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Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of surgical mask use during high intensity interval exercise (HIIE) on physiological and perceptual responses in hot and temperate environments., Methods: In a randomized fashion, 10 healthy participants completed two HIIE sessions in a 36°C hot (HUE-HOT) and two HIIE sessions in a 23°C temperate environment (HIIE-TEMP) while wearing (MASK) and not wearing a surgical mask (CON)., Results: No differences in physiological variables were found between MASK and CON during HIIE. An increase in perceived dyspnea and average RPE was found comparing MASK and CON. Interaction effects showed the greatest changes in perceived dyspnea and average RPE occurred in the HIIE-HOT/MASK condition., Conclusion: Wearing a surgical mask during HIIE increases the perception of dyspnea and exertion with the greatest effect occurring in hot environments., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: None declared., (Copyright © 2021 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

Activation changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) regions have been linked to acute exercise-induced improvements in cognitive performance. The type of exercise performed may influence PFC activation, and further impact cognitive function. The present study aimed to compare PFC activation during cognitive testing after moderate-intensity, high intensity, and yoga exercises, and to determine if PFC activation is linked to cognitive performance. Eight subjects (four male and four female), aged 35 ± 5 completed a control, high intensity, moderate intensity, and yoga exercises followed by administration of a cognitive task (NIH Toolbox Fluid Cognition). Left and right PFC activation (LPFC and RPFC, respectively) were evaluated by measuring hemoglobin difference (Hbdiff) changes during post-exercise cognitive assessment using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Activation during the cognitive test was higher in the LPFC after moderate intensity exercise compared to control, high intensity, and yoga (5.30 ± 6.65 vs. 2.26 ± 2.40, 2.50 ± 1.48, 2.41 ± 2.36 μM, p < 0.05, respectively). A negative relationship was detected between LPFC and processing speed after exercise. PFC activation did not align with cognitive performance. However, acute exercise, regardless of type, appeared to alter neural processing. Specifically, less PFC activation was required for a given neural output after exercise.

The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of energy expenditure (EE) estimation and step tracking abilities of six activity monitors (AMs) in relation to indirect calorimetry and hand counted steps and assess the accuracy of the AMs between high and low fit individuals in order to assess the impact of exercise intensity. Fifty participants wore the Basis watch, Fitbit Flex, Polar FT7, Jawbone, Omron pedometer, and Actigraph during a maximal graded treadmill test. Correlations, intra-class correlations, and t-tests determined accuracy and agreement between AMs and criterions. The results indicate that the Omron, Fitbit, and Actigraph were accurate for measuring steps while the Basis and Jawbone significantly underestimated steps. All AMs were significantly correlated with indirect calorimetry, however, no devices showed agreement (p < .05). When comparing low and high fit groups, correlations between AMs and indirect calorimetry improved for the low fit group, suggesting AMs may be better at measuring EE at lower intensity exercise.