Effects of Wearing a Face Mask During CrossFit Exercise

The Effects of Wearing a Face Mask During COVID-19 on Performance and Intensity Markers During CrossFit Exercise

Face masks are important for prevention of transmission and contracting viruses such as COVID-19. Gymnasiums have been identified as being susceptible to virus transmission; therefore, wearing face masks during exercise is important during pandemics. This study will evaluate performance and physiological stress during high-intensity exercise while wearing a face mask during Crossfit exercise training.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Dyspnea
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: High intensity interval training; Other: Continuous exercise training

Detailed Description

Face masks are important for prevention of transmission and contracting viruses such as COVID-19. Gymnasiums have been identified as being susceptible to virus transmission; therefore, wearing face masks during exercise is important during pandemics. This study will evaluate performance and physiological stress during high-intensity exercise while wearing a face mask during Crossfit exercise training. Twenty-four men and women will be randomly assigned to perform exercise during Crossfit exercise while wearing or not wearing a surgical face mask in a cross-over study. Two types of exercise sessions will be assessed: A high intensity interval session and a continuous exercise session. There will therefore be four exercise sessions evaluated in our randomized cross-over design: 1) high intensity exercise while wearing a face mask; 2) high intensity exercise with no face mask; 3) continuous exercise while wearing a face mask; 4) continuous exercise with no face mask. Outcome variables to be assessed include exercise performance during the sessions (total repetitions for pull-ups, push-ups, and squats during continuous exercise and total repetitions for box jumps during high-intensity exercise). Heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, and dyspnea will also be assessed throughout the exercise sessions.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 24
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Philip Chilibeck, Ph.D.; Phone Number: 1-306-343-6577; Email: phil.chilibeck@usask.ca

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Saskatchewan
    • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N5B2
      • University of Saskatchewan
      • Contact: Philip Chilibeck, Ph.D.; Phone Number: 1-306-343-6577; Email: phil.chilibeck@usask.ca
      • Contact: Scotty Butcher, Ph.D.; Phone Number: 1-306-966-1711; Email: scotty.butcher@usask.ca
      • Principal Investigator: Philip Chilibeck, Ph.D.
      • Principal Investigator: Scotty Butcher, Ph.D.

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Experienced with CrossFit exercise training

Exclusion Criteria:

• Contra-indications to exercise as identified by a screening questionnaire (the "Get Active Questionnaire")

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: CROSSOVER
• Masking: SINGLE

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: high intensity interval training wearing a face mask	Other: High intensity interval training; High intensity interval training: 6 sets x 8 bench press, 10 pull-ups, and maximal number of box jumps (each set lasting 60 sec, with 4 minutes rest between sets)
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: high intensity interval training wearing no face mask	Other: High intensity interval training; High intensity interval training: 6 sets x 8 bench press, 10 pull-ups, and maximal number of box jumps (each set lasting 60 sec, with 4 minutes rest between sets)
EXPERIMENTAL: continuous exercise training wearing a face mask	Other: Continuous exercise training; 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 body-weight squats, repeated for 30 minutes
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: continuous exercise training wearing no face mask	Other: Continuous exercise training; 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 body-weight squats, repeated for 30 minutes

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline in box jumps	Number of box jump repetitions during high intensity exercise	Up to 30 minutes
Change from baseline in pull-up, push-up, and squat repetitions	Number of repetitions performed for pull-ups, push-ups, and squats	Up to 30 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline in rating of perceived exertion	Rating of perceived exertion on a scale of 1-10 (Modified Borg Scale), a higher score indicates a greater perceived exertion	Up to 30 minutes
Change from baseline in heart rate	Heart rate (beats per minute)	Up to 30 minutes
Change from baseline in dyspnea	Dyspnea scale (0-10), a higher score indicates increased dyspnea	Up to 30 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Saskatchewan
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Scotty Butcher, Ph.D., University of Saskatchewan

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ANTICIPATED): June 11, 2022
• Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED): January 28, 2023
• Study Completion (ANTICIPATED): February 15, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 24, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 24, 2020
• First Posted (ACTUAL): December 30, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): May 17, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 14, 2022
• Last Verified: May 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Respiratory Tract Diseases; Respiration Disorders; Signs and Symptoms, Respiratory; Dyspnea
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2431

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No