Running for most smokers is a difficult prospect to contemplate doing. Cigarettes put fairly significant strain on a users respiratory and cardiovascular health, which are incredibly important for running for any kind of extended period of time. However, now that switching to a vape is an easily available option for most people, many have made a health conscious decision to switch from cigarettes to a vape. The detrimental effects of cigarettes are well documented and they seem to affect nearly every major system of the human body, but vaping is less so. However, the news so far does point to significantly reduced harm to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
Effects on the Lungs
Inhaling anything besides air into your lungs is not generally considered a good thing. With that out of the way, when compared to smoking cigarettes, vapers lungs are in dramatically better shape. When someone switches from smoking the lungs immediately begin to repair themselves and lung capacity increases as the body begins to expel the built up tar and mucus that accumulates for a career smoker.
If you’re just comparing smoking and vaping, vaping wins by a long shot when it comes to lung health. That’s not to say it’s completely harmless, but a vape user is in a much better spot health-wise to begin running than a cigarette smoker.
Effects on the Heart
Similar to how vaping improves lung health when compared to that of a smokers, the cardiovascular system has a similar rebound effect. Systolic blood pressure lowers when switching from smoking to vaping, bringing it back to levels of non-smokers. This is partially due to the better airflow received via the lungs, but also due to the lower nicotine content of vapes.
Nicotine is long documented to have an effect on heart disease. It’s a stimulant that increases heart rate and activates adrenaline systems in the body and over a long time can be detrimental to cardiovascular health. Though there are some athletes that use nicotine for these exact purposes, no nicotine is generally better for you long-term than being a regular user.
Can You Run If You Vape?
The short answer is, yes. For the most part. Vaping and running is a far healthier alternative to smoking. The harm reduction that vaping offers is enough in most cases to allow a user to run, and even take it seriously. Smokers will have much more trouble running for even short distances than that of vapers and non-smokers and are at a much higher risk of cardiovascular problems when doing so.
Anecdotally, my own cardiovascular and respiratory health was majorly improved when I made the switch. My performance at the gym was like night and day even after a few weeks of not smoking, so I can vouch for the harm reduction benefits. However, there is always things to consider and it is best to get tested by a doctor before making serious health decisions such as a running regimen to lower the risks involved.