Does wearing a mask while exercising amid COVID-19 pandemic affect hemodynamic and hematologic function among healthy individuals? Implications of mask modality, sex, and exercise intensity.

Objectives: We investigated how wearing a mask - and its modality (surgical vs. N95) - affect hemodynamic and hematologic function in males and females across two exercise intensities (submaximal (SUB) and maximal (MAX)).

Methods: 144 individuals participated in the present study and were randomly allocated to three mask groups of 48 (N95, SURGICAL, and NO MASK) with two exercise subgroups for each mask group (MAX, = 24; SUB, = 24) for both sexes.