Smoking at the gym door

Ok, I try not rant on here, but I have to vent!
One of my biggest pet peeves, beyond even people parking in cycle lanes, is people who light up a cigarette at the door of the gym before going in to train.
This absolutely bugs the hell out of me for a couple of reasons.

1. It stinks, and lingers in the area by the door. If the door is open, everyone in the gym can smell your stinking cigarette. Also, it makes you stink of cigarettes. No one wants to be inhaling your stink. If you must smoke, wait until you're home from your training.
2. Why would anyone purposely and permanently kill lung cells before going training?

Every breath of cigarette smoke inhaled causes carbon monoxide to bind permanently to the alveoli (air sacks) in the lungs, preventing them working. They have only 1 function, to transfer oxygen into the blood and carbon dioxide out of it. But when tied up with monoxide they can't do this. It takes days or weeks before these cells are broken down and replaced, during which time your ability to exercise is reduced.
To put it another way, you wouldn't smash your toes with a hammer before going for a run, would you? Didn't think so. Don't fill your lungs with tar at the start of your session!
Have a look at my previous posts on smoking for help in breaking the habit, even if you're not currently trying to quit.

Breathing for stress control

At some point in our lives, we've all been told to 'take a deep breath & count to 10', usually by a friend or colleague who senses we are getting stressed about something. Without really knowing why, they are repeating the traditional wisdom. It is useful, but will probably take more than 1 breath to have the desired effect. Since breathing is something we do all day every day, you would think we'd be pretty good at it. Let's face it, we can do it in our sleep. The truth is, we're not. In fact most of us rarely breath correctly when we're awake.