Specialists on the same page don’t agree on whether doing exercises with a mouth mask is dangerous. According to one, it is dangerous because the oxygen supply is disrupted, according to the other it is a bit uncomfortable.
Sports physician Luk Buyse, affiliated with VUB, sees no problem and recommends that government measures be respected. The athletic performance could be a little lower and not fun to wear, “but I would accept it under the circumstances anyway,” he says. “There is no danger, there is adequate ventilation.”
Other doctors are less convinced of this. Tom Tieulingx, president of the Flemish Athletic Physicians Association, said he doesn’t think a sport wearing a mask is a good idea, he said on Radio 1. “For people unfamiliar with the sport, it can be a bit dangerous not to wear it. You don’t get enough of it. Oxygen.
Teulingkx specifically warns people with conditions such as asthma. He says that healthy athletes will not have many problems. But it is definitely better to do more intense exercise without a mouth mask. If you must, then adjust your efforts.
Exercise physiologist Peter Hespel feels the same way. “ For untrained athletes who follow a ‘startup’ program because they are overweight or smoking, such a mask will obstruct breathing, which can cause hyperventilation, dizziness and fainting, ” he says. Time.
However, Hespel believes that a mouth mask could also be an issue for trained athletes, such as cycling tourists. He states that we usually breathe from five to six liters of air per minute. With efforts, this increases to fifty to one hundred and fifty liters. “The effort is exponentially heavier, so there is a risk of hypoxia.”
The World Health Organization strongly discourages the use of a mouth mask during training. The organization says keeping a distance from each other while playing sports is an important precaution.
Where face masks really make the difference
Outdoors, when we’re on the move, the mask has very little added value. Until we meet someone. In crowded places is a must.
Read more about where masks make a difference and where they don’t.
