A couple months ago I was in a motorcycle accident and injured my knee. I had a lot of scar tissue build up but am now at the point where most pain and soreness is gone. When I do lower body exercises I tend to feel some pain or discomfort. I have been rehabbing my knee for some time and most of my lower body work has been consisting of Bulgarian split squats, sled dragging (forwards and backwards), as well as work on the posterior chain. I am planning to slowly reintroduce squatting into my lower body workouts and am considering purchasing knee sleeves.
Have any of you found these useful for doing lower body compound movements working around nagging injuries? If so what brand or type of knee sleeves would you recommend? I am simply looking for additional support and comfort for the knee and not so much for the extra weight it could assist me in lifting. I have seen some sleeves on elitefts.com but am not sure what is appropriate for my situation.
I olympic lift, so i don’t use heavy knee wraps like the powerlifting boys use (that allow you to lift additional weight). I have used Rehband sleeves for 10 years (gone through 3 pairs). Love them. They keep the knees warm and give some support. I don’t lift without them. You might also check out Rocktape knee sleeves, look like a similar product as the Rehbands, only aimed at the growing crossfit crowd. I’m actually thinking of getting a pair to see how they compare.
Also, you can try straight Ace bandage type wraps. I use “Cramer” that come in 4" wide rolls (don’t remember how long they are, maybe 9’). Again, these are NOT the thick powerlifting wraps, but they work great. The problem with the wraps is that you have to experiment with how you wrap. When i first started using them i wrapped to tight and during the middle of my session i lost feeling in me feet :o)
Its a bit of an art, but when you can wrap properly for your body type its awesome. For me it makes a big difference, instead of limping out of the gym in pain, i walk out feeling like i’m not nearly as old as i am.
I have a pair of Rehbands and SBD sleeves. SBD are a sturdier sleeve which feel more supportive. They’re a bit bigger and not as comfortable as the Rehbands IMO. The SBDs have aged better. Both will do a good job at keeping your knees warm and give you a tiny bit more confidence in the bottom of the squat.
One other aspect is fitting. SBD’s have a huge variety of sizes, which may end up being important