Do Knee Wraps Work?
When you get into weightlifting, you quickly notice that the more you train, the stronger you become, and therefore increase the weights you lift. Now that’s all good — it’s what you wanted to do in the first place — however, the reality of the situation is that more weight also means more stress on your joints and tendons, something that could potentially lead to injuries if you’re not being careful.
That’s where different types of fitness accessories come into play — knee wraps, wrist wraps, kinesiology tape, and more. They’re all designed to make your workouts safer and to give your joints additional support throughout different movements.
What are Knee Wraps?
If you don’t know what knee wraps are, you can think of them as compression-type wraps made to give your knees more stability and support during exercise. Typically, they’re made out of an elastic material, similar to the one used in wrist wraps, but due to the fact they have to be used on the legs, they’re much longer (72 inches or more). In recent years, knee wraps have gotten more and more popular, as they ease the tension and stress out on the quadriceps muscles and the knee joints and also make heavy lower body movements (such as squats and leg presses) safer.
When Should You Use Knee Wraps?
Most commonly, you will see lifters putting on knee wraps for their lower body workouts – most often during squats. In general, they’re used either by people preparing to lift heavy weights (powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters) or by people who have had issues with their knees in the past and want to add an extra protective measure.
Having said that, many people wonder how exactly knee wraps help with moving weight, and the answer is that their main benefit is during the eccentric phase of the squat – the move you do when you have to lift up from the floor and complete the repetition. Other moves that may require the use of knee wraps are leg press, deadlift, and other variations of the standard squat, along with any other type of heavy weightlifting movement that involves you having to bend at the knees.
Why Knee Wraps Instead of Knee Sleeves?
We already mentioned a few reasons why people prefer using knee sleeves; however, let’s add some more to the list. Knee wraps allow the lifter to perform the move at a faster pace while also helping you regulate the tension and pressure you wrap around with so that it can feel comfortable throughout the whole movement.
When it comes to choosing knee wraps instead of sleeves, the answer is easy for weightlifters. Knee wraps will help you lift more weight as they give your tendons and joints support throughout the movement, while knee sleeves, on the other hand, are used more often to alleviate any pain you might be experiencing and to add compression to the knees. Typically, knee sleeves are used by functional fitness athletes, along with runners, volleyball, basketball, and football players, as their main purpose is to increase blood flow, keep the area warm, and thus decrease the chances of injury.
For weightlifters, however, knee wraps serve a different purpose, so in reality, both types of accessories can be used, depending on what you currently need as an athlete.
How to Use Knee Wraps
It’s very easy to learn how to use wrist wraps and there are two general ways to do it, however the technique we prefer is called the spiral. To do it, you have to start below the knee and wrap the material around it in a spiral motion until you no longer have the material left. While doing the spiral motion, make sure that you wrap with the right amount of tension that provides support but doesn’t constrict your knees – otherwise, it will either feel too loose or so tight that you can’t bend the knee. The ability to control the fit of the wraps is another benefit, as knee sleeves typically come in custom sizes, and you can’t adjust them to fit exactly your body type.
In Conclusion
Finally, to answer the main question – knee wraps do work and are a must-have accessory for any heavy weightlifter who wants to get more support and ensure safety during workouts. They’re a perfect option for heavy lower body movements, such as the squat or the leg press, and the fact that you can control the pressure and tension they provide makes them an even better choice as you can personalise them to your needs.
In this article, written in collaboration with Warm Body Cold Mind athletes and coaches, we discuss knee wraps specifically and how do they work? When should they be used and for what exercises are they useful? We hope you have found new and interesting information that will help you train easier and more productively.
References
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Warm Body Cold Mind: Guides, Product Reviews, News: https://blog.warmbody-coldmind.com/
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Thierry P. C. Franke, Frank J. G. Backx & Bionka M. A. Huisstede. (2021. 24 March). Lower extremity compression garments use by athletes: why, how often, and perceived benefit: https://bmcsportsscimedrehabil.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13102-020-00230-8
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Lucas Dargo, MS, ATC, Kelsey J. Robinson, MS, AT, ATC, corresponding author and Kenneth E. Games, PhD, LAT, ATC. (2017. Dec). Prevention of Knee and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries Through the Use of Neuromuscular and Proprioceptive Training: An Evidence-Based Review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5759702/