Should You Wear Knee Sleeves?

Let’s say you’re home one night.

Pretend it’s a Wednesday. You had a long day of work and you just crushed your lift at the gym despite feeling like complete garbage.

You prep your favorite post-workout meal, sit down on the coach and proceed to chow down.

Few seconds in, your ADD kicks on and you reach for your phone. We’re all guilty of this…..

You open Instagram and start scrolling aimlessly. You know, it’s one of those mindless tasks.

You see a couple puppy pics, you like them; then you see Sandra with another video of her “training” glutes but it’s just her low-key taking a video of her a$$. You skip over that and move on.

Then you notice a few weightlifting and CrossFit posts. Maybe some videos of squats, snatches, burpees, cleans, and thrusters.

What you notice next is that every single one of them has a pair of knee sleeves on. Even damn Carl who’s using the pec fly machine in the background…

Then you begin to wonder if you would benefit from the wearing knee sleeves.  

What is the purpose of wearing knee sleeves? And is this a reasonable purchase to give you a solid return on investment?

Well I am going to ANSWER those questions and let you know if knee sleeves are right for you!

To best address those questions, let’s recap what knee sleeves do again.

Pay very close attention here.

Knee sleeves are designed to…..

1. Provide Compression

2. Provide Insulation

That’s it. Now do you want them????

Of course not, that means nothing to you.

So let’s explain it!

If knee sleeves provide those two key values then what do those mean?

By providing COMPRESSION to the knee joint you’re delivering a “sense of touch” to the brain and as a result the knee subsequently feels more stable in the action of squatting, jumping, running, cleaning, snatching, etc.

By providing INSULATION to the knee joint, the tissue temperature rises due to increased blood flow. The increase in blood flow increases mobility while decreasing the perception of pain and/or stiffness.

It’s really that simple.

If anyone tells you otherwise then RUN AWAY! RUN FAR AWAY!

So for wearing a pair of knee sleeves I’m going to give you the same advice as I gave you for weightlifting belts.  

You could easily wear a pair of knee sleeves to minimize knee pain and symptoms while masking what is truly causing the pain.

And many will do this.

But that’s not the answer nor is that going to help you get a stronger squat. Sorry it doesn’t work that way.

The lifters truly ready for knee sleeves are those that have already mastered the basic movement patterns (squat, deadlift, clean, snatch, lunge, etc).

Because once you have the skill set down, you’re absolutely INVINCIBLE.

***At this point if you still have some “cranky” knees, by all means, wear the sleeves!***

But by mastering those basic movements, your body is more stable and ready for load. AKA a heavier weight, which leads to more gainz...

In this situation not only does your body know how to lift properly, but by adding knee sleeves to the equation, you provide the extra edge to make already stable knees FEEL more stable!!

 

Like I said, it’s a lethal combination.

Element 26 actually has their own pair of 6mm REVERSIBLE KNEE SLEEVES available on Amazon and the Online Store.

Those knee sleeves were developed under the mindset of form and function first.

Your goals come first!

Myself along with the Team at Element 26 want to deliver the most up-to-date information, products, and advice when it comes to helping you accomplish your goals in the gym.

Cheers to NEW PR’s and just being an absolute BADA$$!!

Dr. Phil Gauthier

Element 26

Co-Founder

www.element26.co

Instagram: @dr.philipgauthier

@element26_athletic_gear