Researchers suggest that more serious runners kick the habit because smoking hinders performance. New research reveals additional reasons why exercise may help smokers quit. National data shows most people gain an average of 10 pounds when they quit smoking. Since exercise minimizes that weight gain, it may increase the likelihood that women will quit smoking and stay quit, Marcus says. The fact that exercise minimized weight gain may explain why exercising helped women stay quit.
Many people report increases in stress and anxiety when they try to give up smoking.
Other studies show that exercise helps relieve depression and anxiety, which may be another mechanism by which exercise enhances smoking abstinence. Exercise can give smokers an alternative way to handle stress, says Michael H. Sacks, professor of psychiatry at Cornell University's Weill Medical College in New York. Sports and exercise also may help keep kids from getting involved with drugs. Her recent study of more than 5,000 workers involved a variety of wellness programs and examined how certain health behaviors cluster together. These included eating more fruits and vegetables, reducing the amount of fat calories and doubling the amount of fiber consumed.