Despite the huge leaps forward in vaccinating the country, for now, face masks remain the best means of stopping the spread of COVID-19. By now, we're all used to donning a mask before we go into a supermarket or head out on public transport - but a question mark still hangs over whether we should wear one during exercise.
While masks won't be mandatory on gym floors when they reopen across the nation on April 12 - some chains may ask you to wear one while entering the gym and in communal areas like changing rooms - wearing a mask while getting a sweat on is totally safe for healthy people, according to a new study published in the European Respiratory Journal.
"We know that the main route of transmission for coronavirus is via droplets in the breath and it's possible that breathing harder during exercise could facilitate transmission, especially indoors," says Dr Elisabetta Salvioni from Monzino Cardiology Centre, who worked on the research. If wearing a mask while working out helps to keep transmission rates low, that can only be a good thing.
Dr Salvioni and the team tested the breathing, heart activity and exercise performance of six women and six men with an average age of 40 while they were using an exercise bike. Each took part in three rounds: once without a face mask, once wearing a blue single-use surgical mask, and once wearing a white 'filtering face piece 2' or FFP2 mask.
While the participants experienced a small reduction in their ability to perform aerobic exercise - around 10 per cent, according to their 'peak VO2' - none of the results indicated any risk to health. This indicates masks can be worn safely even during the most intense sweat sesh, therefore helping to reduce COVID-19 transmission in an indoor gym setting.
"This reduction is modest and, crucially, it does not suggest a risk to healthy people doing exercise in a face mask, even when they are working to their highest capacity," says Dr Massimo Mapelli from Monzino Cardiology Centre, who worked on the study.
"While we wait for more people to be vaccinated against COVID-19, this finding could have practical implications in daily life, for example potentially making it safer to open indoor gyms."
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