by Mitch Hauschildt, MA, ATC, CSCS
Recently, I got together with my good friend and DVRT Master Instructor Larry Betz of the Brooklyn Athletic Club in Brooklyn, NY and we were discussing ways that we can help people who are training for the DVRT Clean and Press test as part of the DVRT level 1 certification. Larry so kindly pointed out that a lot of people would benefit from combining 2 of my favorite modalities: Rocktape and DVRT. So, this is part 1 of a 3 part series on how you can use Rocktape to improve function, decrease fatigue and ultimately crush the DVRT Clean and Press test.
For those who aren’t familiar with the DVRT Clean and Press test, it is a 5 minute test of strength, stamina, skill and toughness. It involves performing 40 or 50 clean and presses with an Ultimate Sandbag (USB) of varying weight in 5 minutes (reps, load, and size of USB vary depending on gender and bodyweight). Ultimately, it is a 5 minutes all out test that requires quite a bit of training (even for good athletes) and a lot of technique and grit.
When you look at the Clean and Press, it is definitely dominated by the posterior chain. It is a hip dominant movement that challenges the Performance Back Chain of the body. The Performance Back Chain is a fascial line that starts on the bottom of the big toes, follows a linear line up the posterior aspect of the body and finally finishes by wrapping around to the frontside of the brow. This line facilitates extension of the body concentrically and controls flexion in a eccentric manner. It is an endurance based chain, so maximizing its function can have a large impact on fatigue.
Research suggests that kinesiology taping can improve posture and neuromuscular control in a fatigued state. So it stands to reason that taping the Performance Back Chain can and will have a positive impact on the DVRT Clean and Press test by decreasing time to fatigue and also improving accuracy during the repetitive movement while under fatigue.
The theory in taping this pattern is to up-regulate the nervous system via the mechanoreceptors along this fascial line to normalize the tissue and ultimately improve performance. It is a technique that I have used effectively to improve hip dominant, extension movements.
Take a few minutes to watch the video below on applying tape to performance back chain.
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