New Balance releases face mask designed for working out

The mask is designed to make it easy to breathe

(New Balance )

New Balance has released a new face mask designed for wearing while exercising.

The reusable mask, which is on sale in the US, is made from breathable fabric to make it comfortable to wear while working out.

The New Balance Active Face Mask is comprised of three layers of fabric - a mix of polyester, polypropylene and spandex - that have been treated with wicking properties so that sweat will be channeled away.

To avoid the mask slipping while the wearer is exercising, it features a moldable nose clamp and straps which run behind your head. It also comes in different sizes and its shape is designed to leave space between your mouth and the mask to help you breathe more easily.

The brand’s licensing manager said that New Balance used lessons it learnt from providing PPE to healthcare workers when designing the mask.

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“We have taken what we learned during that process about breathability and fit and applied it to the creation of a performance mask,” said Kristen Fischer.

Gyms remain closed in the UK until 12 April but, when they were previously open prior to the third national lockdown, face masks were not mandatory in England.

"We have not taken a decision to require the wearing of face masks in respect of gyms," culture secretary Oliver Dowden said last year.

However, Dowden added that a "whole series of mitigating measures" would be in place at gyms.

Though gym-goers aren’t required to wear a mask by law in England, the government encourages people to wear them while not exercising. In Scotland and Wales, masks must be worn in communal areas of gyms (except while exercising) by law.

Earlier this month, an Oxford University scientist advised that joggers should wear face coverings because running past others while “puffing and panting” could pose a “danger”.

“There is no doubt the virus is in the air, there is no doubt that you can catch it if you inhale, and that someone else has exhaled,” Trish Greenhalgh, professor in primary care health sciences at the University of Oxford, told Good Morning Britain.

“The exercising jogger - the puffing and panting jogger - you can feel their breath come and you can sometimes actually feel yourself inhale it, so there’s no doubt that there is a danger there.”

Face coverings are mandatory in a variety of venues including shops, public transport, sports stadiums and bowling alleys. Government rules stipulate that masks must cover both the nose and mouth and members of the public are advised to use masks with at least two layers of fabric.