Wearing a protective face mask has only a modest effect on healthy people’s ability to engage in vigorous exercise, according to a study published today (Monday) in the European Respiratory Journal [1]
Researchers conducted detailed tests on breathing, cardiac activity, and exercise performance in a group of 12 people while using an exercise bike with and without a mask.
Although they found differences between wearing a mask and not wearing a mask in some measurements, they say none of their results indicate any risk to health. This suggests that masks can be safely worn during intense exercise, for example to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 between people visiting an indoor gym.
The study was conducted by a team of researchers, including Dr. Elisabetta Salvioni from Centro Cardiologico Monzino, IRCCS, Milan, Italy, and Dr. Massimo Mapelli and Professor Piergiuseppe Agostoni from Centro Cardiologico Monzino and the University of Milan.
Dr. Salvioni said, “We know that the main route of transmission for coronavirus is through breath droplets and it is possible that breathing harder during exercise may facilitate transmission, especially indoors. Research suggests that wearing a mask may prevent the disease from spreading. but there is no clear evidence that masks can be safely worn during strenuous exercise. “
To answer this question, researchers worked with a group of healthy volunteers consisting of six women and six men with an average age of 40. Each person participated in three rounds of exercise testing: once without a face mask, once with a surgical mask (blue mask for single use) and wearing a ‘filtering face piece 2’ or FFP2 mask (single use white mask which is believed to provide slightly better protection than a surgical mask) once.
While the volunteers used an exercise bike, the researchers measured their breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and the oxygen level in their blood.
Results of the tests showed that wearing a face mask had a small effect on the volunteers. For example, there was an average reduction of about ten percent in their ability to perform aerobic exercise (according to their “peak VO2,” which is a measure of their highest possible oxygen uptake).
The results also indicate that this reduction was probably due to the fact that it was slightly more difficult for the volunteers to breathe in and out through the masks.
Dr. Mapelli said, “This reduction is modest and, crucially, it suggests no risk to healthy people exercising with a face mask, even when doing their very best. While we wait for more people to be vaccinated against COIVD. -19, this finding could have practical implications for everyday life, for example by making it safer to open indoor gyms.
“However, we should not assume that the same is true for people with heart or lung disease. We need to do more research to investigate this question.”
The team is now studying the impact of wearing a face mask during daily activities, such as climbing stairs or doing housework, on healthy people and those with heart or lung disease.
Professor Agostoni added: “COVID-19 has hit our region and our hospital so hard, with devastating consequences on a personal, professional and organizational level. Despite this, it was one of many studies conducted with enthusiasm by our young researchers.
“We are particularly proud of this work as it began spontaneously during our spare time in the more depressing period of the current pandemic and our findings demonstrate the need for clinical investigation, even during an emergency.”
Professor Sam Bayat of the University Hospital of Grenoble, France, is President of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Clinical Respiratory Physiology, Exercise and Functional Imaging Group and was not involved in the study. He said: “There are still gaps in our knowledge on how to limit the spread of COVID-19, but we believe that face masks have a role to play and we are getting used to wearing face masks in public areas such as shops, trains and buses.
“While these results are preliminary and need to be confirmed in larger groups of people, they seem to suggest that face masks can also be safely worn for indoor sports and fitness activities, with an acceptable effect on performance.”
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