Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Power Taping-Go Stronger for Longer

The latest installment in the ‘Ask the Physical Therapist’ from PT Dan – Are you wanting to go faster?  We are endurance athletes, we are not doing isolation bicep curls.  Our muscles work in harmony with each other.  Can Rocktape help you to go faster?  Research says it can.

If you remember when I hurt my shoulder after my bike crash Dan helped me out by taping me up (video).  It did make a difference.  I am not saying that I experienced a performance increase but I believe it helped my shoulder and collar bone heal quicker because it limited movement. 

This is a small blog-o-sphere we live in after all.  A couple of months ago I received an email from the senior editor of Triathlete magazine.  She had written to inquire about Dan’s contact information.  It seems that the article that Dan wrote about running backwards (Taking one step forward and 2 steps back: running backwards) was being discussed on slow twitch (forum post).  Anyway, our own PT Dan will be published in an issue of Triathlete later this summer!  How cool is that?

To read more of PT Dan’s writing click here.


PowerTaping-Go Stronger for Longer

It is not often that I have a light bulb moment. You know when you suddenly put things together in a way that you hadn’t before. I have been a physical therapist for 15 years and recently began to look at fascia in a whole new way. The connective tissue that surrounds each muscle is called fascia. In the world of rehab, we call it myofascia; myo is Latin for muscle. Fascia had often been thought to be an inert tissue and have little effect on mobility. It has now been scientifically shown that myofascia does not just surround each muscle individually, but interconnects kinetic networks of muscles that work together in coordinated movement patterns. These groupings have been coined Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers, the scientist who dissected these interconnected muscle chains.

Your muscles don’t work in isolation. Think about it---swimming, biking, running; muscles work in harmony to create fluid efficient movement. When one muscle fatigues or is injured, doesn’t it affect the entire movement chain. Of course it does. We now know that fascia plays a significant role in enabling authentic movement. As triathletes we strive to perfect our running mechanics, our position on the bike, and our lines in the pool. We know that changes in our movement will affect our performance.

I spent this last weekend in Northern California completing some training with a new sports performance product geared toward the endurance athlete. I am now the first certified PowerTaping instructor in the Southeast. It was the first time two of my passions collided in this way. I am passionate about physical therapy and helping my patients and I am passionate about endurance sports. When I first heard about Rocktape, and the exciting stuff going on there, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

Rocktape, Inc. out of Los Gatos, CA was developed initially in a velodrome. The track operated as a testing center for a new form of performance taping to aid endurance athletes. With its roots in rehab, this kinesiology tape, when applied to facilitate myofascial performance chains, can reduce fatigue, prevent injuries, and enhance performance. No previous kinesiology tape has ever approached the athlete in this way. This is new and cutting edge performance science. Early studies performed on CAT 1-2 time trialers revealed an increase in wattage output and a 2-6% decrease in time over a 23.95 mile course when wearing Rocktape vs having no tape. To this point, Rocktape has recently partnered with Garmin-Cervelo and will be seen on the race circuit in the months ahead.  (ed. Press release - It will be cool to be able to buy some argyle Rocktape in the future!)

garmin-rocktape

I am excited to be part of the Rocktape team and will be performing clinical research of my own in the weeks ahead. I look forward to assisting my friends and patients locally and will be traveling to teach these methods to groups in the future. If you are a clinician or if your race team is interested in learning more, contact me at dan@orleansparkrehab.com.

In Good Health-

Dan Lent-Koop, MPT, CHT

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Also visit www.rocktape.com


Do you have PT questions for Dan?  Send them to:  james@powermultisport.com .

4 comments:

My Boring Triathlon Blog said...

That running backwards blog was very good information.

I started incorporating it after every run for a couple of hundred yards.

I've also done it in the middle of a long run when I can feel my glute shut down. It "wakes" them up

Ransick said...

Rocktape is interesting stuff. I've never tried it but would like to at some point. I'm looking forward to your research. Maybe I can come down to Mississippi for a tri and be a test subject (read slow test subject :-)).

Anonymous said...

Very cool stuff...gotta love more magic tape. And totally exciting news about Dan. Can't wait to see his article in print!

Nelly said...

I can attest to the awesomeness of rocktape. I've had some injuries recently, and being taped up does help to limit movement in some fashion to help me not get injured again. I think it's like the cool version of athletic tape because it's black color instead of white. I haven't tried it yet for enhancing performance, but it wouldn't surprise me if it worked. It seems like kineasilogy tape works (not sure if rocktape is classified as kineasology tape or not)