Abstract
Tissue flossing involves wrapping a rubber band around a muscle group for a few minutes while performing joint motion, enhancing ankle joint torque and range of motion. As limited ankle dorsiflexion range of motion and plantar flexion muscle weakness are risk factors for sports injury, assessing the therapeutic effects of tissue flossing is important. This study aimed to evaluate the immediate effects of calf tissue flossing on enhancing ankle joint torque and dorsiflexion range of motion. We conducted a randomized controlled crossover trial involving 19 healthy adult males who received two interventions (low and high-pressure tissue flossing bands) and a control condition (underwrap). Each intervention was applied for 2 minutes on the non-dominant calf, with 5-10 days between sessions. A pressure sensor placed on the posterior calf monitored the wrapping compression force. The intervention exercise comprised six voluntary isometric contractions of the ankle at three angles (20° plantar flexion, neutral 0°, and 10° dorsiflexion) for 3 seconds each using a dynamometer. The maximal isometric ankle plantar flexion torque and dorsiflexion range of motion were evaluated pre- and post-intervention. Significant interactions were observed in ankle plantar flexion torque at 10° dorsiflexion (p < 0.01) but not at 0° or 20° plantar flexion. The low- and high-pressure bands significantly enhanced ankle plantar flexion torque by 4.3 Nm (effect size [ES]: 0.14, p = 0.02) and 4.9 Nm (ES: 0.15, p < 0.05), respectively, and also enhanced the ankle dorsiflexion range of motion by 1.7° (ES: 0.43, p < 0.01) and 1.3° (ES: 0.35, p = 0.02), respectively, compared to the control. The low- and high-pressure band conditions had comparable effects on torque and range of motion. A few minutes of the calf tissue flossing intervention significantly enhanced ankle plantar flexion torque and dorsiflexion range of motion, although the effect sizes were trivial to small.