If all you want now is warmth, I'd get the neoprene.
I'm probably going to be getting some neoprene knee sleeves soon. My knees are kinda aching a little... most of the time. And with cold weather upon us, it won't be getting any better.
Question: I will probably eventually be using knee wraps at some point anyway, should I just get the wraps now and wrap them lightly? Or are neoprene sleeves better at warmth/support than loose wraps?
If all you want now is warmth, I'd get the neoprene.
What brand / model of knee sleeves do people recommend? Looking at getting some myself.
Thanks.
Sleeves do provide a little support, but obviously not as much as wraps.
Inzer sleeves have three velcro straps that you can fasten tightly or loosely. So they're somewhere between plain ol' sleeves and actual wraps. I believe they're also made of the same material as the Inzer wraps, and not neoprene. I've heard of people getting 30 lbs out of tight Inzer wraps.
Tommy Kono makes rubber sleeves and some people love those, but the sleeves that get the most praise are the discontinued neoprene Rehband blues. They're thick and feel good. They're the ones you see in strongman competition and on the knees of Olympic lifters. As I'm fond of saying, there's a reason for that. They're the best. They cost more than other sleeves and even wraps, but that's because they give great warmth and compression, but not enough rebound to amount to a fly's fart on your squat. You may get 5 lbs out of them when they're brand new, but after you break them in, they give even less (maybe a pound or two) and just keep your connective tissue warm and provide the sort of compression and propioceptive feedback that make squatting a much better experience for your knees.
Rehband makes a newer version, but they're a couple mm thinner and just don't get the unamimous praise the old version used to get. Jackylsgym.com is the only place you can still get the older version while supplies last.
For those of you wondering why you need sleeves to keep connective tissue warm...
Connective tissue has very little blood flow. When you "warm up" for squats, it's your muscles that get warm, not your connective tissue. When you put on a sleeve, you trap the warmth coming out of your muscles and redirect it into the entire knee. The sleeves trap the heat of your muscles and make it available to your connective tissue in a way that just wouldn't happen without the sleeves.
But don't just take my word for it. Put on a pair of sleeves and feel the difference.
Light wraps are more supportive than they are warming and a light wrap really won't add much to your squat. If they're loose enough to be worn without cutting off your circulation, then they aren't adding much if anything to your squat poundage.
(And I've discovered that getting pounds out of a tight wrap is not easy. The extra weight on your back takes some getting used to. I've yet to get a single extra pound out of tight wraps.)
Thanks Gary, very informative, as usual.
I've been using the old Rehband sleeves for a while now, and I love them for squatting. I put them on every time I squat, whether it's a heavy day or a recovery day.
The newer Rehbands are ok. They are thinner, tho which people who swear by the old, thicker ones won't like. I've got a buddy of mine who was selling them as well as the Vulkan brand. I grabbed a pair of the Vulkan neoprene shorts for when we were doing the strongman training in the winter. The concensus was that the old Rehband stuff is the best, followed by the Vulkan, with the new/thin Rehband bringing up the rear.
Unless you're going to be competing in powerlifting where the use of wraps is necessary for the additional weight they add to the squat, I'd stay away from the wraps and find a good pair of neoprene knee sleeves.
Yeah, I'm definitely leaning towards the sleeves. I like powerlifting, but I'll doubt I'd be competing for a loooong time, so no point in getting wraps now.
I can't really justify (afford) buying the expensive Rehband's. Just the price alone is steep but I have to ship them here AND pay import duty and tax. Ouch.
I can get Vulcan's at a pretty good price here, and also the Tommy Kono bands.
So which would be better, Vulcan or Kono Bands?
Never used the Kono stuff, so I can't compare. The Vulkan brand is of good quality and I think you'd be happy with them. Plus, since they would be your first sleeves and you've got nothing to compare them to, you wouldn't know the difference anyway...
Well, just ordered some of the old style Rehband knee sleeves from Jackyl's Gym. Hopefully it doesn't take to long to get here. My knees have been a little achey, but not too bad yet.
Mostly it got worse about a month or so ago (and has been lingering around) when I squatted 365x3 then played raquetball for 2 hours and then played volleyball later for 2.5 hours...all in the same day...not a good idea. Maybe if I was 16 this would be ok...