COVID-19
Exercising
with Masks:
Safe
or Not?
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, we all have to wear masks whenever we venture outside our homes. While this may
already feel uncomfortable enough at work or while walking around the shops, it can really become unpleasant when one
tries to run – especially when doing speed work and breathing heavily. Two researchers at Tuks have offered useful tips to
sports enthusiasts hoping to get back into action as the world adjusts to a new normal.
It is advisable to keep using cloth masks during
exercise, even though it may pose some unique
challenges. So say Professor Christa Janse van
Rensburg, head of Sports Medicine in the Faculty of
Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria (UP),
and Dr Jessica Hamuy Blanco, co-authors of a blog
article that has now been shared by the British Journal
of Sports Medicine and mentioned in the New York
Times.
The two UP colleagues wrote the article in order to
share their expert opinions and provide support in
times of uncertainty. “I am a sports enthusiast and
like to be active. I am also a responsible citizen who
needs to protect myself and others from getting ill
or spreading the disease,” says Prof. van Rensburg.
“When the South African government regulated
wearing masks in public spaces, questions arose
around whether people should wear a face mask
during exercise, and what should clinicians who,
like myself, work in the field of sports medicine, be
advising.”
“There are quite a few things, including guidelines
on athletes’ safe return to sport, advice on gradually
returning to previous fitness levels, ensuring nutrition
and mental health, and that athletes are sleeping
restfully. Athletes and professionals working in the
field need to be aware of symptoms of COVID-19,
the protocols to follow in case of symptoms, and the
athlete’s subsequent return to sport after recovery,”
she says.
Essential Masks
Their recommendations come as many communitybased
measures to control the spread of COVID-19
have relied on the implementation of measures such
as social distancing, hand hygiene and wearing
non-medical face masks in public areas. Explaining
the rationale behind this, their blog post advises the
wearing of masks during exercise, and reads, “This
recommendation is based on the concept of ‘source
control’ to prevent droplets produced by the person
wearing the mask from spreading to other people,
or onto surfaces. It is much easier to reduce droplet
spread by blocking larger droplets as they come out
of a person’s mouth, than it is to block them once
they have dissipated and become much smaller.”
Also discussed in the blog is how to handle items
such as masks and buffs during exercise without
creating any further risk of infection. One of the ways
suggested by the clinicians is the use of two masks
or buffs, in case one gets wet during the exercise.
The clinicians also advise that maintaining social
distancing while exercising is vital, as well as ensuring
you have hand sanitisers within reach at all times.
In the blog, Prof van Rensburg and Dr Blanco
advise that someone suffering from a febrile illness
should not be exercising at all, especially with a
mask on. Elaborating further on this idea, Dr Blanco
explains that the combination of the illness itself
and the impact of wearing a mask could result in the
person developing complications. “When a person
is ill and has a fever, there are various physiological
mechanisms at play that will increase the risk of
serious complications if the person exercises.”
“A fever occurs as a result of an altered temperature
in response to illness. This can affect the body’s
appropriate temperature regulation during physical
activity and increases the chances of dangerous
complications, such as heatstroke. Both illness and
physical activity, particularly at high intensities, are
Images: Pexels
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ISSUE 132 JULY 2020 / www.modernathlete.co.za