Knee Sleeves - Worth the Money?

Hey guys,
I am thinking of getting myself a pair of knee sleeves, mostly because a lot of lifters use them and I am curious of how it feels to squat in sleeves. The only reason I don’t just buy a pair is the price. So my questions here are:

  1. What are your reasons for using/ not using knee sleeves?
  2. Do knee sleeves really help with longevity of the knees?
  3. Do knee sleeves add weight to your squat (heard really different opinios on this one)
  4. Are there significant differences between expensive and cheap ones when it comes to support?

Thanks in advance!

  1. I use them because it keeps my knees nice and warm and I don’t really ever get any aches anymore. I’d consider it my most valuable equipment. Even more so than a belt.

  2. I’m just 30 and have been using them for about 14 months, but pretty sure they will help long term health of knees.

  3. I use the rehbands and do not think they give any weight. I guess you could say it might give a couple of pounds but thats it. Apparently the SBD sleeves may give a small amount of bounce out of bottom but I cannot personally confirm this.

  4. Yes, the expensive ones are well worth the extra money. I’d check out rehband, SBD, and the newer slingshot sleeves as well.

tl;dr: Just spend the money and buy some good knee sleeves dammit!

Thanks for the detailed reply! I will start looking for a pair.

Sleeves are okay. I use then to keep my knees warm between sets. They don’t really do much of anything else.

I rarely squat without my rehband sleeves, helps me feel warmed up faster and keeps my knees healthy as I had knee problems from running.

I definitely find them helpful. I forget what brand I have offhand but it is one of the quality ones, not just something you’ll find at academy. They do seem to keep that dull achiness away that sometimes heavy squats will give me. They add nothing in the way of poundage to my squat but they do help me feel more confident with heavy weights and help me track my knees. Not so much because they add support but more because they give me a better idea of where my knees are and what they’re doing.

I have rehbands, a size too big. They make me feel ever so slightly more stable in the hole and keep the knees warm. Good investment.

Keep my knees feeling good while I squat. SBDs add a little bit (maybe 2.5kg to your 1RM, but varies slightly with person). I recommend you get SBDs. Yeah they’ll stretch with use and will stop adding anything significant, but my Rehbands are now so loose and saggy they’re nearly worthless, since they slide halfway down my knee. There’s not that much price difference so pick the SBDs.

Thanks everyone, good to hear some opinions before making this decision!

I don’t get any extra pounds out of my SBD sleeves, but they’re well worth the money. Great for training, I almost never squat without them.

IMO they’re useless.

Knee wraps shouldn’t add weight to your squat and if they do they might be banned in your fed. Also some raw feds don’t allow knee sleeves.

They’re only purpose is to “keep knees warm”. Sweats do the same thing.

Not much safety benefit & waste of money

You want protection? Might as well get knee wraps. Most “protection” offered by sleeves is just placebo effect.

[quote]shadowbobo8028 wrote:
Knee wraps shouldn’t add weight to your squat and if they do they might be banned in your fed. [/quote]

I greatly disagree with this statement.

[quote]shadowbobo8028 wrote:
IMO they’re useless.

Knee wraps shouldn’t add weight to your squat and if they do they might be banned in your fed. Also some raw feds don’t allow knee wraps.

They’re only purpose is to “keep knees warm”. Sweats do the same thing.

Not much safety benefit & waste of money

You want protection? Might as well get knee wraps. Most “protection” offered by sleeves is just placebo effect.[/quote]

I assume you only meant to say wraps the last time? Otherwise I don’t get it.

Maybe some briefs instead of knee sleeves? The briefs will support your hips and maybe make you less “quad dominant.” ( In your own words)

Extra knee support may just reinforce your current technique, and make you more quad dominant.

1, 4, I got a cheap pair of Inzer Power Pants after an injury years ago that still hold up pretty well.

  1. They’ll keep your knees healthy by helping your get closer to optimal technique.

  2. They will definitely add weight to your squat. They’ll add even more if you crank your belt down on top of the briefs.

[quote]shadowbobo8028 wrote:
IMO they’re useless.

Knee wraps shouldn’t add weight to your squat and if they do they might be banned in your fed. Also some raw feds don’t allow knee sleeves.

They’re only purpose is to “keep knees warm”. Sweats do the same thing.

Not much safety benefit & waste of money

You want protection? Might as well get knee wraps. Most “protection” offered by sleeves is just placebo effect.[/quote]

Must be nice to be 20. For us ancient folk, there is certainly benefit in warming the knees up before even starting a training session, and keeping them warm. Sweats are not the same, I don’t know why you would say that. My SBD’s also help me with the feels. I think I’m more consistent with my form when I wear them, and I believe videos I’ve shot support that notion. I find them to be most beneficial on higher rep sets.

Almost every fed allows the SBD’s as well. They’re IPF raw legal.

[quote]shadowbobo8028 wrote:
IMO they’re useless.

Knee wraps shouldn’t add weight to your squat and if they do they might be banned in your fed. Also some raw feds don’t allow knee sleeves.

They’re only purpose is to “keep knees warm”. Sweats do the same thing.

Not much safety benefit & waste of money

You want protection? Might as well get knee wraps. Most “protection” offered by sleeves is just placebo effect.[/quote]

Why shouldn’t knee wraps add weight? I dream of a world wraps and sleeves alike are free to do as they please.
A belt adds weight to my squat, should feds ban belts too?
Sleeves do more than keep your knees warm, and they’re definitely different to sweats.
Nothing wrong with a placebo, it’s still a positive effect.

[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:

[quote]shadowbobo8028 wrote:
IMO they’re useless.

Knee wraps shouldn’t add weight to your squat and if they do they might be banned in your fed. Also some raw feds don’t allow knee sleeves.

They’re only purpose is to “keep knees warm”. Sweats do the same thing.

Not much safety benefit & waste of money

You want protection? Might as well get knee wraps. Most “protection” offered by sleeves is just placebo effect.[/quote]

Why shouldn’t knee wraps add weight? I dream of a world wraps and sleeves alike are free to do as they please.
A belt adds weight to my squat, should feds ban belts too?
Sleeves do more than keep your knees warm, and they’re definitely different to sweats.
Nothing wrong with a placebo, it’s still a positive effect.[/quote]

I’m confident he meant sleeves, not wraps in that first comment. It makes more sense that way. Sleeves aren’t likely to add much, if any weight to your 1RM. Wraps clearly do. Reed gets something like 100 extra lbs on his squat with wraps, lol.

Yeah, I assumed that too. My point though was wondering if he meant that they “shouldn’t’” (probably won’t) add weight, or “shouldn’t” (should not, and if they do they’re faulty) add weight. The second option sounds silly but that’s how I read it initially.

[quote]shadowbobo8028 wrote:
IMO they’re useless.

Knee wraps shouldn’t add weight to your squat and if they do they might be banned in your fed. Also some raw feds don’t allow knee sleeves.

They’re only purpose is to “keep knees warm”. Sweats do the same thing.

Not much safety benefit & waste of money

You want protection? Might as well get knee wraps. Most “protection” offered by sleeves is just placebo effect.[/quote]

I don’t think the way powerlifters wear knee wraps is at all safe. They get pulled so, so tight; the fact that they cut off circulation and feeling, alone, makes them dangerous IMHO. If you leave them loose, you get the same effect as knee sleeves.

I personally love my knee sleeves, as they do make my knees feel better; less ‘achey’. And no, it’s nothing like wearing sweats. At all.

I hate wearing my wraps.

[quote]shadowbobo8028 wrote:
IMO they’re useless.

Knee wraps shouldn’t add weight to your squat and if they do they might be banned in your fed. Also some raw feds don’t allow knee sleeves.

They’re only purpose is to “keep knees warm”. Sweats do the same thing.

Not much safety benefit & waste of money

You want protection? Might as well get knee wraps. Most “protection” offered by sleeves is just placebo effect.[/quote]

I couldn’t disagree more.