The Effect Of Facial Mask Wearing On Anaerobic Performance

The use of facial masks to deter COVID-19 contamination has been prevalent since March 2020. During this time, virtually all mask related research has examined the impact on aerobic performance, but few have evaluated anaerobic performance. PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate the impact of wearing standard COVID precaution face masks on anaerobic performance. METHODS: Eighteen recreationally active college aged participants (age 21.3 ± 1.2 yr, ht. 168 ± 11.4 cm, body mass 70.5 ± 14.7 kg, 9 males, 9 females) performed a Wingate Anaerobic Power Test (WAPT) on a Lode Cycle Ergometer loaded at 100 g/kg. Two WAPT familiarization trials preceded the random assignment of three cross-over conditions with a minimum of 48 hours between all trials. Trial conditions included: no mask (NM), surgical mask (S), and N95 mask (N95). Blood lactate (BL) was determined by finger stick and obtained three minutes post-WAPT. Statistical analysis by ANOVA( p < .05) was applied to these data. RESULTS: - Peak Power (PP) watts Mean Power (MP) watts Fatigue Index (FI) % Blood Lactate (BL) mmol NM 914 ± 286 609 ± 173 55.8 ± 9.2 10.9 ± 2.2 S 889 ± 277 605 ± 176 55.4 ± 8.7 11.4 ± 2.2 N95 876 ± 280 595 ± 172 53.4 ± 8.9 10.5 ± 2.4 There was no significant difference among all trials for any variable. CONCLUSION: If facial mask wearing were found to be effective to reduce respiratory contamination among athletes, then the mandated use of either a surgical mask or N95 mask should not have a negative impact on anaerobic performance. Mask wearers may perceive a restriction to respiratory exchange, but this study provides no evidence of a reduction in short duration, high intensity performance.