Eye Tracking Supports Belief that Exercising Helps Smokers Quit
Are you a smoker? Are you trying to quit? A recent study by the University of Exeter shows that even small amounts of exercising can assist a person in kicking the habit. Anyone who has tried to quit before can attest to how difficult the whole ordeal can be, but now there is evidence of an additional weapon in the battle to quit smoking. Researchers employed an eye tracking system to observe and compare how subjects reacted to smoking and nonsmoking images after physical and after sedentary activities.
During the study, 20 moderately heavy smokers were asked to abstain from smoking a cigarette for 15 hours. Afterward, they were shown smoking-related and smoking neutral images before performing one of two tasks. One task required the subject sit down for 15 minutes, while the other required them to exercise moderately on a stationary bike. Afterward, they were re-shown the images from before.
With the help of an eye tracker to measure when the subject was actually looking at the smoking-related images, the researchers found that there was an 11% difference between the time the participants spent looking at the smoking-related images after exercise when compared to the times after sitting. After exercise, the eye tracker showed that the subjects did not respond to the smoking-related images by looking at them as quickly as when they had been sitting. It was therefore concluded that exercise reduces the power of the smoking-related images in their ability to grab visual attention.
This information is pretty profound, as anyone who has been addicted to nicotine knows that seeing someone else smoke often leads to cravings, particularly when you are trying to quit. Armed with this information, someone attempting to quit smoking can add in short bursts of exercise to help combat the desire to smoke. Speaking from experience, exercise has really assisted me in making smoking nothing but the butt of my life’s jokes. If it were not for the exercise that I added to my daily routine, smoking would still be a bad habit of mine. The endorphins released during exercise not only helped to keep me focused on quiting, but also helped me maintain a positive attitude. It also served as a constant reminder of what my body could no longer do due to the years of smoking I had put it through. This eye tracking study and my own personal success story are proof that with the right amount of motivation and healthier alternatives, you too can become a life-long non-smoker.
Exercise puts smokers off ciggies
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