kinesiology tape

Kinesiology Taping — another technique made more visible by the Olympic games — has quickly become wildly popular. Called the “silent star” of the London 2012 Olympics, tape was suddenly everywhere, but especially promoted by beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings. Watch any athletic competition or CrossFit games now, and you’ll see brightly colored tape spiraling all over muscles and fascial chains.

Instead of immobilizing joints, this elastic tape improves movement and performance. It offloads mechanical stress, decreases pain, improves range of motion, and lifts skin — allowing blood to flow more freely to the area. It can even dramatically decrease swelling.

Tape offers dynamic stability by activating weak muscles underneath so they move properly and by increasing proprioception to a body part to streamline the dialogue between it and the brain that will allow it to fatigue less quickly, as well as increasing balance so it can operate more accurately.

Both in and outside of athletic arenas, tape can adjust misalignments, acting as a proprioceptive guide to cue proper posture.

Kelly trained in taping with RockTape in both their FMT Basic and Advanced courses and uses tape to extend the effects of massage in office, as well as offers taping before events and competitions locally.