Fear of gaining weight is one of the main reasons that women give for not giving up smoking, but research from US behavioural experts found that exercise helped women stay smoke free.
The study of 281 healthy women gave half of them a standard smoking cessation programme with hard exercises over a 12-week period.
Twice as likely to succeed
It found that the exercising women were twice as likely to stay off the cigarettes.
But the statistics still demonstrate how hard it is to give up smoking.
Only 20% of the exercising women managed to remain cigarette free after the 12 weeks, compared with only one in 10 of the non-exercisers.
One year later, only 11.9% of exercisers, and 5.4% of non-exercisers were non-smokers.
However, nearly half of the women sufficiently motivated to attend most of the workout sessions were still not smoking at the end of the three month trial.
The study did not use nicotine replacement patches.
Bess Marcus, lead author of the "Commit to Quit" programme published in the "Archives of Internal Medicine" said: "The study results clearly indicate that smoking cessation programmes designed for women can be significantly more successful than generic programmes.
"We can build in measures to help women cope with fears of gaining weight if they stop smoking."
Marcus added that men trying to quit smoking would benefit from exercise, and urges doctors to encourage smokers to exercise.
As exercise is clearly proven to reduce cholesterol, overall health can be improved as well.
Background Briefings
Medical notes
How to get a healthy heart
(28 Apr 99 | Health)
Nicotine's stranglehold on the brain
(20 Apr 99 | Health)
Passive smoking 'a significant risk'
(25 Mar 99 | Health)
Women 'emotionally addicted to smoking'
(08 Mar 99 | Health)
Pregnant smokers targeted
(10 Mar 99 | Health)
Health Education Authority smoking site
Women's quit smoking resource
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Links to other Health stories