Can lifting weights help smokers quit?

Engaging in some sort of aerobic exercise to kick the habit is not a new idea because it curbs cigarette cravings and regulates weight.

Now, a new study finds when people are experiencing nicotine withdrawal, resistance training can help reduce the intensity of the symptoms and help them quit smoking.

Lead author of the study, Dr Joseph Ciccolo, exercise psychologist and researcher with The Miriam Centres Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine stated, “Cigarette smoking kills more than a thousand Americans every day, and while the large majority of smokers want to quit, less than five percent are able to do it without help.

"We need any new tools that can help smokers successfully quit and it appears resistance training could potentially be an effective strategy."

Study of 25 adult smokers
In a bid to determine whether, resistance training can help smokers kick the habit, the researchers conducted a study.

They recruited 25 adult smokers between the age group of 18 and 65 years. All the participants reportedly smoked around five cigarettes daily for the past year or more.

As a part of the study, all the subjects received 15-20 minute of counseling to give up smoking and were given an eight week supply of nicotine patches.

The volunteers were then split into two groups. One was assigned to 60-minute resistance training sessions twice a week while the second serving as the control group watched videos on health-related topics, two times a week.

Outcome of the study
After a period of three months, it was noted that 16 percent of people engaged in resistance training had given up lighting up as opposed to eight percent in the control group.

Moreover, lifting weights conferred other benefits also. Participants in the exercise group lost a little over a pound on average. In contrast, the controls piled on the same amount of weight.

Additionally, the group working out cut their body fat by an average of 0.5 percent whereas the controls increased their body fat by an average of 0.6 percent.

The results were not temporary. The researchers noted three months after the study ended, 15 of the smokers in the exercise group had still not started smoking compared to eight percent of the controls.

Though the results of the study are promising, experts feel there is need for further research to substantiate the findings before resistance training can be recommended as clinical treatment for smoking cessation.

The study appears in the August issue of the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.