Tissue flossing on ankle range of motion, jump and sprint performance: A follow-up study

Highlights

• Floss bands applied to the ankle for 2 min resulted in small improvements in ROM.

• Floss bands resulted in small improvements in jump and sprint performance.

• Beneficial effects of floss bands lasted up to 45 min following application.

• Floss band use during a warm-up may reduce risk of injury and improve performance.

• This study extends our previous findings by including a time-course investigation.

Abstract

Objectives

Previous results from our laboratory suggest that band flossing results in increased ankle range of motion (ROM) and jump performance 5-min following application. However, the time-course of such benefits is yet to be examined.

Design

Parallel group design.

Setting

University laboratory.

Participants

69 recreational athletes (32 male/37 female).

Main outcome measures

Participants performed a weight-bearing lunge test (WBLT), a counter-movement jump (CMJ) and a 15 m sprint test (SPRINT) pre and up to 45-min post application of a floss band to both ankles (FLOSS) or without flossing of the ankle joints (CON).

Results

There was a significant intervention × time interaction in favour of FLOSS when compared to CON for the WBLT (p < 0.05). These results were associated with trivial to small effect sizes at all time points. Small, but non-significant (p > 0.05) benefits were seen for FLOSS when compared to CON for CMJ force (mean ± 90%CI: 89 ± 101 N) and 15 m SPRINT times (−0.06 ± 0.04 s) at 45-min post.

Conclusion

There is a trend towards a benefit for the use of floss bands applied to the ankle joint to improve ROM, jump and sprint performance in recreational athletes for up to 45-min following their application.

Introduction

Tissue flossing involves the wrapping of a thick rubber band around a joint or muscle, which may partially occlude blood-flow. In a practical setting, it is often applied while concomitantly performing range of motion (ROM) tasks for 1–3 min (Driller and Overmayer, 2017, Plocker et al., 2015). The mechanisms involved with tissue flossing using a floss band may be similar to that of ischemic preconditioning or blood-flow restriction training, whereby reperfusion of blood to the occluded area may be associated with subsequent increases in growth hormone and catecholamine responses, enhanced muscle force and contractility and increased efficiency of excitation-contraction coupling in the muscles (Lawson and Downey, 1993, Pang et al., 1995, Reeves et al., 2006, Takarada et al., 2000). Previous results from our laboratory would support the use of tissue flossing on ankle ROM and single-leg jumping performance in recreational athletes (Driller & Overmayer, 2017), however, the time-course associated with such benefits is yet to be investigated.

Our previous study investigated the use of floss bands applied to one ankle joint (with the other ankle acting as the control) on dorsiflexion and plantarflexion ROM and subsequent single-leg vertical jump performance in 52 recreational athletes (Driller & Overmayer, 2017). Results showed significant improvements in all ROM measures (dorsiflexion, plantarflexion and a weight-bearing lunge test) as well as single-leg jump performance following the application of a floss band to an average pressure of 182 ± 38 mmHg for ∼2 min. Tissue flossing was associated with small but statistically significant (p < 0.05) improvements for the dorsiflexion (∼6%), weight-bearing lunge test (∼14%) and jump velocity tests (∼6%) when compared to the control leg, 5-min after removing the floss band. While this was a somewhat novel finding, the practical application of such a technique is still limited by the fact that the tests were only performed a short time after removal of the bands, posing the questions of how long the benefits may last for. Furthermore, performance results in this study were limited to a jump test, which may not be applicable to all sports.

To the authors knowledge, other than our previous work, the only other study to have investigated the use of tissue flossing in an acute setting was by Plocker et al. (2015). This study investigated the effect of applying floss bands to both shoulders in 17 male athletes. The study reported trends towards improvements (non-significant) in shoulder ROM, but not for upper-body power (bench-press) when compared to the control trial. Given the results of this study are limited to a published conference proceeding, it is difficult to ascertain the exact protocols, including the pressure applied by the floss-band and the duration after which the measures were performed.

It is relatively uncertain as to how long the possible benefits of tissue flossing may last, with limited information available to practitioners. For example, it is unknown if this technique would be useful to incorporate into a warm-up before exercise, if the benefits only last for ∼5-min. Therefore, given the relatively novel technique of tissue flossing is currently lacking in the research literature despite some positive findings in preliminary studies, the modality clearly requires further research. The aim of the current study was to expand that of our previous work and investigate the use of tissue flossing on ankle (talocrural joint) ROM, jumping and sprinting performance at different time points following the application of the floss bands in recreational athletes.