The effect of the Kinesio Tape on the muscle power performance of elite weightlifters

Abstract

Introduction: To investigate the effect of the Kinesio Tape on the muscle power of the elite weightlifters. Methods: A randomized controlled trial, single blind. Forty-two male weightlifters were randomly assigned to the experimental Kinesio Tape and sham Kinesio Tape groups of the study. The participants then performed a single leg vertical jump and a single leg horizontal jump with three attempts of each to obtain the measurement of muscle power. Outcome measures were included single-leg vertical countermovement jump, estimated peak power, and single-leg horizontal countermovement jump. Result: Significant effect of Kinesio Tape on horizontal jumps distance among the weightlifters in the experimental group (p = 0.002). The study showed that the vertical jump height (p = 0.433), estimated peak power (p = 0.542) and horizontal jump distance (p = 0.841) measurements did not improve significantly between the groups at level p = 0.05. Conclusion: There is a small and better improvement noticed on the outcome measurements after Kinesio Tape application, which may be considered clinical importance for the sport. However, there was no statistically significant effect of Kinesio Tape between the groups.