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Kinesiology Taping for Rehabilitation & Sports Performance
Posts Tagged ‘kinesiology taping for performance enhancement’
RockTape Athletes Exceling in Numerous Sports
posted by Tape Expert
When it comes to kinesiology taping for athletic performance enhancement, RockTape leads the field. And, if podium results are any indication, RockTape’s cutting-edge PowerTaping protocol could become part of the pre-competition preparation of all champion athletes.
So far this year, Rock Tape athletes have reached the podium over 75 times and have amassed a total of 17 National Titles. Much of RockTape’s initial success was in cycling, but as the following list demonstrates, athletes in any sport can benefit from both PowerTaping for performance enhancement and/or therapeutic taping for injuries.
RockTape Champion Athletes
Professional Women’s Cycling
Mara Abbott – 1st, 2010 US Nat’l Road Racing Championship; 1st, Giro Donne
Megan Guarnier – 1st, 2010 Tour de Nez
Kaitie Antonneau – 1st, 2010 US Collegiate National Track Championship, Omnium; 2nd, 2010 US Jr National Road Championships
Sinead Miller – 1st, U23 2010 US Road National Championship; 1st, U23 2010 US National Time Trial Championship
Olivia Dillon – 1st, Irish National Championship
Ruth Winder, Cari Higgins, Hanan Alves-Hyde – 1st, 2010 US National Elite Track Championship, Team Pursuit
Cari Higgins – 2010 US National Elite Track Championship: 1st 500m; 2nd Omnium; 3rd Points Race
Hanan Alves-Hyde – 2010 US National Elite Track Championship: 2nd, Points Race; 4th Omnium
Beth Newell – 4th, 2010 US National Elite Track Championship, Scratch Race
Professional Men’s Cycling
Daniel Holloway – 1st, 2010 U.S. Professional Criterium Championship, Gateway cup winner
Jackson Stewart – 2nd, Tour de Beauce, Stage 6
Tejay Van Garderen – 2nd, Tour of Turkey
Ian Moir – 1st, 2010 US Elite National Track Championship, Madison
Junior Cycling
Coryn Rivera – US Jr. Road National Championship: 1st, TT; 1st, Road; 1st, Crit; US Jr. Track National Championship: 1st, Keirin; 1st, Points; 1st, Sprint; 1st, Team Sprint; 3rd, Junior World Track and Road Championships
Daniel Farinha – 2nd, 2010 US Jr. National Championship, Madison
Ruth Winder – US Jr. National Championship: 1st, Flying TT; 3rd, Team Sprint; 2nd, Scratch; 2nd, Points
John Tomlinson – US Jr. National Championship: 2nd, Flying TT; 2nd, Points
Philip OʼDonnell – US Jr. National Road Championship: 1st, Road; 1st Crit; 2nd TT
Triathlon
Suzy McCulloch – 1st, 2010 Diamondman Half Ironman
Cogen Nelson – qualified at US Triathlon Nationals to represent Team USA in Beijing
Badminton
Derrick Ng – 2nd, 2010 Canadian Championship, U23
Inline Skating
Wouter Hebbrecht – 1st, 2009 World Championship Inline Speed Skating
As word spreads, more successful athletes are choosing to become RockTape athletes. The most recent addition is
2012 decathlon hopeful, Ryan Beckwith. a former CIF 4x100m relay champion who runs the 100m in 10.48 and vaults a 17ʼ5”.
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Kinesiology Tape Big on ATP Tour
posted by Tape Expert
Professional tennis players maintain a brutal schedule of training and tournament play. With major events scheduled throughout the year, there is no “off season” for touring tennis pros. Maintaining such a high level of activity week after week and month after month takes a toll on the body. Tour players are continually dealing with a host of aches and pains, ranging from annoying overuse syndromes to major traumatic injuries.
Kinesiology tape provides athletes with a solution for working through minor injuries and recovering faster from major injuries. In addition, it can enhance endurance and performance during training sessions and matches, as well as accelerate recovery after intense exercise.
Unlike traditional athletic tape that is tight and restrictive, kinesiotape provides support without limiting range of motion. It is water resistant and breathable, and can be worn for up to 5 days, even through intense exercise, showering or swimming.
No wonder we’re seeing players sporting colorful configurations of kinesiology tape at all of the major tournaments!
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Kinesiology tape has become a mainstream item in the treatment of sports injuries and other health conditions involving pain, inflammation and muscle dysfunction. Now, however, a new kinesiology tape combined with a new kinesiology taping technique is helping athletes run faster, jump higher and last longer.
The tape is called RockTape, a kinesiology tape engineered especially for performance athletes. The taping technique is called PowerTaping, and involves taping entire “kinetic chains” responsible for specific athletic activities. This post is going to focus on the features of RockTape that allow it to enhance athletic performance.
Most kinesiology tapes have a 130-140% longitudinal stretch that is the key to the amazing pain relief and anti-inflammatory benefits they produce. Rock Tape, however, has a 190% longitudinal stretch, coupled with a high-quality nylon reinforcement of the cotton fibers. This gives RockTape a superior “snap back” ability compared to other kinesiology tapes, similar to the difference between a strong, thick rubber band and a weaker, thinner one.
RockTape Elastic Fiber – Stretched Position
This enlarged photograph shows a single strand of Rock Tape elastic fiber in the stretched position. Note the similarity to the coils in a spring.
RockTape Elastic Fiber – Relaxed Position
The tightly wound elastic coils allow the tape to snap back to its resting position very quickly when released. When RockTape is stretched, then applied to a muscle that is contracting and relaxing, the recoil properties of the tape help the muscles return to a resting state more quickly after every contraction.
This assistance in returning to a resting position allows muscles to expend less energy as they continually contract and relax. This results in less muscle fatigue and greater endurance – a huge benefit to athletes in all endurance sports. Power athletes can also benefit from the same principle, as the snap back phenomenon enhances the speed and power of the contraction/relaxation cycle.
Click here to learn more about PowerTaping techniques for athletes.
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April 27, 2010
“Bright-colored strips of tape in odd patterns are increasingly being seen on professional and recreational athletes. Kinesiology tape can help take pressure off overused muscles, reduce swelling and alleviate pain from injuries, say companies that sell it. Scientific evidence is mixed, but clinicians say it seems to work—at least in the short term. “
So begins a detailed article on kinesiology tape in today’s Wall Street Journal. Overwhelmingly positive overall, “Putting on the Stripes to Ease Pain” discusses how kinesiology tape has rapidly established itself in North America and introduces the companies that have taken it to a new level.
The three major manufacturers are profiled, including Kinesio Tex Tape, SpiderTech Tape and RockTape. Each has established itself by virtue of a specific market niche – Kinesio Tex Tape as a clinical product, Spider Tech as the leader in precut kinesiology tape for different body parts, and Rock Tape as a premium performance-enhancing tape for athletes.
As kinesiology taping applications are being seen on more athletes in more sports, the demand for the products at the consumer level is exploding. Many online retailers sell only to health professionals, but all three brands are available to the general public on a specialty kinesiology tape website, www.theratape.com.
If the validity of kinesiology taping was ever in doubt, this profile in the Wall Street Journal has given it the official “big business” stamp of approval.
Click Here to read the entire article.
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RockTape, the kinesiology tape company that introduced the athletic world to the concept of performance taping, recently unveiled a special Team in Training kinesiology tape. The tape is imprinted with the distinctive purple and green logo of Team in Training (TNT), a fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).
Team in Training offers comprehensive coaching and training programs to help people prepare for endurance competitions such as marathons, half marathons, triathlons, century rides and hiking adventures. Participants in a local area train as a group and then travel together to the competition. Founded in 1988, TNT has grown into the world’s largest endurance sport training program.
The partnership between Team in Training and Rock Tape is a natural fit. Rock Tape is a special type of sports tape that can relieve the pain and inflammation of athletic injuries and accelerate the healing process. The thin, stretchy athletic tape can be comfortably worn for up to a week, allowing many injured athletes to continue to train and/or compete as they recover. Given the injury rate among endurance athletes, it seems that a roll of RockTape should be a staple in every sports bag.
In addition, Rock Tape has recently introduced a new performance taping protocol called PowerTaping, that can safely (and legally) enhance athletic performance. This kinesio taping technique involves applying tape to the entire “chain” of muscles, joints and fascia that contribute to a specific movement. Athletes competing in marathons, triathlons and other high performance events have experienced less fatigue and enhanced muscle activation throughout their competitions.
RockTape is donating $2 from the sale of every roll of Team in Training kinesiology tape to the Team in Training organization to assist in their mission to eradicate leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma.
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PowerTaping … Taping Movements, Not Muscles
“RockTape” and “PowerTaping” have been all the buzz lately, ever since NBC profiled these exciting new kinesiology taping products during their coverage of the Winter Olympics. My last post featured an overview of RockTape, also referred to as Power Tape, plus a video of the NBC segment.
Going hand-in-hand with RockTape is an innovative new kinesiology taping method called PowerTaping. Rather than taping an isolated joint or muscle group, PowerTaping protocol focuses on the entire chain of joints, muscles, fascia and nervous system components responsible for specific movement patterns. The result? Improved efficiency of movement, structural reinforcement of correct motor patterns, and improved fluid dynamics, which all contribute to reduced fatigue, faster recovery and improved biomechanical function.
Benefits of Power Taping
» Delayed onset of fatigue
» More rapid recovery
» Improved flexibility/range of motion in tight muscles
» Relief of swelling, edema and bruising
» Stronger activation of weak, injured or imbalanced muscle groups
» Regained coordination in weak or injured muscle groups
» Correction of balance insufficiencies
» Regained speed after injury or overuse
» Enhanced muscle activation (timing)
» Relief from muscle inhibition following injury or overuse
The image above illustrates one of the possible sport-specific movement chains for cycling. The upper body taping reduces fatigue and muscle vibration in the shoulders, upper arms, forearms and wrists – areas that fatigue in events such as time trials.
Note: The PowerTaping Manual is written for sports practitioners, and demonstrates how to apply RockTape power tape to increase athletic performance. It also provides an overview of the science behind the protocol.
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RockTape Profiled on NBC
posted by Tape Expert
What does it take to get over 2 minutes of free coverage on NBC during the Olympic Games? A totally hot, new product that has implications for athletes of all ages and abilities!
RockTape is an exciting, new kinesiology tape that has been specifically engineered to enhance athletic performance. It provides the same therapeutic benefits as regular kinesiology tape, but some unique properties of the tape, combined with an innovative taping method called PowerTaping™, allow it to also delay the onset of fatigue, accelerate recovery and improve muscle activation during athletic activities. Following are some of the properties of RockTape that has made it a hit with performance athletes:
- A Tighter Weave allows it to provide superior support for working muscles, while still allowing a full range of movement.
- Greater Elasticity (190% vs 130%) creates enhanced “snap back,” for enhanced muscle activation.
- A Stronger Adhesive allows it to stay in place for the duration of even extreme events like Ironman triathlons, marathons, etc.
The results for athletes? Delayed onset of fatigue, enhanced bloodflow to working muscles, accelerated lactate removal and improved muscle activation.
Here’s what NBC had to say about RockTape:
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RockTape has become the new buzzword on the Ironman circuit these days. It’s “active recovery” properties are helping endurance athletes go stronger, longer–and then recover faster after they’ve finished. My last post briefly outlined five key features that allow RockTape to slow the onset of fatigue and accelerate the process of recovery. This post examines each of these features in greater detail:
1. Greater Elasticity
While most kinesiology tapes have 130-150% stretch, RockTape offers 190% elasticity, giving it a higher tensile strength than other tapes. This allows it to provide superior reinforcement of proper movement patterns, increasing the efficiency of movement. Increased efficiency is directly related to reduced fatigue.
2. Enhanced Lifting Ability
The additional elasticity provides a more consistent lifting of the skin over the taped area, enhancing blood flow to the working muscles. This delays the onset of fatigue during training/competition, and accelerates recovery via a more rapid removal of lactic acid and other metabolic byproducts.
3. Tighter Weave
RockTape is made from 97% high-grade cotton, reinforced with 3% nylon 6/12. This allows RockTape to provide superior structural support, without compromising range of motion.
4. Greater “Snap Back”
The combination of the tighter weave pattern and the enhanced elasticity give RockTape a greater “snap back” or recoil effect. This allows muscles to move more quickly through the contraction/relaxation cycles responsible for movement. The more quickly a muscle can return to a resting state after contracting, the more quickly it can generate the next stimulus to continue its activity.
5. Patented Adhesive Pattern
The acrylic adhesive on RockTape is stickier than other tapes. It is also applied in a new Plow Pattern that looks similar to the tread on a tire. Think of how a tire tread channels water away from the surface to create better contact and less slippage on the road. RockTape’s adhesive backing has the same effect on skin. This allows it to more efficiently remove water and sweat, creating the best “stickability” in the industry.
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RockTape Active Recovery Tape is an exciting new sports tape–an upgraded version of kinesiology tape designed to enhance athletic performance. Yes, it still has all the therapeutic benefits of traditional kinesiology tape—relief of pain, reduction of inflammation, and support for injured tissues—but for RockTape, these are just a jumping-off point.
Highly-trained triathletes, distance runners and competitive cyclists who have worn RockTape have experienced greater endurance during training and competition, followed by a more rapid recovery. Whereas other kinesiology tapes are primarily used by injured athletes, the benefits of RockTape are equally impressive for healthy athletes. This makes RockTape the first true performance tape.
What Makes RockTape Different?
Several key modifications have been made to the composition of the tape that are directly responsible for the performance-enhancing benefits that many RockTape converts have experienced.
1. Greater Elasticity
2. Enhanced Lifting Ability
3. Tighter Weave
4. Greater “Snap Back”
5. Patented Adhesive Pattern
Each of these enhancements is beneficial on its own, but combined, they become a safe, simple, legal method of enhancing athletic performance. Rock on!
My next post will examine each of these features in greater detail.
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A New Approach to Kinesiology Taping
In the last year and a half, kinesiology taping has become one of the favorite therapeutic modalities for athletic trainers, physical therapists, chiropractors and pain management specialists. Its ability to rapidly relieve pain and reduce inflammation has made it especially popular as an athletic tape for injured athletes. Recently, an exciting new application for kinesiology tape has been introduced to the athletic community – taping for PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT.
Introducing RockTape
A new brand of kinesiology tape called RockTape has been engineered with the specific goal of enhancing athletic performance. The unique properties of the tape, combined with an innovative taping method called PowerTaping, allow it to delay the onset of fatigue and improve muscle activation during athletic activities.
Already a favorite with high level triathletes and competitive cyclists, watch for RockTape to begin appearing in upcoming marathons, cycling events and Ironman events.
RockTape Combines Function with Fashion!
And, don’t worry, you’ll know it when you see it, because RockTape is also rapidly becoming a fashion trend setter in the athletic tape industry. In addition to coming in the traditional kinesiology tape colors of black, blue, pink and beige, RockTape is available in patterns such as biohazard, the RockTape logo and a black and white cow motif. A wider assortment of colors includes green, navy and new “IM” tape in white and yellow, designed to be written on. The IM tape is being used to write competitor numbers and race information in triathlons, as well as messages of encouragement from friends and family.
Watch for upcoming posts with additional details about what makes RockTape different and how it works to enhance athletic performance.
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