Can kinesiology tape improve workouts?

I see a lot of people wearing colourful tape while working out. Can it really improve performance or prevent injury?

- Danielle Friedman

Over the past decade, kinesiology tape has become a fixture of physical therapy offices, gyms and running trails.

The stretchy strips, which are designed to move with your body as a kind of second skin, have developed a reputation for helping everyday athletes manage pain, prevent injury and improve performance. There are dozens of iterations of the tape on the market, with different degrees of adhesion, elasticity and water resistance.

But does the tape actually do anything? Here is what to know.

KINESIOLOGY TAPE MAY NOT DIRECTLY AFFECT MUSCLES

Kinesiology tape was invented by a Japanese chiropractor in the 1970s as an alternative to more rigid orthopaedic tape, which limited his patients’ mobility. But it was not until the 2008 Summer Olympics, when some top athletes wore the tape during competition, that it became a mainstream fitness tool.