Wearing Masks While Running: Does It Affect Performance?

Ever wondered how wearing a face mask affects your running performance and thinking skills? Let's dive into a study that explored this very question. Fourteen high school students, who were all athletic and not smokers, volunteered for this experiment. They ran a special 20-meter fitness test called the MSFT, both with and without a cloth face mask, on two different occasions. Before and after each test, they rated how hard they felt the run was and did a visual attention test called the d2 test.

Interestingly, when the students wore a mask, they couldn't run as fast or as far as they usually could. Their maximum oxygen intake, or VO2max, also dropped. Plus, their concentration and focus seemed to be affected because they made more errors during the d2 test while wearing a mask. So, if you need to wear a mask while running, it might be best to save the high-intensity runs for when you can breathe Easy. Next time you lace up your sneakers, keep this in mind!

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