ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2022 October;62(10):1329-37

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.21.12668-4

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Exercising at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: acute physiological, perceptual and performance responses of wearing face masks during sports activity

Roberto MODENA ¹ ✉, Alessandro FORNASIERO ^{1, 2}, Alexa CALLOVINI ^{1, 2}, Aldo SAVOLDELLI ¹, Barbara PELLEGRINI ^{1, 2}, Federico SCHENA ^{1, 2}, Lorenzo BORTOLAN ^{1, 2}

¹ CeRiSM, Sport Mountain and Health Research Center, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; ² Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic requires the adoption of strict preventive measures, such as wearing a protective face mask, but few studies investigated its impact during exercise. We investigated the effects of wearing a protective face mask while exercising at different intensities and verified whether differences between two types of protective face masks exist.
METHODS: Twenty subjects performed 4-min running at 8 km•h^-1 and at 10 km•h^-1, 8 x 90-m Intermittent running bouts and the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level-1, while wearing either a surgical mask, a sports-reusable mask or no mask. Physiological responses (HR, [La], SpO2), overall and breathlessness perceived exertion and YYIRT1-distance were assessed.
RESULTS: Breathlessness RPE was greater with surgical than without mask at the end of the run at 8 km•h^-1 (+7.18 [3.21, 11.50]) and with both surgical and sports-reusable mask than without mask at the end of the run at 10 km•h^-1 (+8.09 [4.09, 12.60] and +8.21 [4.53, 12.70]) and intermittent exercise (+11.10 [6.41, 16.10] and +10.50 [6.18, 15.30]). Overall RPE was greater with surgical than without mask at the end of the run at 8 (+3.71 [1.15, 6.91]) and 10 km•h^-1 (+5.29 [2.26, 8.85]). Furthermore, YYIRT1 performance was lower with surgical (-150 m [44, 240]) and sports-reusable mask (-201 m [108, 286]) than without mask.
CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of exercise intensity and mask type, wearing a protective face mask mostly affects perceptual responses, also causing a performance reduction during maximal exercise. These findings must be considered when prescribing/practicing exercise while wearing a protective face mask.

KEY WORDS: Coronavirus; Sports; Respiratory protective devices; Physical functional performance; Perception