In order to be able to practice sport safely, both for you and for other people, it is important to always wear the mask. But many runners have doubts about the mask’s impact on sports performance.
The doubts have been resolved by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan of Canada, who have done a study to check whether actually running with masks affects performance. Here we share the results of the study.
Wearing a mask while running does NOT affect performance.
At least, this is the conclusion that those responsible for the study conducted at the University of Saskatchewan have reached. They have detected that the mask does not affect performance, but also the saturation of oxygen in the blood, another issue that was of great concern to runners.
Healthy adults will not be affected by their performance or the oxygenation of the muscles when they perform physical exercise. Because wearing a mask when running causes negative effects on oxygen saturation or heart rate. Although it is important to know the techniques of how to breathe when running.
To carry out this study, the researchers analyzed 14 people, 7 women and 7 men, who had different physical abilities: some regular athletes and beginners did not usually exercise. To carry out the analysis of the data, the participants used two types of masks: one surgical and one cloth with filters. In addition, the results were also compared with the same exercise without wearing a mask so that we could check whether oxygen performance or saturation was affected in some way.
The tests were carried out on different days to allow the body to recover from exercise and thus not to be altered the results. The conclusions reached after this study have been published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and indicate that running with mask does not affect performance or oxygen levels.
How do you choose a good mask to run?
Now that you know the answer to your question, we’re going to give you some tips so you can choose your runner mask. You should take into account the following:
1. A comfortable mask. In this way, it will not irritate or touch it at all times to place it well on your face.
2. It should be clean. Of course, you should choose a mask that’s in good condition so that it can truly prevent the spread of viruses.
3. Cloth or hygienic. You can use either a cloth mask, which is therefore washable, or a hygienic mask from a pharmacy. The final choice will depend on your tastes and preferences.
In addition, it is always recommended to wear more than one in case you break or in case excess sweat causes the fabric to start irritating your skin or to be annoying. Keep in mind that the mask can be moistened due to sports practice, so you would always have to take over replacement to ensure you do the sport 100% safely.