Effects of facilitatory and inhibitory Kinesio taping on lateral gastrocnemius muscle activity, motor neuron excitability, and countermovement jump height in university athletes from multiple sports: A randomized controlled trial

Ahmar Raza; Saima Zaki; Md Farhan Alam; Saurabh Sharma; Tuba Aysha; Ahmad Talal Khiyami; Ayman Jaber Althobaiti; Hani Awwadh Alnefaie; Shibli Nuhmani

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23230

Effects of facilitatory and inhibitory Kinesio taping on lateral gastrocnemius muscle activity, motor neuron excitability, and countermovement jump height in university athletes from multiple sports: A randomized controlled trial

Heliyon. 2023 Dec 4;9(12):e23230. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23230. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Ahmar Raza¹, Saima Zaki¹, Md Farhan Alam¹, Saurabh Sharma¹, Tuba Aysha¹, Ahmad Talal Khiyami², Ayman Jaber Althobaiti², Hani Awwadh Alnefaie², Shibli Nuhmani³

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Marg, New Delhi, 110025, India.
² Department of Physical Therapy, King Abdulaziz Hospital, Makkah Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the temporal effects of two Kinesio Taping (KT) techniques on lateral gastrocnemius muscle activity, motor neuron excitability, and countermovement jump height in university athletes from hockey, football, basketball, and volleyball. Additionally, it investigates whether the athletes' playing positions-either attacker or defender-influence these outcomes following the KT application.

Methods: Forty-eight subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group A (n = 16), Group B (n = 16), and Group C (n = 16). All groups were further subdivided into attackers and defenders. Adhesive Kinesio tape was applied to the lateral gastrocnemius using the Y-shaped technique for three days. Facilitatory KT was applied from the origin to the insertion of the lateral gastrocnemius, while inhibitory KT was applied from the insertion to the origin. Motor neuron excitability, electromyographic activity, and countermovement jump height were tested at baseline, as well as after KT application, to evaluate if the dependent variables had changed. One-way ANOVA was used for baseline comparison, and mixed ANOVA was applied to assess post-interventional effects on the outcome measures.

Results: Significant group effects for lateral gastrocnemius activation were found, measured using percentage of maximum voluntary isometric contraction (% MVIC) average root mean square (RMS). In motor neuron excitability, maximal M-wave (M_max) was significantly improved in group comparison. Further, there was also a significant increase in countermovement jump height. There was no significant difference in outcome measures based on playing position (attacker and defender).

Conclusion: Both KT techniques effectively influenced the lateral gastrocnemius muscle's activity, motor neuron excitability, and jump height when compared with the control group. Additionally, there is no effect of playing position, specifically attacker or defender, on the examined variables following KT application.

Keywords: Electromyograph; Kinesiology taping; Motor neuron excitability; Muscle activity; Vertical jump.