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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2020 Nov 3;17(21):8110.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17218110.

Wearing of Cloth or Disposable Surgical Face Masks has no Effect on Vigorous Exercise Performance in Healthy Individuals

Keely Shaw  1 , Scotty Butcher  2 , Jongbum Ko  1 , Gordon A Zello  3 , Philip D Chilibeck  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Wearing of Cloth or Disposable Surgical Face Masks has no Effect on Vigorous Exercise Performance in Healthy Individuals

Keely Shaw et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Wearing face masks is recommended for the prevention of contracting or exposing others to cardiorespiratory infections, such as COVID-19. Controversy exists on whether wearing face masks during vigorous exercise affects performance. We used a randomized, counterbalanced cross-over design to evaluate the effects of wearing a surgical mask, a cloth mask, or no mask in 14 participants (7 men and 7 women; 28.2 ± 8.7 y) during a cycle ergometry test to exhaustion. Arterial oxygen saturation (pulse oximetry) and tissue oxygenation index (indicator of hemoglobin saturation/desaturation) at vastus lateralis (near-infrared spectroscopy) were assessed throughout the exercise tests. Wearing face masks had no effect on performance (time to exhaustion (mean ± SD): no mask 622 ± 141 s, surgical mask 657 ± 158 s, cloth mask 637 ± 153 s (p = 0.20); peak power: no mask 234 ± 56 W, surgical mask 241 ± 57 W, cloth mask 241 ± 51 W (p = 0.49)). When expressed relative to peak exercise performance, no differences were evident between wearing or not wearing a mask for arterial oxygen saturation, tissue oxygenation index, rating of perceived exertion, or heart rate at any time during the exercise tests. Wearing a face mask during vigorous exercise had no discernable detrimental effect on blood or muscle oxygenation, and exercise performance in young, healthy participants (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04557605).

Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; maximal oxygen uptake; near-infrared spectroscopy; pandemic; physical activity; pulse oximetry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time to exhaustion during the exercise test for individual participants across conditions. There were no statistical differences between conditions (p = 0.20).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Arterial oxygen saturation, (B) muscle tissue oxygenation index, (C) rating of perceived exertion, and (D) heart rate expressed as percentage of peak power during the exercise test. All values are mean ± SD.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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