Knee Sleeves

[Whey and Steak]

Okay, quick few questions about knee sleeves.

I've heard a lot of conflicting opinions on knee sleeves and their benefits/safety.

Are they safe for the knees?

How long should you wear them? Just during your squat/deadlift sessions or is it safe to wear them throughout the entire workout? It's a pain to take them on and off over shoes.

Should you only use them for your work sets or is it okay to wear them for your warmups as well?

I know knee wraps are said to be very unhealthy for the knees and should be reserved for meets only. Do knee sleeves have any similar problems?

[Hydro]

I've been using knee sleeves for quite some time now (5mm Rehbands, not super tight). I think they are 100% safe for the knees...

I wear them for squats only and slide them down to my ankles for the rest of the workout. I do have them on during warm-ups already (after all, you're trying to warm up :P) and keep them on when I rest between sets. I don't wear them on my Deadlift day.

[manveer]

Okay, quick few questions about knee sleeves.

I've heard a lot of conflicting opinions on knee sleeves and their benefits/safety.

Who says they're unsafe?

Are they safe for the knees?

Yes.

How long should you wear them? Just during your squat/deadlift sessions or is it safe to wear them throughout the entire workout? It's a pain to take them on and off over shoes.

Should you only use them for your work sets or is it okay to wear them for your warmups as well?

I just wear them through my whole workout if I'm going to use them at any point during the workout. They just keep your knees warm. Might get uncomfortable in summer so you can pull them down when not using them like Hydro said.

I know knee wraps are said to be very unhealthy for the knees and should be reserved for meets only. Do knee sleeves have any similar problems?

Maybe super tight knee wraps are unhealthy and should be reserved for comp only but light knee wraps are helpful for many people who have bad knees/old knees. You can wear knee sleeves all the time. If you are buying a size or two down to get some performance gains then you probably won't want to wear them in training because they're a pain in the ass to get on and also uncomfortable (so I've heard).

[Bergstedt]

I bought knee sleeves late last year and have been wearing them every workout but my light days since then. I wear them for every lift but the deadlift (I don't want to wear them out too fast). They keep your knees warm and super comfy and they also provide excellent proprioceptic feedback for the squat. I believe (no science behind this statement) they are contrary to unhealthy - they should more likely help keep the knees healthy since they keep them warm and also provide some stability.

[idlehands]

If my knees are cranky I wear them for yard work and some times when my knee is achy they are awesome for long car rides

[Sean Herbison]

Are they safe for the knees?

They're perfectly safe. Although, personally, I avoid the ones with knives on the inside.

[dhalli]

I've never heard an opinion, here or otherwise, regarding knee sleeves to be unsafe or lacking in benefits.

I've been wearing ~5mm sleeves on motorcycles (off road) for maybe 15 years now. Wear them when doing yard work and such in the winter.

7mm sleeves when squatting, and I put them on before the warmup. I leave them on if I'm doing anything other than deadlift (the bar catches the edge of the sleeve).

[tnumrych]

In my twenties I never used sleeves for lifting or otherwise. 30s brought with them knee aches (years of football and weighing more than 200 since I was 17). Decided to give sleeves a try and purchased a pair of Hookgrip cheapie sleeves. I'll never lift without sleeves again. Just get a pair of Hookgrip sleeves and try them out, if you don't like them, you'll waste all of $20.

[elVarouza]

Maybe super tight knee wraps are unhealthy and should be reserved for comp only but light knee wraps are helpful for many people who have bad knees/old knees. You can wear knee sleeves all the time. If you are buying a size or two down to get some performance gains then you probably won't want to wear them in training because they're a pain in the ass to get on and also uncomfortable (so I've heard).

Tight wraps give the most support to your knee. Why would they be unhealthy?

I wear SBD sleeves 2 sizes down. Takes me maybe 15 seconds per leg to get them on and I can leave them on as long as I want. They're great.

[Sean Herbison]

Tight wraps give the most support to your knee. Why would they be unhealthy?

If they're tight enough to restrict blood flow there could certainly be an issue. I've never tried knee wraps though, so I don't have much input on how tight people really wear them.