How to Use Athletic Tape

When it comes to training, there is nothing worse than picking up an injury when you’re in full-swing and seeing it progress with each session. Over the years, the number of people using athletic tape has increased dramatically, and it’s easy to see why. With all of the advancements made in sports and medical science, athletic tape is now more effective than ever. Not only can athletic tape help to prevent injuries and speed up injury rehabilitation processes, it can also help boost athletic performance. Phiten’s athletic tape is one of the most popular varieties of tape currently on the market. Here’s a look at what it is and how it is used.

What is athletic tape and how does it work?

Athletic tape is basically a rigid form of specially created adhesive tape that is designed to help promote athletic performance, prevent injury, and assist with injury rehabilitation. In terms of injury prevention and rehabilitation, rigid athletic tape is very useful because it restricts movement. Athletic tape is also useful because it assists with what is known as proprioception, which lets the wearer know the position of their arm when kicking, running, or throwing, etc. This is useful as it allows the wearer to understand which part of their anatomy is being affected by an injury. It also assists with discomfort-relief as it helps add a degree of compression to a part of the anatomy that may be in discomfort. The tape adds support to the muscles and joints that constantly come under pressure during exercise, which in turn, may help to prevent strains and injuries.

How to use athletic tape from Phiten

Now that we know a little more about what athletic tape is, it’s now time to look at how to use Phiten’s athletic tape to get the most out of it.

Stick directly to clean skin – To begin with, you need to ensure that the tape sticks very well to your skin, so it does not come off during exercise. When applying the tape, your skin should be clean, and it should also be very dry. You also should ideally shave away any body hair in the area as this too, can affect the adhesiveness of the tape.

Cut the corners (Titanium Power Tape 2" Roll,  Titanium Power Tape Sport 2" Roll and X100 Titanium Power Tape 2" Roll) – In order to get the most out of the tapes, cut all four corners before applying the tapes. This prevents the tapes from peeling off easily and keeps it from getting caught on clothes.

Always replace tape before exercise – Before exercising, you should make sure that you replace the previous tape with new and clean athletic tape. This helps to ensure that the tape doesn’t come unstuck, plus it helps the skin to not become irritated. However, the tapes last two to three days without excessive sweating.

Pre-check - Before using Phiten’s athletic tape, it’s important that you perform a pre-check. Simply take the tape and wrap it with a light amount of tension. This is to limit the range of the joint. It must pass over two individual points on the foot. One is located on the top center of the ankle, where you will find a slight indentation on the bone. This will be point A. Point B is located on the center of the outside of your foot. Here you will see a slight projection of the bone. Next, take the tape leaving the backing paper on and measure the required number of lines. On average, it is 9 lines for men, and 8 lines for women.

How To Apply Phiten Tape For The Ankle:

• Place the sole of your foot onto the center of the tape to allow it to pass through point B. Ensure that you keep your ankle at roughly 90 degrees.

• Keep wrapping the tape so that it passes over point A, pulling the sole of your foot upwards as you do so. Here, you must ensure that it is wrapped from the instep.

• The tape should now cover points A and B. Make sure to pull upwards on point B.

Disc tape for the knees – Disc tape is recommended for use on joints causing discomfort and has been found to be especially effective on the knees. To use disc tape for the knees:

• Take 6 pieces of disc tape
• Place the first 2 pieces on either side of the upper portion of the knee cap at the front.
• Take the 3^rd piece and stick that on the middle of the thigh muscle
• At the rear of the knee, stick 2 pieces of disc tape on either side of the rear of the kneecap.
• Take the final piece and stick that underneath those 2 pieces so that it is located on the very upper area of the calf muscle.

Wrapping the knee

Pre-check – Before using the tape, like with the ankle, wrap with slight tension in order to limit joint range of motion. The tape must pass over point A, which is located directly under the kneecap. Keep your knee at a 60 degree angle during this stage. If you wish to enhance the fixing strength of the tape, simply extend your knee slightly. Again, wrap the tape with backing paper at about 9 lines for men, and 8 lines for women to measure the required amount of tape needed.

• Begin on the inside of the lower knee and move the tape upwards diagonally so that it passes over point A.

• Now wrap the tape around the back of the knee, crossing it over the rear of the knee and around the other side until it reaches the outer side of the knee.

• Next, take the second tape and lead that from the outside of your lower knee, crossing over point A.