The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released some guidelines for exercise, and this week NBC News explained them to us. Among the most notable guidelines, as NBC emphasized, is charging for wearing a mask while you exercise at the gym.
Based on a study of a COVID-19 leak related to a gym in Chicago in late summer 2020, the CDC concluded: “To reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in exercise facilities, employees and customers should wear a mask, even during discharge – intense activities (10) while ≥6 feet away. “
Follow Science?
Considering that many careful followers of the CDC rules pride themselves on “following science”, it is important to note that this specific guideline does not appear to be in line with science at all. Several studies have shown that wearing a mask during strenuous physical activity causes great harm to the body.
A study, published in Clinical Research in Cardiology, revealed that “cardiopulmonary exercise capacity and comfort are reduced by surgical masks and highly impaired by FFP2 / N95 face masks in healthy individuals”.
The study measured the parameters of pulmonary function and comfort of 12 active and healthy men when they performed three stress tests, one without a mask, one with a surgical mask and the third with an N95 mask.
“Medical facial masks have a marked negative impact on cardiopulmonary capacity that significantly impairs strenuous physical and occupational activities,” concluded the study results. “In addition, medical masks significantly impair the quality of life for their user. These effects should be considered in relation to the potential protective effects of facial masks on viral transmissions. “
Another study published in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Sports Medicine monitored the heart rate of 23 healthy people from diverse sports backgrounds while walking on a treadmill for six minutes at four kilometers an hour, once with a surgical mask and one without.
“The laboratory study to investigate the physiological effect of wearing a face mask found that it significantly increased heart rate and perceived exertion,” concluded the study. “Those who participate in exercise need to be aware that the masks increase the physiological load on the body, especially in those with multiple underlying comorbidities.”
Even the World Health Organization made a point last year to rebuke the conventional wisdom that people should wear masks during exercises, including this on the WHO Mythbusters page. “FACT: People should NOT wear masks while exercising,” said the WHO, noting that masks can “reduce the ability to breathe comfortably”.
Although people must still maintain social distance during exercise, WHO said that sweat can not only saturate people’s masks, making breathing difficult, but also “promotes the growth of microorganisms”.
Extremes of absurd mask
As unscientific as the CDC’s new guidelines may be, NCB News did not just report the changes. He also talked to some of the so-called experts and offered us some suggestions of his own coronavirusey fitness – and they are absurd.
Jessica Steier and Andrea Love, host of “The Unbised Science Podcast”, “explained that when you exercise, you breathe faster and harder. This means that you are exhaling and breathing in a larger volume of air, ”said NBC News. “In turn, the relative risk of exposure to Covid’s droplets can be increased compared to standing in the same space. And physical detachment alone will not protect you. “
It is immediately clear that neither Steier, Love, nor anyone else in the NBC editorial chain is exercising – or at least they hope their readers won’t do that, making these laughable recommendations with a straight face. Of course, you inhale and exhale “a great deal of air” when you’re working out. That’s one of the reasons why wearing a mask while you do this is so silly.
The same goes for CDC’s white coats, which say: “Remove your mask if it gets wet with sweat and replace it with a clean mask during exercise. Have more than one mask on hand so you can easily replace a wet mask with a dry one. “Have they ever been to the gym? To replace your mask every time the sweat “moistens”, you better bring a pack of family-friendly surgical masks if you want to go through a complete cardiovascular circuit.
It gets even better. One of the exercise tips from NBC News is: “It is best to avoid bathing, if possible, as you cannot wet the masks – otherwise they will lose their effectiveness. If you need to bathe in the gym, bathe as soon as possible and only remove the mask when your face and head are wet. “
When we advise the use of a mask in the shower, we approach the level of insanity masked by the “glory holes”.
Public Health Seattle spent weeks embarrassing you about visiting your grandmother on Thanksgiving Day, claiming that you would kill her if you did. However, they also posted COVID sex advice online telling you to prepare a homemade glory hole with a shower curtain. You can’t make that up.https: //t.co/nMM9nwWvpk
– ((((Jason Rantz))) on Radio KTTH (@jasonrantz) December 8, 2020
In addition to ignoring science and even beyond the crazy recommendations themselves, however, the worst part of the NBC article is the way in which this type of “journalism” serves to increase our response to the pandemic to an absurd degree. Capitalizing on people’s fear and their impulse to control the behavior of others, NBC offers these suggestions that take the CDC’s absurd guidelines and lead them to an extreme ridicule.
This serves to shape public opinion in a useless way, which not only exacerbates the already restrictive mitigation measures when legislators and bureaucrats swallow it, but also increases social pressure where nothing is due. The last thing we need is more Karens mask interrupting our cardiovascular routines – you know, the ones we use to vent the annoying COVID Karens.