Acute Effects of Tissue Flossing Around the Upper Thigh on Neuromuscular Performance: A Study Using Different Degrees of Wrapping Pressure

Abstract

Context: It has been recently demonstrated that tissue flossing around the ankle joint can be effectively used to improve ankle range of motion, jump, and sprint ability. However, there is a lack of studies investigating the acute effects of tissue flossing applied using different wrapping pressures. Objective: To investigate the acute effects of tissue flossing and the degree of floss band pressure, around the upper thigh on knee range of motion, strength, and muscle contractile characteristics. Design: Crossover design in 3 distinct sessions. Setting: University laboratory. Participants: A total of 19 recreationally trained volunteers (age 23.8[4.8] y) participated in this study. Intervention: Active knee extension and flexion performed for 3 sets of 2 minutes (2-min rest between sets with wrapped upper thigh). Individualized wrapping pressures were applied to create conditions of high and moderate vascular occlusion, while a loose band application served as a control condition. Main Outcome Measures: Participants were assessed for active straight leg raise test; tensiomyography displacement and contraction time for rectus femoris, vastus medialis, and biceps femoris muscles; and maximum voluntary contractions for knee extensors and flexors for pre, after, and 30 minutes after applying the floss band. Results: There was a statistically significant increase in maximum voluntary contractions for knee extensors and a significant shortening in rectus femoris contraction time for the moderate condition, which was associated with small to medium effects in favor of the moderate condition. There were no statistically significant changes observed between control and high conditions. The active straight leg raise test was unaffected regardless of intervention. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that tissue flossing around the upper thigh might have a localized as well as pressure-sensitive response, thereby improving neuromuscular function of the knee extensors.

The Effect of Tissue Flossing Technique on Sports and Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review of Recent Research

“…Konrad mentioned that wrapping flossband around the thigh significantly improved MVC of knee extension compared to the control group (d = 0.77), but leg muscle activation was not found in this study [32]. Vogrin [16] and Vogrin [27] pointed out that wrapping flossband around the thigh provided small to medium benefits to improve isometric MVC of knee extension force compared to the control group, and it significantly increased isometric MVC of knee extension and rectus femoris muscle contraction time after flossing. The underlying physiological mechanisms of flossband on the aspect of force production and muscle activation have yet to be determined, but available evidences showed that there are several viewpoints of using flossband to improve force production mechanism as well as improve neuromuscular function.…”

“…Over the past few years, flossband application has been more commonly used in the field of training or rehabilitation. Accordingly, researchers have concentrated on testing the effects of flossband application on joint ROM in different joints [7,8], muscle tightness [9,10], muscle strength [15,16], as well as physical function performance [8,[11][12][13]. However, despite the apparent benefits found in the above parameters, there was no relevant literature review that integrated these different findings.…”

“…Wrapping tension or compression pressure of flossband application was the key skill. By reviewing the previous studies, these studies investigated the effects of flossband application by using various flossing tensions or wrapping pressures, such as 50% stretch tension [5,14] and 150-200 mmHg wrapping pressure [15,16] on the different soft tissues or joints. However, they all observed similar outcome measures.…”

“…To date, several papers have been published about the effects of tissue flossing techniques on the functionality of the hamstring muscles [9], ankle ROM and tensiomyography parameters [16], or the healthy and impaired musculoskeletal system [17]. No such overview exists for the effects of flossing.…”

Effect of Blood Circulation in the Upper Limb after Flossing Strategy

“…Prill [10] focused on reducing the effort-induced muscle pain (delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS)) by flossing. Similarly, a number of new studies evaluated the effect of flossing on the range of motion [17][18][19][20].…”