Floss Bands are used to compress certain muscles and joints to increase range of motion and improve performance, they are also an excellent tool for recovery. Recovery is key when it comes to sports performance and is arguably just as important as training and nutrition. Inadequate recovery does not allow you to perform at your best and could lead to injury.

In this article, we’ll look at exactly what muscle flossing is and how you can use it as a tool to aid your performance.

What Does Tissue Flossing Do?

Tissue flossing is a technique commonly used by manual therapists and physiotherapists to treat joint pain and improve range of movement. It involves wrapping floss bands above or below a muscle or joint to apply external pressure. The pressure reduces the blood flow in the area where the band has been applied in a similar way to blood flow restriction training.

Once you remove the floss straps, blood rushes to the muscles that were restricted carrying oxygen and nutrients. During muscle flossing, there might be some discomfort, however it should not be painful. If pain does occur during the movement you should remove the floss bands immediately.

Benefits of Using Floss Bands

Although the research is still minimal, many athletes, teams and physiotherapists use tissue flossing for a variety of reasons. Some of the benefits include:

• Reduces pain

• Improved performance

• Increased range of movement

• Injury prevention

• Improved recovery

• Increased muscle size

There are many reasons why you might choose to use floss bands and these are just some of them. It’s one way of improving your performance in the gym without having to increase the volume or intensity of your training.

How to Use Floss Bands

When using floss bands, begin by wrapping the area that you want to target, this can be the lower or upper arms, shoulders, upper and lower legs and feet. You should avoid using the floss bands on your head, neck, back and abdomen.

Wrap from the top downwards, then secure the floss band by tucking the end under the wrapped part. A good rule of thumb is to wrap the area with 50% compression and the band should be approximately 50% larger in size. Although you want to reduce blood flow, restricting it completely can be extremely dangerous, therefore if you feel any numbness or tingling remove the floss band immediately.

Once the band is secure, move the joint that the floss band is around/close to. For example, if the band is wrapped around your thigh, bodyweight squats are a suitable movement. Perform the movement for 30 seconds to 2 minutes then stop and remove the band. You will feel the sensation of the blood rushing to the area that was restricted. Anything up to 2 minutes in a certain area will be sufficient to get results and you can perform flossing on a number of areas in concession.

Muscle flossing is a quick and simple way to relieve pain and increase mobility through compression. With the help of floss bands, you can enhance recovery and take your training up a gear.

Written by guest author Eryn Barber.

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Tags: Misc > Lifestyle