10 Muscle Flossing Bands Review - Choose the Best Voodoo Band Which is Right for You
- What makes a good muscle compression band good?
- Choosing the right seller
- Product history
- Product consistency
- Buyers feedback not always relevant
- Reputation and customer support
- Bonuses and instructional materials
- Who are you: PT, personal trainer, just a fitness enthusiast?
- Two Tips on Using Voodoo Bands
- Muscle Compression Bands - Top 10 Brands at Amazon
- WOD Nation Muscle Floss Bands Recovery Band for Tack and Flossing Sore Muscles and Increasing Mobility
- Serious Steel Mobility & Recovery Flossing Band
- Rocktape RockFloss Tack Mobility Band Compression Muscle Recovery Floss for Muscle Soreness 2' & 4' Width Red
- Limm Muscle Compression Floss Bands
- WODFitters Floss Bands for Muscle Compression Tack & Flossing Mobility & Recovery WODs
- ValeoFM Mobility Floss Bands (Red) - Compression Muscle Flossing Band
- Fitteroy WOD Floss Compression Band for Mobility and WOD Recovery Through Muscle Compression Tack and Flossing
- ACHIEVE FIT Muscle Compression Floss Bands - Therapy Rehab Band for Increasing Mobility
- Neptune Barbell The Original Floss Mobility Bands | Compression Muscle Recovery Bands
- Iron Core Athletics Physical Therapy Exercise Bands - Floss Bands for Muscle Compression
- End Notes
How to Choose Muscle Flossing Bands aka Voodoo Bands - the Missing Buying Guide
Muscle Floss is an effective tool for recovery of sore muscles and increasing mobility. How to choose the right one from a variety of sellers and what to pay attention to? The following article will help you.
What makes a good muscle compression band good?
Grippy (Sticky, Catchy) vs Slippery bands
A good muscle compression band should be able to provide the right amount of tension with light-medium-strong pressure on your skin. The ideal muscle compression bands should be enough grippy, or tacky, or catchy and stay in place when you wrap.
This is a common problelm when the band is missing this vital characteristic. They may be slippery which considerably lowers their value down to literally zero. You might use them only as resistance bands but not to for the aims the tool is designed for.
Elasticity and ageing of rubber
Avoid inferior rubber. The muscle floss bands should be elastic and stretchy enough to serve you well. The bands get older like people and prone to loose their elasticity. When the time comes your once great band may just snap in two pieces. This is inevitable. To make it last longer, don't put it in the sunlight.
Things to consider
Not latex free
Do not use if you have a latex allergy. Unfortunately, there is nothing which can be done.
From medium to stronger or lighter
Start from a medium compression rate band. Then choose the stronger if you need.
You'd better stick with one proven seller to avoid the situation where the same color compression level can differ among different sellers.
Body hair guys, beware!
If you have a lot of leg hair and don't wear pants while utilizing the bands, you're not going to like it.
Odour
It may have a slight smell, but it is unlikely to not have it altogether.
Choosing the right seller
Product history
You'd want to choose from the seller with a long history of this very product. Some brands have been selling sporting goods for a long time but only recently jumped in the wagon of the hot voodoo flossing trend. They might have missed on plenty of key elements: from rubber quality to the product consistency.
Product consistency
"Where is my voodoo flossing band is made in?" Usually, the county of origin is China or, sometimes, Sri Lanka. It's not easy for a seller to keep consistent quality. Even if the company succeeded with a good factory it's hard to keep up. Even old sellers may suffer from this. In the end of the day, the puzzled end customer suffers getting two bands of different quality from the same seller. Would you like to take a spin at playing that kind roulette?
Buyers feedback not always relevant
It's uncommon to see the buyers' one-star ratings not because of the product's characteristics but as a result of improper use, late shipping, personal issues (as those leg hairs mentioned above), etc. An old/new stock issues may also contribute to the conundrum. A good review a month ago might relate to the product which is out of stock by the time of the purchase and a new batch is a junk, or vice versa.
Here is where the responsiveness of the seller plays a role.
Reputation and customer support
Even if you are not lucky with the product, you should be able to deal with it quickly and without a fuss. A responsive seller saves your time and efforts. And if you are not happy with the purchase, start by writing to the seller and explaining the situation in two words.
Chances are you are not using the product properly, you got the wrong item, you are "that hairy guy", etc. Ask for a solution first instead of leaving a negative feedback first. Don't be that guy.
Bonuses and instructional materials
You'll often see some "free" stuff alongside with the main product. Don't be fooled by irrelevant incentives and take into account only the product on it's own. You'll unlikely benefit from the instructional materials which some sellers offer because you'll get only some basics.
YouTube have plenty of videos on how to use voodoo bands. But your best bet would be to find a personal trainer or a physical therapist trained in this technique. Some important nuances cannot be learned from the video or from the articles.
Who are you: PT, personal trainer, just a fitness enthusiast?
If you buy it for your personal use, don't spare the bucks. If you aim to buy more in future, you might save a lot if you opt for a smaller brand with more lucrative prices but higher risk of having a quality issue.
Two Tips on Using Voodoo Bands
When to Use Muscle Floss Bands
The best time to use the Muscle Floss band is after a tough workout, or when your muscles are sore. You can also use it before a workout to help increase mobility and prevent injuries. It's a great way to help reduce muscle soreness, and it's something that you want to use whenever you work out.
Check out this article about voodoo bands on knee.
Avoiding damaging smaller vessels when using flossing bands
From distant to proximal.
Wrap from the most distant areas from the heart to the closest, this avoids any damage to smaller vessels.
You should never use this product on your head or neck.
Muscle Compression Bands - Top 10 Brands at Amazon
Hundreds of buyers can't be wrong - it's a phrase that comes to mind when thinking about the best buy muscle flossing band.
Can we just know how many of each item each seller sells on Amazon and make our choice based on that data?
We've got you covered. Here is the approximate data showing the top 10 sellers on Amazon and their monthly sales in pcs. The data are provided by JungleScout for December 2021.
Pretty convenient, right? Hold on! Let's dive and make a deeper analysis. By the end of this article you'll know everything you need to know about muscle flossing bands and why the "hundreds of buyers can't be wrong" is not a good approach to guide your purchasing decision.
We have chosen the best and worst reviews of the product in order to give you all the information you need to make an informed purchase decision. We scoured through the reviews to pick out only those that were essential.
Additionally, we bought and tested out three products that were on our best buy list.
Here is the list of brands we are going to review: WOD Nation, SERIOUS STEEL FITNESS, RockTape, WODFitters, Limm, ValeoFM, Fitteroy, Achieve Fit, Neptune Barbell, Iron Core Athletics
WOD Nation Muscle Floss Bands Recovery Band for Tack and Flossing Sore Muscles and Increasing Mobility
Brand: WOD Nation
Selling muscle flossing bands since 2012. A long history!
The bands come with a carrying case, which is really nice because it makes them easy to take with you wherever you go.
They're claimed to be made of high-quality materials and that they're really stretchy, so they can accommodate a wide range of muscle sizes.
Should we add to the cart now?
The problem is that they have old stock with the old logo which still being shipped with current packaging, so it's unclear whether you are getting new or older product. When you order this WOD Nation floss, don't expect to get the new style logo with the great grip - the chances are 50/50 or ?/?. The old stock product is not what you want - zero grip and doesn't stay on during stretching.
So if you're looking to purchase this product, be aware of the potential for getting the old logo stock. Hopefully WOD Nation will eventually get rid of their old inventory and stop sending it to buyers. Until then, buyer beware!
Compression level
You'll buy a pair of bands. They come in two colors: black and red, and they don't have the same amount of compression. The black mobility band is just enough compression for most athletes in most activities. For working big muscles or when you require a deeper flossing, the red band has more compression.
BTW, WOD Nation is not affiliated (as the name may falsely imply) with the voodoo floss originator, Kelly Starrett.
The originator of voodoo flossing bands trend is Kelly Starrett. He is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and that "mobility guy" who owns The Ready State (formerly, MobilityWOD), and he is the creator of the voodoo flossing band as you know it now.
Some selected positive reviews:
"Use these for recurring tendinitis in my elbows/forearms. The bands are good quality and get the job done. They come with a link to instructional videos, but I prefer TheReadyState for advice on using floss bands. Regular use has helped me manage my tendinitis."
"These are the real deal, If you are a fan of Becoming a Supple Leopard by Kelley Starrett these are the bands for you-they come with a link to a guide to using the bands correctly-which is key."
"I am a physical therapist and have been using this product with my patient through their muscle sprain/strain recovery. Getting great results. Highly recommend it."
"I have been using this band for the past week an have found some pretty cool results. I am a physical therapist and have mainly been using it to change the inputs to the brain to improve mobility and cortical mapping. I have consistently found increased ROM resulting as decreased threats to the injured body part. It is sturdy with a good amount of stretch and long enough to wrap around larger thighs"
Some selected negative reviews:
To save your time, I ommited a few negative reviews resulting from inexperienced uses. Some folks just don't get this idea of muscle flossing and it's not because of a particular brand. Boiling down to the meaningful negative reviews, they are essentially like that:
"Just purchased my third set of these bands as I was previously impressed with how they performed and the value they offered especially when compared to the price of the original rogue fitness (mobilitywod) voodoo floss bands."
"Unfortunately the material used has now changed. New material is not as flexible and is more importantly way too smooth and slick to be used effectively for flossing as there is no longer any grip between bound layers."
"I ordered a replacement however they had the same issue. Not sure if this is a temporary issue but for not I do not recommend."
As we see, the old stock or quality control issue may have a huge, huge impact on your reputation as a brand.
Conclusion: avoid ❌
Serious Steel Mobility & Recovery Flossing Band
Brand: Serious Steel Fitness
This product is a second best-selling option for customers who want to decompress their muscles. Serious Steel creates high-quality products for this specific need. But customers looking for something with more variation in the band's thickness should seek a different compression band type.
Serious Steel Mobility & Recovery (Floss) Bands has been marketed since 2014. The company had plenty of time to make a research and improve the quality if necessary based on customers' feedbacks.
Let's learn if they succeeded in this.
There are many positive reviews for the product. But there is no need to reiterate them here.
I hunted for the critical reviews especially those ones which mentioned "slippery bands" but found nothing of the kind. Occasional angry buyers do write negative reviews but this is not always a real sign that a very product is bad.
What about a price tag? The price is a bit higher than an average but it looks like the guys keep a close eye on the production process to ensure that all items are of consistent high quality.
Conclusion: buy ✅
Rocktape RockFloss Tack Mobility Band Compression Muscle Recovery Floss for Muscle Soreness 2' & 4' Width Red
Brand: RockTape
RockTape is a famous brand of kinesiology tape. It is made from cotton and elastic, and is used to provide compression and support to muscles, fascia, ligaments and joints. RockTape has been shown to improve athletic performance, decrease pain and inflammation, and accelerate healing. They also produce some excellent IASTM tools.
They have marketed their floss band since 2017. And you know what? It's the only product from our list which is sold by Amazon directly. All other brands in this article are sold at Amazon on behalf of their own brand*, but the RockTape brand is sold by Amazon at Amazon. Why? Usually, Amazon choose the product which sells good, have a decent reputation, minimum of negative reviews and, you name it.
- that means these brands use Amazon as a marketplace and list their products there. They store the merchandise at Amazon's warehouses, and Amazon ships the products to an end customer fulfilling the brands' orders when the purchase is made.
We should mention it's not cheap - at all. But the benefits of Rocktape RockFloss Tack Mobility Band is worth every penny spent. At least, for some people.
- consistent quality
- well-known brand in the realm of physical therapy
- no negative reviews mentioning a slippery issue
RockTape 4" Wide Flossing Band
And, I haven't mentioned yet. They have 4" wide floss band which may be useful for SOME customers.
Hold on, don't rush to buy!
Some folks buy a 4" flossing band and later regret it, complaining it's not as good as the 2" one, and blah, blah, blah, while ruining the reputaition of the brand on the go.
"The 2 inch floss works great for hamstrings and quads. I thought a wider band would be better, but it's harder to get same compression and results weren't there. Too bad I waited to long to return this one, but i'm a FAN of the 2 inch tape."
Lovely people, if you don't know how to use a 4 inch muslce floss band, please, please, don't buy it! You should know how to cook it. And if you don't, it's better to leave this kind of thing to the professionals: physical therapists, personal trainers, or just trained guys who know how to use it.
The 4 inch floss bands are not for quads and hams, they are for stabilizing and dealing with pelvis, SI-joints, lumbar area.
Wrap your pelvis girdle, then do any of these:
- Cat / camel exercise
- Downward dog exercise
- Squat (slowly)
- Back rolls
Conclusion: buy ✅
Limm Muscle Compression Floss Bands
Brand: Limm
LimmGroup has been selling resistance bands and other stretch bands used for yoga and physical fitness purposes for quite a long time.
They have been in operation since about 2014 as a family-owned business, and they only quite recently began to produce their own line of muscle floss bands, namely, from 2018.
Yet, the biggest and recent complaint about the bands is that they are slippery and people keep posting this kinds of reviews. This makes it hard to do any choice in favor of this brand.
And, sincerely, the cold pack which goes as a bonus with this buy doesn't really improves the situation.
It's uncommon to see companies rushing into a hot trend trying to leverage on it but sometimes they just screw up with the details.
Conclusion: avoid ❌
WODFitters Floss Bands for Muscle Compression Tack & Flossing Mobility & Recovery WODs
Brand: WODFitters
On the market since 2014 with this product which is promising. Meaning they took their time to improve the product according to buyers' feedbacks.
If you opt for this buy you'll get a pair of red and black floss band of different compression levels with a travelling pouch for an average price.
Actually, I don't ever consider a pouch as something good. I have plenty of these bags left from lacross balls, trigger point release rubber balls and other stuff. I prefer plain and simple product of a decent quality without cheap add-ons aiming to shift my focus from the very product. Besides, I don't really find those bags useful.
60 days refund policy! Seriously? :) Every seller on Amazon has this.
When they mention an instruction guide as a bonus which goes with the purchase, don't expect to get something valuable. Consider the very product on itself.
But let's dive into the product's features on their own.
As always, I want to know if the bands are sticky enough. Unfortunately, they are not.
We don't have as much negative reviews referring to this issue as Limm or WOD Nation have but the bands in question still lack in the ability of giving me a sense of confidence.
As of year 2018:
As of year 2021 (!):
Conclusion: avoid ❌
ValeoFM Mobility Floss Bands (Red) - Compression Muscle Flossing Band
Brand: ValeoFM
The product is marketed since 2016.
For this product customer reviews are the more difficult component to evaluate due to their scarcity. This product doesn't have many evaluations, and since the brand has an average history on Amazon, the reviews aren't fraudulent, which is good.
The product has one of the highest overall ratings and is averagely-priced. Besides, I bought earlier the resistance bands of this seller. I received a great customer service interaction with ValeoFM. I was impressed with the excellent product, high quality materials and wonderful customer interactions that I had when purchasing my looped mobility band from them.
This all made ValeoFM bands one of my best option to test.
Conclusion: buy ✅
Fitteroy WOD Floss Compression Band for Mobility and WOD Recovery Through Muscle Compression Tack and Flossing
Brand: Fitteroy
Marketed since 2015. Had enough time to improve the quality if necessary.
Higher then an average price with a decent quality
It has 4.6 stars, but if we exclude irrelevant complaints ("no instructions", "got only one", "pulls my hair", etc.) this would fly close to 5 which is a quite decent rating.
The pros of choosing this product among the competitors are as follows:
- The product is made of quality materials that will last long.
- The reliable company which has been selling this product for quite a long time.
- The band is also tacky, which helps to compress and floss the muscles.
- The compression band is designed to help with mobility and WOD recovery.
- No distracting bonuses
You can also choose the wide 4" flossing bands. Just to recap, read above the section about RockTape. But, comparing to RockTape, Fitteroy has two thicknesses of wide flossing bands - black and red (thicker).
I like that Fitteroy is committed to working with athletes of all levels and understands that different people and uses require the bands of different kinds. And here they got you covered.
The company has a number of options to select from, with no more than enough and no less than you need.
Conclusion: buy ✅
ACHIEVE FIT Muscle Compression Floss Bands - Therapy Rehab Band for Increasing Mobility
Brand: Achieve Fit
A new-comer: the product launched in 2021. But they had a great job in researching other brands mistakes. Read below.
A price is very affordable, below average.
Only 4 positive ratings with no reviews by this time (December 2021).
Here is what they promise to deliver if we exclude the general "greater mobility flexibility blood flow circulation" blah-blah-blah:
PREMIUM QUALITY: Made of high quality 100% natural latex and over 99.9% free of soluble proteins. Wrap them with confidence because they are not slippery nor flimsy unlike other bands. Our stretch bands are durable, effective and NO toxic smell.
90-DAY NO QUESTIONS ASKED MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE, FREE LIFETIME WARRANTY: We're so confident that you'll love the Achieve Fit Muscle Compression Floss Bands that we'll refund every penny if you don't like it!
What does that mean in plain English?
They know about the problem, and they are commited to solve it.
They promise to refund during 90 days while the general Amazon refund policy is 60 days for a seller. And they even promise to replace it during LIFETIME, if I got it right. Probably, I didn't :)...
Anyway, with all that in mind and the price below average (especially if you buy 2-pack), they are a good candidate to purchase.
But personally me, I wouldn't gamble.
Conclusion: avoid ❌
Neptune Barbell The Original Floss Mobility Bands | Compression Muscle Recovery Bands
Brand: Neptune Barbell
Sells the flossing bands since 2014.
Chances are they do well. Let's take a closer look.
The price is in the middle of the range. When they're bought at a discount, which the company often provide, the flossing bands are quite inexpensive.
They offer a few most necessary options to buy: red and black, pair of red, pair of black, red, black. Conventionally, more compression is colorcoded with red, and less with black.
Neptune Barbell also have the wide 4" flossing band, but in the time of writing this article, this product is missing at Amazon, so if you need one your best bet is to get RockTape or Fitteroy.
As a side note, look how this listing is missing great pictures, but has a lot of positive reviews. In my opinion, this favors the product. This means that the customers, by and large, know WHAT they buy. They don't buy being distracted by neuro-marketing tactics, when you see slick photos, imagine the product in your hands, and prone to make irrational decision.
Ironically, this may mean that they simply don't care much about a customer support as well.
On the other hand, unfortunately some reviews give me an impression that the company may suffer some inconsistence with the quality of the bands. They may have a bad odor, not the right amount of compression, not as stretchy as supposed to be, you may just end up with having an old stock product in your gym bag (see the chapter about Wod Nation).
I would pass on this item when they are being sold at regular prices, and think twice when they are discounted.
Conclusion: avoid ❌
Iron Core Athletics Physical Therapy Exercise Bands - Floss Bands for Muscle Compression
Brand: Iron Core Athletics
Sells the muscle compression since 2019.
Let's see if they did the things well enough to be accepted into the club.
A cheap product (less then 20USD for a pair of black and red) gives me a hard feeling which rises up when I see only one option to buy: just a pair of red and black.
The situation is comparable to that of Limm (see the chapter on Limm above). They attempt to follow the fashion, but the offering is half-baked, possibly leaving key features out.
Let's check recent customers' feedbacks. There is nothing to boast of.
One conclusion I inevitably reach after hearing a few buyer complaints is that the item doesn't stay on: run away.
Conclusion: avoid ❌
End Notes
Don't forget that muscle compression bands are just a tool. As you broaden your knowledge and skills, the more effective the product becomes. Even if you have a fantastic product, you'll be ineffective if you don't know how to use it.
