Effect of Cloth Face Mask Wearing on Exhaustive Incremental Running Among Young Men

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of wearing a cloth face mask on physiological responses during exercise and running performance. Nine healthy men performed a graded load treadmill running test until exhaustion while wearing a cloth face mask (FM) and without a mask (CON). Minute ventilation and oxygen uptake were measured using a mass spectrometry metabolic analyzer, and mouth pressure (Pm) was measured and calculated as an integral Pm to assess respiratory muscle effort. Maximal minute ventilation was significantly lower in the FM condition than in the CON condition (p<0.05), while an integral Pm was significantly higher in the FM condition than in the CON condition (p<0.05), and Time to exhaustion tended to be lower in the FM condition (p=0.07). However, VO_2max was not significantly different between conditions. Our results suggest that in healthy young men, wearing a cloth facemask did not affect aerobic capacity even though impairing pulmonary hyperventilation.