In almost a century, COVID-19 is the most infectious and deadly disease which has left no part of the world with its impact. There are many theories floating regarding the origin of the virus. Nonetheless, the virus has hurt the human kind in many ways which are unthinkable and unimaginable. The world has been categorized into pre and post COVID. Our lives have changed in several ways. There is not a single one who hasn’t lost any known one due to COVID. Also, we still don’t know how long this phase will continue. As the third wave is on the onset with the new variant Omicron. The governments of the day are trying their level best to vaccinate the masses at a faster rate to avoid the third wave. COVID appropriate behavior is must to avoid this deadly infectious virus. The guidelines regarding the safety protocol are issued by W.H.O. and other concerned bodies from time to time. Social distancing was promoted and human-to-human contact was discouraged to control the spread of the virus. Every nation has imposed lockdown and all the economic and social activities were put on hold. The World was brought to a standstill with this deadly virus. Participation in Sports activities was also discouraged and the Tokyo Olympics had to be postponed for a year as large no. of spectators is well known to act as potential virus spreaders. In order to follow corona protocols of COVID appropriate behavior wearing of face mask was mandatory for all. This has led to a discussion on the issue of wearing facemask during outdoor physical activities. A sample of hockey and football players was analyzed to investigate the physiological effect of wearing a facemask during physical activities.

To find out the physiological effect of wearing a facemask during exercise, a controlled laboratory study of 20 players of various sporting backgrounds was conducted. They underwent graded treadmill walking at 6 km per hour for 5 min with and without wearing a N-95 mask in a randomized order with sufficient resting time in between the trials. The heart rate and the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded.

Results: The heart rate and RPE of subjects wearing a facemask was 143.3 beats per minute and 7.05 respectively. In those without a facemask, the results were a heart rate of 129.7 beats per minute and a RPE of 5.75.

Conclusion: The laboratory study to investigate the physiological effect of wearing a facemask found that it significantly elevated heart rate and perceived exertion. Those participating in exercise need to be aware that face-masks increase the physiological burden of the body, especially in those with multiple underlying comorbidities.