This study is aimed to investigate the effect of the Kinesio Tape facilitation technique on the muscle power performance of elite weightlifters.
Most sportsmen require the power of muscles for their performance. Weightlifting exercises such as the snatch or clean and jerk and their variations are frequently included in the power training programs of athletes who contest or participate in sports that need muscle power. The weightlifting exercises require athletes to accelerate the weight throughout the whole second pull phase, causing the barbell to be raised overhead and the athlete's body into the air, a movement in which the feet leave the platform. Furthermore, the movement patterns of the weightlifting exercises are mostly considered to be similar to athletic movements in different sports such as jumping and sprinting in soccer and basketball. Empirically, the kinetic qualities of the second pull phase are similar in both weightlifting and jumping movements. The role of the sport physical therapist is not restricted only to rehabilitation and injuries prevention, but they can also contribute to the performance of the athletes in a different aspect. Therefore, finding tools which may improve the muscle power of the weightlifters could increase the success in performing the sport-specific movements with higher loads. This could make the difference between winning or losing a competition. Thus, if it could be proven that the Kinesio Tape has the capability to improve muscle power, it could be used as a tool by the physiotherapist, either for enhancing the athlete's performance or for accelerating the last stage of the rehabilitation and, therefore, decreasing the number of absent days of athletes from training or matches due to injury.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
46
Kinesio Tape: An elastic therapeutic tape, which mimics the skin's thickness. It is a cotton, porous fabric and acrylic adhesive, which is non-medicated and free of latex. The Kinesio Tape is applied in a specific manner to enhance muscle function, increase circulation, decrease pain and improve proprioception.
University of Dammam
Dammam, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
Single leg vertical countermovement jump.
Participants were performed three vertical jump attempts with a counter-movement.
Time frame: Data was collected on January 7, 2016 up to March 13, 2016 (an average of three months) in which the collection of the data was finished.
Single leg horizontal countermovement jump
Participants were performed three horizontal jump attempts with a counter-movement.
Time frame: Data was collected on January 7, 2016 up to March 13, 2016 (an average of three months) in which the collection of the data was finished.
Estimated peak power.
A predictive equation to calculate an anaerobic power output from the vertical jump displacement.
Time frame: The estimated peak power was calculated and reviewed at the end of data collection on March 13, 2016 up to April 7, 2016 ( an average of one month).
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