Knee Wrap Discussion

[beastmaster103]

@beastmaster, I got you. Have you considered knee sleeves to serve that purpose? Looser wraps may offer similar benefits in terms of joint support, but be judicious in their use as with any lifting tool. Beyond that I'm probably not qualified enough to help you draw the line between overuse and appropriate use.

Hey, I appreciate any input you provide. I think I'll eventually get the blue rehbands in a medium size, but I need to check my knee circumference. I've never measured, so I should try once.

I'm probably going to get a good pair of wrist wraps for heavy bp, front squats, maybe weighted dips, etc. I don't know if I'll need it for anything else...it would be a shame to tweak a wrist on a supplemental exercise and have it affect my other lifts.

[Eiji]

I do not understand the point of geared lifting. Say you can bench 475 but in a bench shirt you have a 605 bench. What the?!? I dont think its cheating because the competition is with other people using bench shirts, squat suits, DL suits and tight as heck knee wraps. BUT, what ever that is not how strong you are! its how good your stupid ass straight jacket shirt is. PL would be so much cooler if there was no gear besides whats allowed in the Raw. Just my weak ass opinion. I dont even get the use for a belt so maybe Im just slow but has there even been any research on the efficacy of belt usage? All I have found has been tradition. yes it can help create interabdominal pressure but can't you do that with just the abs, if they are strong enough?

I do use wrist wraps for my top sets on bench and press. I wrenched my wrist doing front squats about 6 weeks ago and couldnt press or bench heavy till I put those suckers on. I do however want to strengthen my wrists back up to a point where I do not use them except for a 1rm attempt.

[Les Hahn]

A couple of things. First, lots of sports have various equipment to change how the game is played. Football has pads and helmets so you crash really hard into each other. Paul vault uses a pole to let the competitors jump higher than they ever could. Hell, even sprinters have got better shoes over the years to run even faster.

Look at strongman too. They allow belts, wraps, and even briefs for the squat events. So gear is a part of all strength sports in one capacity or another.

I like raw lifting, and it is what I will continue to compete in for a while, but I don't see why that makes geared lifting bad. None of the records are shared, meaning I am not competing directly against a guy in a squat suit. So why does it matter to me what they do? Also, gear can help protect you as injuries add up over the years. Master's lifters can wear a loose squat suit or shirt (single-ply) to keep things tight. They don't get a lot of poundage out of it, but it keeps them lifting. I know people who are in this situation at 50+ years old. They could not compete raw.

I don't see a problem with the way the system is. If raw lifting continues to gain momentum, the lifters that can lift in it will. Those that can't because of injuries or just other preferences for lifting can still compete where they want as well. It is like racing in the US. NASCAR is probably the most popular kind of racing. You can make a lot of money racing there too. But there are still guys that like to race other types of cars on smaller tracks. Why can't we have both?

And yes, a belt really does help for low bar squatting. :-)

[Eiji]

Callador,

you bring up some great points and I respect your opinion. I do not however get the comparison between shoes, pads and helmets with geared lifting. I never said we couldnt have both and I understand that raw lifters arent competing against geared lifters. Just that I dont get why someone would want to wear those weird shirts and suits and probably never will. Oh well. My opinion matters to only one person.

[hamburgerfan]

Geared lifting is fun. Also your impression that strength isn't required to be good at it is wrong.

[hagrid's dad]

I think the ancient Greeks had it right.

They required their athletes to lift naked, shaved (well, scraped), and greased up with olive oil.

[Les Hahn]

Callador,

you bring up some great points and I respect your opinion. I do not however get the comparison between shoes, pads and helmets with geared lifting. I never said we couldnt have both and I understand that raw lifters arent competing against geared lifters. Just that I dont get why someone would want to wear those weird shirts and suits and probably never will. Oh well. My opinion matters to only one person.

Correct, those types of gear are more equivalent to wearing a belt. The pole for vaulting would be like gear, so would oars for a sport like crew. There are definitely other legitimate sports that require gear, so why not powerlifting.

I tried to share some reasons why people do it (enjoy lifting freakish weights, injuries, etc.) but really the whole sport of powerlifting in every version is still pretty fringe. There are plenty of people that wonder why you like squatting! :-)

And like hamburger said, you still have to be strong to lift in gear. You have to learn it too. If someone just throws a shirt on, they will not instantly lift 200 more pounds. You have to get stronger in the areas the shirt doesn't cover (like top range). It is just a different type of animal.

[Les Hahn]

I think the ancient Greeks had it right.

They required their athletes to lift naked, shaved (well, scraped), and greased up with olive oil.

I'm not sure if you would want to see me lifting like that! :-0

[sking1001]

This thread was started to discuss various knee wraps. Good grief.

The pussies always show up, yet they are handled with endless patience.

You are never going to find a gentler giant than the mighty Callador.

[Eiji]

Geared lifting is fun. Also your impression that strength isn't required to be good at it is wrong.

I wasnt trying to imply that at all.