Effects of surgical masks on the responses to constant work-rate cycling performed at different intensity domains

We aimed at examining the impact of wearing surgical face masks on exercise performance. Thirty-two healthy adults (16 males and 16 females) completed a graded exercise test to measure peak oxygen uptake (VO_2peak) and the ventilatory threshold (VT). Then, on separate days, all participants performed resting and standardized protocols (moderate intensity: 25% infra-VT; severe intensity: 25% supra-VT) on two different conditions (with and without a surgical mask). The use of masks reduced both VO₂ and minute ventilation during moderate and severe exercise (p < 0.0001), and this effect was particularly pronounced during severe exercise. Time to exhaustion was also shortened by ~10% on the face mask condition (p = 0.014). In contrast, neither heart rate nor the respiratory exchange ratio was affected by masking. The submaximal VO₂ was similar between the two epochs of analysis obtained during moderate cycling (i.e. 3–6 min vs. 7–10 min) and this occurred similarly between conditions. In conclusion, the impact of the surgical masks on exercise capacity is particularly pronounced during severe exercise performed at constant work rate. Ultimately, this may implicate a considerable impairment of structured or even unstructured strenuous physical activity. Clinical Trials registration number: NCT04963049.