6 Ways To Use Athletic Tape For Workouts

Athletic tape is a type of wrap that’s generally used to provide support to different body parts during physical activity. You might not find a need to use athletic tape while you exercise, but there’s no harm in trying it out to see if it can help you in some way. Here are six different ways athletic tape can be used during a workout.

1. Hand and Wrist Protection

There are thousands of movements and exercises that involve using the hands, but striking puts the most physical stress on them. Individuals who participate in boxing or martial arts really give their hands a beating punching heavy bags, wooden dummies, trees, and even each other. To protect the knuckles from scraping, the fingers and wrists from dislocating, and the hands themselves from suffering unnecessary damage, many people use athletic tape to bandage them up. There are many ways to tape up the hands and wrist, but whichever method you use, ensure that the tape is wrapped tightly and in several layers.

2. Foot and Ankle Protection

Like the hands, the feet also take a beating during workouts. Anything from sprinting and squatting to wrestling and kickboxing can tear up the feet and ankles. A sprained ankle will render any athlete useless, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. Athletic tape can strengthen any joint to make it more rigid and less vulnerable to hyperextension or fracture. Proper ankle wrapping varies depending on your sport, so ask a trainer or experienced participant for advice. You can watch a taping tutorial professional trainer Chris Harper at the KT Tape store if you want to take a crack at taping yourself.

3. Knee Stability

Any workout that involves lots of running or jumping puts the knees at risk for injury. Sports such as basketball, football, soccer, field hockey, track, and volleyball can all cause knee sprains and dislocations. Heavy weight lifting and martial arts striking or grappling can also do serious damage to the knees. If you want to fortify your joints, wrap them up with athletic tape before engaging in any intense activity.

4. Core Support

The spine is a strong and delicate at the same time. If you experience a slipped disc or spinal fracture, your athletic career could be over. Wrapping athletic tape tightly around the waist and lower back can significantly strengthen the core to prepare it for heavy lifts like deadlifting or squatting. Such exercises are fundamental to strength training for most sports, so have some athletic tape on hand just in case.

5. Sealing an Open Wound

Physical activity can be very dangerous, and injuries occur all the time. If you experience a large laceration or puncture wound, athletic tape can serve excellently as a heavy-duty bandage. Wrapping the wound tightly and many times over should control even heavy bleeding until the victim can be taken to a hospital or medical personnel arrive on the scene.

6. Sweat Absorption

If you’re not sweating during a workout, you’re not exercising hard enough. Unfortunately, sweat can decrease performance by getting into your eyes, making your palms slick and more. Athletic tape can catch the drips when placed strategically around certain points on the body so that they don’t hinder performance.