Tissue flossing of the thigh increases isometric strength acutely but has no effects on flexibility or jump height

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a single floss band treatment of the thigh on hip and knee range of motion (ROM), knee extensor passive resistive torque (PRT), knee extensor maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) torque, and countermovement jump (CMJ) height.Sixteen healthy male volunteers were tested before and after both the flossing treatment and the control condition, in random order. For the flossing treatment, the floss band was wound around both thighs for 120 s, and the subject was then asked to perform 20 squats. During the control treatment, only the 20 squats were performed. Before and after the treatments, knee and hip ROM were assessed using a Thomas test with 3D motion caption. The PRT and MVC of the knee extensors were measured with a dynamometer, and the electromyographic (EMG) signal was collected from the vastus lateralis. CMJs were performed on a force plate.Compared to the control condition, the flossing treatment showed a positive effect on the MVC of the knee extensors (P = 0.01); however, no effects on hip ROM (P = 0.58), knee ROM (P = 0.37), CMJ height (P = 0.75), or PRT (P = 0.22) were observed. Correlation analyses revealed that the increase in MVC was not significantly related to changes in the tension of the muscle-tendon unit (r P = −0.13; P = 0.64) or vastus lateralis EMG (r S = 0.44; P = 0.10). Since the increase in MVC cannot be explained by changes of the mechanical (PRT) or neuromuscular (EMG) properties, we speculate that an enhancement of growth hormone and norepinephrine levels following the compression release is instead responsible for the increase in MVC.

Effects of Tissue Flossing on the Healthy and Impaired Musculoskeletal System: A Scoping Review

“…The two measures of the knee extensor MVC (out of two studies) showed an average increase of 5.71% (95% CI, 5.62 to 5.80%). It has to be mentioned here that both studies reported these increases to be significant (Konrad et al, 2020a;Vogrin et al, 2020). Although the individual study results were shown to be not significant, the knee flexor MVC following thigh flossing, taken out of two studies (Kaneda et al, 2020b;Vogrin et al, 2020), showed an average increase of 3.00% (95% CI, 2.10 to 3.90%).…”

“…However, only three out of the 13 measures showed a significant increase following the flossing treatment. One study showed a non-significant decrease in CMJ height (−1.40%; Konrad et al, 2020a), and another study showed non-significant decreases in various time frames of RFD (e.g., 0-50 ms) ranging from −6.70 to 0.00% (Kaneda et al, 2020b). However, concerning MVC of both knee extensors and knee flexors, a moderate average increase was shown.…”

“…Three out of the six measures on thigh flossing were significantly increased. One study showed a significant increase of 3.61% in the knee flexion range of motion (Cheatham et al, 2020), while another study showed a non-significant decrease (−7.05%) in the hip flexion range of motion (Konrad et al, 2020a) following thigh flossing. Considering the two studies which investigated the knee extension range of motion with a straight leg test following thigh flossing (Kaneda et al, 2020b;Vogrin et al, 2020), a mean change of a large increase in the knee extension range of motion of 7.38% (95% CI, 1.40 to 13.36%) was shown.…”

“…This might also be true after the compression release of a floss band and could be the mechanism responsible for the increase in performance reported in some studies. Moreover, Konrad et al (2020a) suggested that, among the other responses related to an increase of sympathetic outflow, there may be a facilitation of the short-latency stretch reflex (Hjortskov et al, 2005). It has long been known that afferents from muscle spindles contribute in various ways to different voluntary muscle contractions (Macefield et al, 1991), and thus an increase in spinal excitability can provoke an increase in performance.…”

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].…”