were a real athlete you would want to stay clear.

Just throwing it out there - when I gave up smoking I used nicotine lozenges. You sit them in the side of your mouth and let them dissolve naturally (don't chew or suck them). I guess the nicotine in the tablets enters your body via the saliva.

So I'm thinking the nicotine in pipe tobacco, if you are not an inhaler, will still enter your body albeit perhaps in a less efficient manner than if you did inhale.

Whether nicotine impacts athletic performance is something I do not know. However, and I don't want to sound like a doomsayer or anything, I'm sure I've read that pipe smoking can lead to mouth (and related areas) cancers.

James.

Speaking for myself, I couldn't inhale the pipe tobacco I smoke if I wanted to. It is too strong and I would cough my head off. Same with cigars. I don't smoke those anymore, since the $1.00 cigars I used to smoke 30 years ago are $15.00 now. The nicotine does indeed take effect through the puffing of the pipe. Not as efficient a delivery system as a cigarette but we would all be better off without those. IMHO.

Newsflash! Living is terminal! There aint a one of us getting out of here alive. Anyway, Im sure nicotine has adverse affects somehow. But again so does food, nuclear contamination, smog and maybe even stone swarf!

Lol Bill! Yes, I'm well aware of the endgame and that's not my question. My question is whether my athletic performance at 55, 60, 65 . . . will be less if I smoked a pipe than if I did not smoke. JimmyHAD suggests that the answer is "yes," based on his own experience. Obviously we all have to decide life's priorities for ourselves. For me, the benefits associated with smoking a pipe aren't worth a reduction in athletic performance. Frankly, as I'm in my early 50's, the performance level is already impaired enough!

Besides all that, as a martial artist (or maybe artiste...) myself I guess you want to set an example for your students too. Not that I think you cannot do as you wish with your life, you can, but the ideals of martial arts often bleed into life too - self-discipline, self-respect, being a role-model etc.

I know I'm making it sound as though pipe smoking is anti-goodness. I don't mean it that way. I just mean another way to think about it, besides athletic ability, is the example you want to set for your students.

James.