Valentin Bosioc
Fitness is not as simple as it seems. If you workout without supervision and the help of a professional coach, you’re exposed to a high risk of injury. The risks are even greater wearing glasses because of weights falling on you or a careless movement can result in breaking them and a pair of glasses is neither simple nor cheap to replace.
Regardless of the purpose with which you started fitness, whether you want to lose weight or to grow muscle mass, good eyesight is necessary to protect yourself, but also to make sure that you adopt the correct posture when exercising!
So for those who are visually impaired and want to work to stay in shape, the question arises: do I do sports with contact lenses or glasses ?
“Your eyes are made to work together as a team and when it comes to sports. I can not think of any sport or physical activity except swimming or alpine skiing, where the conditions could be somewhat unbeneficial to wear contact lenses” , says Dr. Beatrice Voiculescu, Specialist Ophthalmologist in Optics videti .
Studies confirm that contact lenses are the better choice when it comes to fitness. In a study initiated by Gallup , it was found that 81% of people with glasses and contact lenses, preferred to wear contact lenses during exercise.
“Contact lenses are very useful, if not mandatory for cardio workouts with medium or high impact type HIIT. The biggest disadvantages of wearing glasses for these types of exercises are the danger of losing or falling off and breaking them. In the best case scenario they can distort or, in the worst case, can hurt you.
For running, aerobics or other high impact workouts involving a rapid succession of movements, glasses are more impractical. They can cause great discomfort, especially when the type of exercise requires intense effort and a lot of sweat.
The only type of training that glasses could be used normally is weight training or training condition in which movements are without impact and some slower. However and in this case are there are certain exercises such as push-ups or plank sites that you cannot comfortably or safely perform by wearing glasses. Dr. Beatrice Voiculescu continues to say…
‘My advice to those who are unsure whether to wear glasses or contact lenses, is to opt for contact lenses, even disposable ones to avoid injury or unnecessary discomfort.
What is the best choice for me as an athlete: sports glasses or contact lenses?
If we compare contact lenses and glasses, the lenses have the advantage of better peripheral vision. Glasses risk to movement on the face during an intense workout, which is highly unlikely for contact lenses wearers.
However, there are special glasses designed for doing workouts which are made from very light frames wraps around your head’’ says Dragos Palade, a specialist in glasses and contact lenses.
Lenses are generally preferred by athletes even disposable contact lenses. They are an advantage if you are active and do not have much time to worry about their care and if you’re normally used to wearing glasses, but you want a super intense workout, do not think twice about wearing contact lenses.
Many athletes who wear expensive frames are also interested in protecting their eyes from dust, sweat or even chalk, so they choose ‘one-day lens’ to wear for a few hours and discard once they have finished their training.
Contact lens clearly provides a competitive advantage. They protect the eyes in certain weather. Clear lens provides a constant in sight, regardless of environmental or weather conditions. They allow better conditions for outdoor sports, unlike glasses, which may or may mist up or splashed upon in the worst moments.
Constant vision – If jogging or running, lenses are more stable compared to glasses moving around on your face with every step. In the long term, explains Dr. Beatrice Voiculescu, ‘’repeated movements can distort the picture frames and leads to blurred vision and headaches’’.
Frames or edges of spectacle lenses can distract your attention in training or move around, while lenses remain fixed regardless of the movement thus giving you stability and peace of mind, regardless of position or velocity taken.
Field of vision unlocked – Another advantage of contact lenses is that it offers an unobstructed field of vision, unlike glasses, where the view is locked by the frame.
You have a clear overview without any side bottlenecks or single points of failure which provides time to react more quickly to objects coming towards you or the actions of other athletes around you, which is extremely important for team training.
Anything obstruction on the ground can be detected more easily by using contact lenses to glasses, which can fall.
Sweating, dust and chalk – When undertaking sports sweat can make your glasses slides. In situations where I lift weights adjusting my glasses would be a real problem.
If you value the look of your glasses, choose lenses that will protect them from dust and chalk. If we are open and honest, we train in a dusty environment and if we are in a weight training room, chalk is everywhere.
Therefore, lenses have less risk of injury. In the worst case scenario, they can fall of your face, you can lose them and they are not cheap to replace, while glass can break and can do some serious damage to your eyes and your pocket when replacing them!
What are the disadvantages of using contact lenses still in sports?
A disadvantage of lenses is that they can not protect your eyes from the possible concussions during exercise. A soccer ball traveling at high speed or elbow blow may cause corneal injury. This can be avoided by taking precautionary measures explained by a coach who supervises the workout.
For some, the use of contact lenses can cause dry eyes. This can be improved by consuming omega-3 fatty acids found in fish or flaxseed it is higly recommended in diets for athletes.
Contact lenses are preferred by athletes during workouts – Vision problems are no longer an obstacle to during training!
What will you now use during exercise: glasses or contact lenses?
