Knee Wraps/ Sleeves

My knees are bad and in order to squat without pretty bad pain in my knees I have to wear wraps or sleeves. I bought wraps but couldn't really figure them out so I went with some neoprene knee sleeves. They work but don't work great and they are very hot and my legs get very sweaty. Does anyone know any good wraps or sleeves that would help to insulate my joints and help me to squat with less pain? Does anyone have any reviews on the Inzer sleeves or Kono knee sleeves? Are wraps superior to sleeves specifically for this problem? What's best?

[QUOTE=vikingsrule92;16250541]My knees are bad and in order to squat without pretty bad pain in my knees I have to wear wraps or sleeves. I bought wraps but couldn't really figure them out so I went with some neoprene knee sleeves. They work but don't work great and they are very hot and my legs get very sweaty. Does anyone know any good wraps or sleeves that would help to insulate my joints and help me to squat with less pain? Does anyone have any reviews on the Inzer sleeves or Kono knee sleeves? Are wraps superior to sleeves specifically for this problem? What's best?[/QUOTE]

Viking, I swear to God I didn't even see that it was you posting until after I read the post. Dude, you're 14....and have bad knees? Looking at your weight I';m guessing that your legs are simply not built up yet, or your form may not be correct. I'd like to hear your feedback on those questions, but here is what I know about wraps (not much):

Like belts, they should only be worn with heavy lifts or lifts that cause great discomfort. While a lot of guys my age who lift heavy (like 400-600 range) like to wear them and swear by them (and have more knowledge than me :)), I've also read they they [i]can[/i] be dangerous by allowing you do move more weight than you should. As far as how to use them....I can't help.

I just wrote about wraps somewhere else. I don't know anything about sleeves. I do know that Inzer is an awesome brand and many powerlifters use their belts etc. I can't imagine them manufacturing anything sub-par, but if I were you I would get on the phone and call them. I bet they could help you. I can't answer your question about the other brand I have never heard of them.

I wrap and have wrapped for 20 years. I use Titan THP wraps. The difficulty with wraps, you hit right on the head is knowing how to wrap. I can try and explain it but I don't know if I would do a very good job. I also know that other people wrap differently. Basically, I start right in the middle of the knee. You have to keep the wrap tight and rolled up if you lose the roll, you need to start over. I wrap over the middle of the knee and I keep pulling it taught then I wrap either up or down. I have seen people who just wrap like that you keep wrapping and pulling it taught but making sure you leave enough so you can tuck the last piece in and pull it through. What I do differently, and it was just because I was taught that way is once it is wrapped up and down I criss-cross it before I pull it through.

I would honestly get on the phone with Inzer or Titan (though I am not sure they make sleeves) ask them which is best. If it ends up being wraps, any veteran in the gym should be able to show you how to wrap and you should not feel bad that you didn't know how. I didn't do very well in the water when I jumped off the diving board at the age of 3 :-). If I can find some links I will come back here. Actually let me pull up the Inzer site.

I just googled Kono and they look like a quality brand as well. I have just never heard of them nor know anyone who uses them.

If you don't get any better advice then mine - hopefully you will. Call Inzer. I would ask them about their wraps vs. their sleeves. I checked out their wraps they are fine, but wraps are confusing because there are different kinds. See what they say. You could do the same research and call Kono.

If you google: How do you wrap your knees with knee wraps for squats? You will come up with a bunch of hits that should help you out.

Good luck

Good post, Hope27. I can vouch that many members here use Kono brand and love them. A few are MODS here.

[QUOTE=dbx;16255741]Viking, I swear to God I didn't even see that it was you posting until after I read the post. Dude, you're 14....and have bad knees? Looking at your weight I';m guessing that your legs are simply not built up yet, or your form may not be correct. I'd like to hear your feedback on those questions, but here is what I know about wraps (not much):
[/QUOTE]

Yup, sure enough I have bad knees. My legs are built up fairly well considering I've only been seriously lifting for about 3 months now but I don't know how that would seriously hurt my knees. I am almost positive that my form is correct (at least it used to be a few months ago when I lifted for football) although I'm not 100%. I guess that would be the advantage of actually going to a gym. unfortunately, I have no good gyms in my area or that I would be able to get constant access to. I wish I had a place to put mirrors but unfortunately I really don't, because after all that would help a lot with form. What would you recommend to help make sure that my form is correct?

Hope27, thanks a lot for the advice. The first reason that I went with sleeves over wraps was because I was clueless on how to wrap them. I would like the convenience of the sleeves but which one is more effective? Are they the same or similar or the same as far as effectiveness? The money for the sleeves over wraps isn't a problem because I want quality that'll last for a long time so I'm willing to put up the extra money it's just a matter of what works best. What's your opinion on this or have you ever used sleeves? Any opinions on which is more effective would be greatly appreciated.

[QUOTE=vikingsrule92;16260161]Yup, sure enough I have bad knees. My legs are built up fairly well considering I've only been seriously lifting for about 3 months now but I don't know how that would seriously hurt my knees. I am almost positive that my form is correct (at least it used to be a few months ago when I lifted for football) although I'm not 100%. I guess that would be the advantage of actually going to a gym. unfortunately, I have no good gyms in my area or that I would be able to get constant access to. I wish I had a place to put mirrors but unfortunately I really don't, because after all that would help a lot with form. What would you recommend to help make sure that my form is correct?[/QUOTE]

Sorry to hear that (about the knees), but yeah, I'd be damn sure your form is good first. You can either have someone that knows how, watch you...or you can have someone video you doing them, and you can judge afterward if you know what to look for. Many people [i]know[/i] how to do it, but they can't be sure when they can't see themselves doing it. My first suggestion is that you try different stances (narrow, med., wide) and also try angling your toes out a bit different with each of the aforementioned stances. I believe 30 degrees pointed outward, is the "normal" suggest angle for the feet to be pointed outward in your stance. Just try it with enough weight that would normally bother you (but not too much) and see what you can do. I'm betting thsi is more likely your issue than actually having bad knees at your age. Believe me, for some people, if they're off even just a 1/4" stance-wise, they'll experience discomfort if they're squatting a "challenging" amount of weight. Experiment a bit. Let me know what you discover.

[QUOTE=vikingsrule92;16250541]My knees are bad and in order to squat without pretty bad pain in my knees I have to wear wraps or sleeves.[/QUOTE]I dont like the sound of that. There are other things you can do for your legs aside from squats, that possibly wont hurt you, like step ups, lunges, leg press, hacks etc. You're going to have to experiment. I'd also keep the reps up past 10. [QUOTE=vikingsrule92;16250541] I bought wraps but couldn't really figure them out so I went with some neoprene knee sleeves. They work but don't work great and they are very hot and my legs get very sweaty. Does anyone know any good wraps or sleeves that would help to insulate my joints and help me to squat with less pain? Does anyone have any reviews on the Inzer sleeves or Kono knee sleeves? Are wraps superior to sleeves specifically for this problem? What's best?[/QUOTE]I have the TK (Kono) knee sleeves, and yeah they work. I also have a set of 'old school' noname wraps from way back, but I really dont use them anymore. The bitch about the TK wraps is getting them on. I should have went with the larger size, but they claim the regular size is for guys up to 250, and thats what I was when I bought them a few years ago (I've grown a little since then :D). I occasionally use them on my forearms for Zercher lifts, and they actually came in handy recently when I pulled a calf muscle, but it became such a pain in the a$$ to put them onto the knees that I just dont bother anymore. If I were you though, I'd forget squatting right now, and try to find exercises that dont cause pain.