What effects does an ankle taping have on running biomechanics?

Brief name: functional taping in the ankle Arm 1: functional taping, performed with a standard 38-mm self-adhesive tape starting with two anchor strips around the leg 10 cm above the malleoli. The next step will consist of two strips placed from the medial side of the anchor tape to the lateral side with the foot in a neutral position. The “figure sixes” focusing on the subtalar joint will be performed with an initial strip onto the medial anchor through the plantar aspect of the foot attached to the medial anchor. To complete the procedure, the therapist will cover all free ends and spaces with tape. Arm 2: taping with KinesioTape, performed with a 30 cm "U" strip with 75% tension from the sole to the head of the fibula, following the path of the peroneus longus muscle; then a 15 cm "U" strip with 75% tension from the external part of the calcaneus to the first toe; and finally a 10 cm strip with 75% tension from the external malleolus to the medial malleolus. All participants will undergo the interventions in a randomized order. The allocation will be carried out using the randomization function of Microsoft Office Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, USA). The bandages will be applied before running by a physiotherapist with ten years of clinical experience specializing in ankle and foot injuries in runners, in the Sports Performance Laboratory of the European University of Madrid. The minimum duration period between treatments (1- running with taping; 2- running with kinesiotape; 3-running without taping) will be 72h to avoid fatigue, which could interfere with the measures. First, participants will undergo a maximal effort 5-minute run test on a 400-m track (Berthon et al., 1997; García-Pérez et al., 2013) to determine their maximal aerobic speed. Then (another day), running biomechanics will be measured during a fatigue protocol consisting of a 30-minute run at 85% maximal aerobic speed on a treadmill (García-Pérez et al., 2014). The participants will carry out this treadmill protocol at 85% maximal aerobic speed for three days: one with a functional bandage (Romero-Morales et al., 2023) applied to the dominant foot, another with a Kinesio tape (Watcharakhueankhan et al., 2022), and another without a bandage. The objective is to observe if the bandages significantly alter the biomechanics and the sensation of stability during the race, and on the other hand to evaluate if significant changes occur in the electromyographic activation of the foot muscles after the race, comparing the different bandages between them. REFERENCES: Romero-Morales C, Matilde-Cruz A, García-Arrabe M, Higes-Núñez F, Lópes AD, Saiz SJ, Pareja-Galeano H, López-López D. Assessing the effect of prophylactic ankle taping on ankle and knee biomechanics during landing tasks in healthy individuals: A cross-sectional observational study. Sao Paulo Med J. 2023 Jul 31;142(2):e2022548. P. Watcharakhueankhan, G.J. Chapman, K. Sinsurin, T. Jaysrichai, J. Richards. The immediate effects of Kinesio Taping on running biomechanics, muscle activity, and perceived changes in comfort, stability and running performance in healthy runners, and the implications to the management of Iliotibial band syndrome. Gait & Posture, 2022;91:179-185. José Antonio García-Pérez, Pedro Pérez-Soriano, Salvador Llana Belloch, Ángel Gabriel Lucas-Cuevas & Daniel Sánchez-Zuriaga (2014) Effects of treadmill running and fatigue on impact acceleration in distance running, Sports Biomechanics, 13:3, 259-266.