The effects of cigarette smoking on maximal oxygen consumption and selected physiological responses of elite team sportsmen

Abstract

The acute and chronic effects of cigarette smoking on selected physiological responses were determined in seven well-trained non-smokers and seven well-trained habitual smokers. Non-smokers and smokers did not differ significantly with respect to maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). The acute effect of smoking two cigarettes immediately prior to a graded exercise stress test on a treadmill ergometer did not significantly alter the VO2max of either group. However, the time taken for non-smokers to reach exhaustion decreased significantly (F = 5.381, P less than 0.05) by a mean of 0.64 min. Smokers recorded lower scores for forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in the 1st s exhalation (FEV1) than non-smokers. Only the mean FVC of smokers recorded 5 min post-exercise was significantly altered by pre-exercise smoking. No differences were found between the resting heart rates (HR) of non-smokers and smokers. Smoking two cigarettes significantly (F = 44.720, P less than 0.01) increased the mean resting HR of smokers and non-smokers by 15.8 beats X min-1 and 15.6 beats X min-1 respectively. No alteration to the exercise HR of either group was found under smoking conditions of the VO2max tests.