USING A FACE MASK DOES NOT AFFECT HEART RATE, PERCEPTION OF EFFORT AND PERFORMANCE IN DIFFERENT CROSSFIT® WORKOUTS

Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify the effect of wearing a face mask on heart rate (HR), rating perceived exertion of the session (sRPE) and performance in short and long duration CrossFit® workouts. Fifteen healthy men (26.4 ± 3.4 years) performed two standardized CrossFit® workouts, one of short duration ('Fran') and one of long duration ('Fight Gone Bad'- FGB) with and without a face mask. HR was recorded throughout each workout and during a 30-min recovery period. sRPE was also measured 30-min after the end of each workout. Performance was measured by the time spent on the 'Fran' and the number of repetitions on the 'FGB'. The results showed that regardless of the training session, mean HR (92.3% of HRmax), perceived exertion (7.0-8.0 A.U.) and performance (Fran: 5.5 min; FGB: 286.5 repetitions) were not different with or without a face mask. The results of the present study indicated that the use of a face mask did not affect HR, sRPE and performance in short-term and long-term CrossFit® workouts.