Face Mask Wearing Causes Reduced Attention And Slower Speed In Athletes
Reason #78 that Face Masks Hurt Kids
Dear Reader,
The wearing of a face mask to protect against a respiratory virus is an act of grand deceit. It is a behavior that defies research on the topic. Wearing a face mask, as this article (one of many) points to — is unsafe to do and is ineffective.
Until the narrative around mandatory masking has changed, each day by 6am Eastern, I will both post here and send out a science-based reason why no one should wear a face mask.
I ask that you help me circulate these pieces to those around you who you believe could most benefit from them. It is important not to remain silent on this topic. These are important discussions to be having with friends, family members, business owners, healthcare practitioners, public servants, and others in the community.
-Allan
When trying to determine the effects of masks on a child’s cognition, we can look to other areas of life that are easier to measure, in order to see if impacts on cognition should even be a concern.
There are theories that wearing “training masks” intended to mimic altitude training, may benefit athletes. This theory has been used to glibly dismiss the growing body of evidence around the harm done to children by exercising in a face mask. Effectively, people arguing from this point of view claim that face masks help strengthen a child’s body.
The body of available evidence shows that face masks should not be worn during exercise. There is physiological evidence against the wearing a face mask during exercise, and impacts on cognition are a concern, as can be seen from studies done on elite athletes. Evidence shows face masks are harmful, and training masks may be harmful as well.
In an April 20, 2021 article entitled “Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Everyday Use and Free of Potential Hazards?”1 Kai Kisielinski writes that training masks do not have proven performance enhancing benefit:
“According to the literature, performance-enhancing effects of masks regarding cardiovascular optimization and improvement of oxygen uptake capacity cannot be proven.
“For example, in an experimental reference study (12 subjects per group), the training mask that supposedly mimics altitude training (ETM: elevation training mask) only had training effects on the respiratory muscles. However, mask wearers showed significantly lower oxygen saturation values (SpO2%) during exercise (SpO2 of 94% for mask wearers versus 96% for mask-less, p < 0.05),2 which can be explained by an increased dead space volume and increased resistance during breathing. The measured oxygen saturation values were significantly lower than the normal values in the group of mask wearers, which indicates a clinical relevance.
“The proven adaptation effect of the respiratory muscles in healthy athletes2 clearly suggests that masks have a disruptive effect on respiratory physiology. In another intervention study on mask use in weightlifters, researchers documented statistically significant effects of reduced attention (questionnaire recording, Likert scale) and a slowed maximum speed of movement detectable by means of sensors (both significant at p < 0.001), leading the researchers to conclude that mask use in sport is not without risks. As a secondary finding, they also detected a significant decrease in oxygen saturation SpO2 when performing special weight-lifting exercises (‘back squats’) in the mask group after only 1 minute of exercise compared to the mask-free group (p < 0.001).”3
While wearing a face mask is harmful to elite athletes, this may be even more harmful to those who are untrained or sick. As Kisielinski points out:
“The proven tendency of the masks to shift the chemical parameter oxygen saturation SpO2 in a pathological direction (lower limit value 95%) may well have clinical relevance in untrained or sick individuals. Sports medicine confirmed an increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) retention, with an elevation in CO2 partial pressure in the blood with larger respiratory dead space volumes.”4
Further evidence from studies of the impact of masks on one’s ability to exercise, indicates harm on children, the elderly, and the pre-diseased. Kisielinski continues:
“In fact, dead space-induced CO2 retention while wearing a mask during exercise was also experimentally proven. The effects of a short aerobic exercise under N95 masks were tested on 16 healthy volunteers. A significantly increased end-expiratory partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PETCO2) with plus 8 mmHg (p < 0.001) was found.5 The increase in blood carbon dioxide (CO2) in the mask wearers under maximum load was plus 14% CO2 for surgical masks and plus 23% CO2 for N95 masks, an effect that may well have clinical relevance in the pre-diseased, elderly and children, as these values strongly approached the pathological range.”5
Recognizing the harm that can be done, even to the high end of elite athletes, by face masks, adds to the body of evidence on why neither children nor anyone else should be encouraged to wear a face mask, let alone forced into one.
Kisielinski K, Giboni P, Prescher A, et al. Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Everyday Use and Free of Potential Hazards? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021;18(8):4344. doi:10.3390/ijerph18084344.
Cress ML, Forrester K, Probst L, Foster C, Doberstein S, Porcari JP. Effect of Wearing the Elevation Training Mask on Aerobic Capacity, Lung Function, and Hematological Variables. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2016;48:1040-1041. doi:10.1249/01.mss.0000488131.38685.16.
Jagim, A.R.; Dominy, T.A.; Camic, C.L.; Wright, G.; Doberstein, S.; Jones, M.T.; Oliver, J.M. Acute Effects of the Elevation Training Mask on Strength Performance in Recreational Weight Lifters. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2018, 32, 482–489.
Smolka, L.; Borkowski, J.; Zaton, M. The Effect of Additional Dead Space on Respiratory Exchange Ratio and Carbon Dioxide Production Due to Training. J. Sports Sci. Med. 2014, 13, 36–43.
Epstein, D.; Korytny, A.; Isenberg, Y.; Marcusohn, E.; Zukermann, R.; Bishop, B.; Minha, S.; Raz, A.; Miller, A. Return to Training in the COVID-19 Era: The Physiological Effects of Face Masks during Exercise. Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports 2020.
The bestselling book "Face Masks In One Lesson" by Allan Stevo describes how to never wear a face mask again. The follow-up to the book, "Face Masks Hurt Kids," describes why to never wear a face mask again. We must defeat the awful, narrative around the mandates.
Examples of how face masks hurt kids will be posted to the Lockdown Land Substack each morning by 6am Eastern until the narrative around this ineffective and harmful medical intervention has shifted. Face masks are, in fact, not just harmful to children. Face masks are harmful to everyone. Thank you so much for helping me circulate this research.