Effects of running with surgical masks on cardiopulmonary function in healthy male university students.
Nozomi Hamachi, Naoya Kawabata, Yukari Horimoto and 2 others
PMID 38832218WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy young men ran to exhaustion on a treadmill wearing surgical masks.
They stopped sooner than without masks, despite breathing and heart rates dropping. Their maximum oxygen use did not change, suggesting the mask limited how long they could run rather than their total aerobic capacity.
Key findings
01Running with a surgical mask significantly reduced exercise duration compared to running without a mask.
02Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) remained unchanged when wearing a mask, even though ventilation, respiratory rate, and heart rate were significantly lower.
03Participants reported significantly lower ratings of perceived exertion for their lower extremities when wearing a mask.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only included 20 healthy young male university students, so the results cannot be generalized to women, older adults, or people with health conditions. The researchers did not measure how much resistance the mask actually added to breathing, which might vary between mask types. The exercise test was short (under 10 minutes), so it may not reflect how masks affect longer, steady-state activities like walking or jogging.
Declared interests
The research was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that because maximum oxygen uptake did not change, wearing a mask is harmless for everyone. This finding applies only to healthy young men in short, maximal tests; it does not prove that masks are safe for individuals with heart or lung disease during prolonged exercise.