Taping your mouth: Istagram hype or proven performance booster?
Facemask
It gained more notoriety during the Covid- 19 pandemic, when everyone had to wear facemask, sometimes also during sports: Taping your mouth for better performance. Although at the time, little was know about the effects of wearing facemasks on the spread of the virus, it is known that for some athletes exercising with a facemask (or taped mouth) can provide physical and mental benefits.
Physical benefits
Taping makes it more challenging to breath. It decreases the amount of air into the lunges, and less air means less oxygen in the bloodstream and muscles. You are out of breath quicker; you have less strength and energy; and lactic acid builds up faster. In a nutshell: Your performance goes down compared to not taping.
The body needs a few weeks to adjust and to become more efficient in the uptake and use of oxygen. Eventually it will adjust, and you will feel the benefits by the time you can exercise without taping: you will feel like Speedy Gonzales!
Mental benefits
Taping can also be a mental challenge: Your performance goes down; you cannot do what you would normally do; you might feel restricted physically and mentally. Your mind also needs a few weeks to adjust as long as you put in some work. Instead of fighting against it, hating it and framing it as a restriction, try to embrace it and see the ositive side of it: Your performance will benefit from it in the long run and you’re challenging yourself mentally. All aspects of health and growth!
Create your own health!©
