I’ve played basketball wearing an N95 and was perfectly fine, and that’s coming from someone who has shit conditioning and gets out of breath easily. I actually had a harder time breathing in a cloth mask because it was directly in contact with my face while playing. The N95 on the other hand provides an air pocket.

I agree they are not comfortable. They aren't hard to breathe through, the real issue imo is communication, it's very difficult to have a conversation with one on. I wear one on a regular basis, I would prefer not to, but I personally find it worth the tradeoff.

I blacksmith bro. I swing a 5 pound hammer with one hand for hours with a 1400° fire a few feet away from me, while wearing heat insulation gloves in the summer. I wear an N95 because if I don't I'll cough out coal dust for the next 2 days, and I'm sure as shit not looking forward to finding out how that feels when I'm 80. Oh and I'm significantly overweight. If I could do it everyone else is just bitching.

Yeah, I found the same issue once I finally got my hands on any real N95s. Earlier I had built a mod for a cheap ARF-A gas mask that filtered both intake and exhaust using 3M P100 filters and that was dramatically superior to the airflow, moisture control, and overall comfort of the N95s I tried. As an added benefit, the eye coverings also kept me from absently touching my eyes like I often do, which is a major disease vector. I just look like a dork wearing it, but I'm used to that.