Department of Physical Education, General Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-si 17104, Republic of Korea.
Department of Sports Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-si 17104, Republic of Korea.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 May 9;20(10):5757. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20105757.
Protective masks impose variable breathing resistance (BR) on the wearer and may adversely affect exercise performance, yet existing literature shows inconsistent results under different types of masks and metabolic demands. The present study was undertaken to determine whether added BR impairs cardiopulmonary function and aerobic performance during exercise. Sixteen young healthy men completed a graded exercise test on a cycle ergometer under the four conditions of BR using a customized breathing resistor at no breathing resistance (CON), 18.9 (BR1), 22.2 (BR2), and 29.9 Pa (BR3). The results showed that BR significantly elevates respiratory pressure ( < 0.001) and impairs ventilatory response to graded exercise (reduced V; < 0.001) at a greater degree with an increased level of BR which caused mild to moderate exercise-induced hypoxemia (final mean SpO: CON = 95.6%, BR1 = 94.4%, BR2 = 91.6%, and BR3 = 90.6%; < 0.001). Especially, such a marked reduction in SpO was significantly correlated with maximal oxygen consumption at the volitional fatigue (r = 0.98, < 0.001) together with exaggerated exertion and breathing discomfort ( < 0.001). In conclusion, added BR commonly experienced when wearing tight-fitting facemasks and/or respirators could significantly impair cardiopulmonary function and aerobic performance at a greater degree with an increasing level of BR.
防护口罩会给佩戴者带来不同程度的呼吸阻力（BR），并可能对运动表现产生不利影响，但现有文献表明，在不同类型的口罩和代谢需求下，结果并不一致。本研究旨在确定增加 BR 是否会在运动过程中损害心肺功能和有氧运动能力。16 名年轻健康男性在无呼吸阻力（CON）、18.9（BR1）、22.2（BR2）和 29.9 Pa（BR3）的 4 种 BR 条件下，使用定制呼吸电阻器在自行车功量计上完成了分级运动测试。结果表明，BR 显著增加呼吸压力（<0.001），并以更大的程度损害通气对分级运动的反应（减少 V；<0.001），随着 BR 水平的增加，导致轻度至中度运动性低氧血症（最终平均 SpO：CON=95.6%，BR1=94.4%，BR2=91.6%，BR3=90.6%；<0.001）。特别是，SpO 的这种显著降低与最大耗氧量在自愿疲劳时显著相关（r=0.98，<0.001），同时还伴有过度用力和呼吸不适（<0.001）。总之，当佩戴紧密贴合的面罩和/或呼吸器时，通常会增加 BR，这会显著增加 BR 水平，从而更大程度地损害心肺功能和有氧运动能力。
