What single prescription can strengthen your heart, lungs and blood vessels, build endurance, lower blood pressure, help you lose weight and improve your mood? Exercise - that's the opinion of Robert Butler, Brookdale Professor, Mount Sinai Hospital, and an expert on the health of older adults. People who get regular exercise stay younger than those who don't.

Regular exercise can also be "good medicine" in your fight to stay off cigarettes. It can help you cope with withdrawal symptoms like feeling uptight and nervous. You'll sleep better, be less likely to gain weight, and have more energy. Exercise should be part of your quitting plan.

To find out what kind of exercise is best for you, pick the statement that best describes you.

• You have any major health problems, physical limitations, or are over 60 years old. See your doctor before you start to exercise. Let your doctor advise you about the kinds and amount of exercise you should try. Ask if walking is O.K.
• You exercise three to five times a week for at least twenty minutes each time. Keep up the good work! Regular exercise helps you fight the urge for cigarettes and keep the pounds off, too.
• You don't get much exercise, have no major health problems and are under 60 years old. Getting more exercise should be part of your quitting plan. Start slowly. Let your doctor know you're exercising the next time you have an appointment.

  What exercise is best?

  The important thing is to pick an exercise you will enjoy, one that suits your life and interests, and stick with it.

  Walking is great exercise for people of any age. It builds fitness, burns calories and keeps you firm. Walking gives you a chance to be alone, or be with someone, to think deeply, or be emptied of all thoughts. You can enjoy the seasons or walk in the shelter of an indoor shopping mall. The only cost is a good pair of walking shoes. Join the 14 million Americans over age 50 who walk to keep fit.

  Whatever exercise you choose, your goal should be to exercise three or four times a week for at least 20 minutes each time.

  Here are a few ways that exercise helped these Clear Horizons© ex-smokers:
  
  

  Bob R. "Exercise really helped me stay on top of things after I quit. When I got tense, instead of reaching for a smoke, I'd go for a fast walk or jog with my wife. I think I deal with stress better now even without cigarettes."

  Catherine W.
  "I think I'm like a lot of women my age. When I was younger, I always thought I was too busy for exercise. But when I stopped smoking, I really got into walking. It was a way to keep busy and not think about smoking. But it was more than that. It was something for me. I remember this last Christmas. I'd been off cigarettes for about two years. I made a big dinner for Christmas Eve, and we all went to church. Christmas morning about 7:00am I went out for a walk before we started with the gifts and the breakfast. And as I walked along, I thought how important for me to have time for me. I feel good about myself. And I realized that the walking and feeling and looking better were gifts that I'd gotten from quitting smoking."

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  © 1989, 1995, 1997 Fox Chase Cancer Center © 2001The Smoking Research Program, James P. WIlmot Cancer Center and Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry