Kinesio Taping Effects on Knee Extension Force Among Soccer Players

Kinesio taping was applied on the skin over the rectus femoris muscle on one limb and 3M Micropore® (placebo tape) was applied on the contralateral limb. Different tapes were used to evaluate if tape type would affect the findings. The side of application of the different tapes was randomized among the participants. Half of the participants (n = 17) had KT applied to the left thigh and the other half to the right thigh (n = 17). KT was applied using the "V" technique, the knee was positioned at 45º of flexion, the origin of both tapes was located 10 cm below the anterior-superior iliac spine with one tape going laterally and one medially to the rectus femoris muscle belly, passing around the patella and finishing on the tibial tuberosity. The same technique was used for the Micropore tape on the contralateral limb, but because it is not elastic, the knee joint was not crossed and the end points were the medial and lateral aspects of the patella. The mean force values were calculated for each condition (pre, post and 24 hours after tape application). The isometric knee extension force was collected using a load cell (EMG System do Brasil Ltda. ®) with a measuring range from 0 to 200 kg at 1000 Hz, filtered with a low pass filter type Butterworth 4th order and cut-off frequency of 15 Hz, obtained through residual analysis.

Inclusion criteria

• To participate the athletes had to be at least 18 years old and not have lower limb injuries at the time of testing

Exclusion criteria

• Younger than 18 years old