Wearing a Mask While Running Sucks. You Might Have to Do It Anyway.
By: Christie Aschwanden
Tags: Fitness, Running, Coronavirus, Exercise, Life

Rules and recommendations aside, what’s the scientific rationale for wearing a mask when working out in the outdoors, and what are the practical considerations?

Before we get to those questions, let’s be very clear: A workout in public is never more important than public health. Exercise is especially important for physical and mental health during this anxious time, but it must be done in a way that doesn’t endanger others in your community, says Melissa Perry, a professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University. If we want to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading, everyone — whether or not they have symptoms — needs to take steps to avoid transmission, and that includes those who need their daily run through the park.

The dos and don’ts of exercising in a mask

To be effective, the mask needs to cover both the nose and mouth.

Whether you’re required to wear a mask while working out or if it’s your personal decision to do so, the mask needs to cover both your nose and mouth to be effective. It doesn’t need to be so tight that it’s pressing into your face, but it should be snug enough so that if you sneeze or cough nothing is projected outside of it, Perry says. The purpose of the mask isn’t to protect you from catching the virus, it’s to prevent the aerosols coming out of your nose and mouth from being projected at other people.

After your workout, it’s very important to take a mask off by the ear loops, to avoid touching the part of the mask that accumulates respiratory droplets. Once you’ve been wearing a mask, think of it like a used tissue — you don’t want to touch it or leave it lying around. As soon as you’re done, the mask should go straight in the trash or the wash, Perry says. Never reuse a mask without washing it.

Research suggests that cotton is the best fabric for a mask, and having more than one layer of fabric makes a mask more effective for everyday use. But for exercising, you’ll be best off using a face covering that isn’t so thick that you can’t easily breathe through it. The trick is balancing comfort with protection. “If you can see light through it, it probably is not providing the filtering protection you need,” Perry says.

Does wearing a mask enhance the training benefit you get from exercise, by training your lungs or chest muscles to get used to working harder to inhale a sufficient breath? University of British Columbia exercise scientist William Sheel says this is wishful thinking.

Some people have asked me whether wearing a mask might actually enhance the training benefit you get from exercise, by training your lungs or chest muscles to get used to working harder to inhale a sufficient breath. Another idea is that a mask might serve as a proxy for altitude training, by cutting down on the amount of oxygen getting to your lungs.

But Sheel says this is wishful thinking: “I don’t see a physiological rationale here.” Altitude training works by putting you in a state of hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency, which in turn stimulates your body to increase its production of red blood cells. There’s no reason to think that breathing through a mask would replicate that effect, Sheel says.

Over the years, various mask products marketed at athletes have promised to replicate high-altitude training, but these are “one of the biggest scams ever imparted on the exercise community,” says Benjamin Levine, director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. “Yes, a mask might make it a little harder to breathe, but wearing a mask doesn’t change your oxygen at all.”

The drawbacks

Masks can have downsides too, especially when worn during vigorous exercise.