Roll the tape: What KT Tape taught me about muscles, magnesium, and my limitations

It was nearing the peak of PorcUclimb, right before Downward Dog, when I came up with what I was sure was a career-defining concept: Ware ’N Tear’s Salve for Wounded Pride. Here I was fat biking along the groomed singletrack of Round Valley on a perfect bluebird day in early March and I was just gassed, totally holding back our small guided group of snow cyclists. Coming off a recent illness, my altitude-ravaged lungs just couldn’t deliver what my legs demanded. 

I quickly turned to my fellow rider, KT CEO Jessica Klodnicki, and asked if R&D could get started on what could be my legacy. The chances are less than zero, I was quickly told, but that didn’t mean there weren’t plentiful new recovery products to discover. After all, that’s why I was in Park City, Utah, just up the road from American Fork and the headquarters of the brand synonymous with kinesiology tape and its growing KT Ice and KT Health portfolio.

Prepare

Maybe you’re an elite athlete. If so, chances are you’ve used KT Tape. Maybe you’ve seen elite athletes. If so, chances are you’ve seen strips of elastic KT Tape crisscrossing an elbow, knee, shoulder, etc. Maybe you’re sitting at a desk reading this in between emails and trips to the coffee station. If so, chances are you’re wondering if KT products can benefit everybody and every body, not just Olympians and other elevated competitors. Before my trip to Utah, I was firmly in that last group. I knew the brand because, with over 80 percent market share in the taping category and a big, bright logo, KT is hard to miss even if you’ve just dabbled in couch-to-5k programs and ended up limping through CVS aisles searching for muscle soreness relief.

Just because I had seen KT Tape, however, didn’t mean I had tried KT Tape. I…