What you should know about exercising with a face mask on

Face masks have become a daily must for everyone since the outbreak of Covid-19. Wearing facial coverings is a way to protect yourself and the people you have had a contact with and an effective means to contain the spread. However, much has been reported about the discomfort that comes with it and some have even talked about the fatal consequences that arise with exercising with a mask on. So, what should we know about mask-on exercise?

The risk of wearing facial coverings while exercising mainly lies in the restriction of respiration. The higher the level of protection a mask can provide, as does N95, the greater the restriction it imposes on breathing. While breathing, we inhale air through the lungs where oxygen is absorbed via the alveolar gas exchange and then transported to various parts of our body through the circulatory system. After that, the exhausted gas, mainly carbon dioxide, is collected from throughout the body by the circulatory system and gets out of our body through exhalation. Wearing a mask increases resistance to flow in the airways, reduces oxygen intake and ventilation and puts a heavier strain on the circulatory and the respiratory systems. During strenuous exercise, as the respiratory and circulatory systems are already working under a high load, wearing a mask can easily induce acute respiratory, cardiovascular and brain diseases - even sudden death, which is even more dangerous for people with underlying diseases. Waterproof medical masks make it difficult for water to escape and as a result, they increase airway resistance over time which is more noticeable after prolonged exercise.

In addition, wearing a mask also prevents the exhaled carbon dioxide from dissipating and allows higher concentrations of carbon dioxide to be re-inhaled, therefore, making it harder to concentrate and slowing down reactions. The impact is more obvious in sports where high concentration and quick reactions are required such as mountain climbing and ball games.

We should decide whether to wear a mask or not in accordance with the sports venue, crowd number and exercise intensity. It is inadvisable to wear a mask while engaging in strenuous exercise like distance running and ball games. When a mask is required, shorter workout sessions and lower-impact exercises such as jogging and yoga are recommended. If you choose to work out in open space like going on an outing, you may reduce the time of mask-wearing as long as there is no massive congregation. You may also want to prevent heatstroke with proper water intake.