Powerlifting accessories

[sgarciac07]

Hello, so I've started a new program focused on strength (Candito Linear Program), I'm a beginner to strength workout, I wanted to get some accessories that may help me in the main lifts, I was looking for some knee sleeves and wrist wraps if someone could give me some recommendations in order I can get ones (hoping they aren't so expensive), thanks

[Cleveland33]

if you are just starting out, you don't need them

[dragon360]

if you are just starting out, you don't need them

100% agreed. Just keep building and strengthening all parts without aid. When you finally need them, you'll likely know.

[sgarciac07]

100% agreed. Just keep building and strengthening all parts without aid. When you finally need them, you'll likely know.

Okay thanks, I just wanted a little bit of security just starting out

[urbanlifter]

I actually think some accessories need purchased no matter what stage you are in, don't want someone heavy squatting in running shoes...

1) Squat Shoes: Nike Romaleos, Adidas Adipower, Rogue Do-Win, Chuck Taylor, lift barefoot (cheapest)
2) Knee sleeves: Stoic look nice, and Rehband seems very popular
3) Straps: Versa Grips or a knockoff (Krato, strong grips, lifting grips)
4) Wrist Wraps: Rogue Strength wraps (my favorite), or pick any one of the zillion knockoffs
5) Belt: General Leathercraft, Best Belts, Inzer, Rogue, EliteFTS, blah blah blah
6) Chalk: Liquid Grip will suffice, less messy and provides enough assistance

[C123C]

4) Wrist Wraps: Rogue Strength wraps (my favorite), or pick any one of the zillion knockoffs

Not sure if Rogue changed anything but their old wrist wraps were thin by most standards and night and day vs Inzer or others. The ones I had were called Rogue Wrist Wraps though vs Strength Wraps. I have Inzer wrist and knee wraps now, no market research otherwise just old habits as I've had their gear forever.

BTW Inzer T shirts are stupid cheap and very heavy duty. Never wears out and I train in them all the time. Had them for years.
They sell them at cost and make you a human billboard but they are cheap and quality.

[sgarciac07]

I actually think some accessories need purchased no matter what stage you are in, don't want someone heavy squatting in running shoes...

1) Squat Shoes: Nike Romaleos, Adidas Adipower, Rogue Do-Win, Chuck Taylor, lift barefoot (cheapest)
2) Knee sleeves: Stoic look nice, and Rehband seems very popular
3) Straps: Versa Grips or a knockoff (Krato, strong grips, lifting grips)
4) Wrist Wraps: Rogue Strength wraps (my favorite), or pick any one of the zillion knockoffs
5) Belt: General Leathercraft, Best Belts, Inzer, Rogue, EliteFTS, blah blah blah
6) Chalk: Liquid Grip will suffice, less messy and provides enough assistance

Thanks, just what I was looking for.
For squatting yesterday I tried for the first time some DC shoes that are plain and felt pretty smooth, before I was doing shoeless because I wasn't going to do it in my running shoes. I will check the knee sleeves because I think that my knees need some support when I start to load more weight and maybe some wrists wraps because my right wrist has some problems which can interfere with some lifts. I don't think I need a belt for now, since I'm not handling a lot of weight as of now.

[cwcmac]

Thanks, just what I was looking for.
For squatting yesterday I tried for the first time some DC shoes that are plain and felt pretty smooth, before I was doing shoeless because I wasn't going to do it in my running shoes. I will check the knee sleeves because I think that my knees need some support when I start to load more weight and maybe some wrists wraps because my right wrist has some problems which can interfere with some lifts. I don't think I need a belt for now, since I'm not handling a lot of weight as of now.

Just an FYI - Knee sleeves are more to keep them warm, not necessarily for support. If you are worried about your knees getting more support it should be more a worry about form, not using knee sleeves.

I would get things in this order (assuming your form is perfected, at 16 focus on form before weight - I wish someone beat that into me at your age):

Chalk
Shoes if needed (if you have flexible ankles then barefoot is fine)
Belt
Knee sleeves if you lift in a cold environment otherwise not necessary

[sgarciac07]

Just an FYI - Knee sleeves are more to keep them warm, not necessarily for support. If you are worried about your knees getting more support it should be more a worry about form, not using knee sleeves.

I would get things in this order (assuming your form is perfected, at 16 focus on form before weight - I wish someone beat that into me at your age):

Chalk
Shoes if needed (if you have flexible ankles then barefoot is fine)
Belt
Knee sleeves if you lift in a cold environment otherwise not necessary

I think that my form it's good, but you never know. And what about knee wraps? Does that gives support or they do the same function of the knee sleeves?

[cwcmac]

I think that my form it's good, but you never know. And what about knee wraps? Does that gives support or they do the same function of the knee sleeves?

Knee wraps give support and some bounce but no need to touch them until you are working on max lifts after a while of progressing. To be honest, I use them maybe a couple times a year. Others here can speak more about the benefits of them but they are very different than knee sleeves and I wouldn't recommend most novice lifters to consider them at this point.

[tanksoldier]

Okay thanks, I just wanted a little bit of security just starting out

Nope. You want the opposite. You want your stabilizer muscles, grip and so on to get as much of a workout as they can.

[urbanlifter]

Not sure if Rogue changed anything but their old wrist wraps were thin by most standards and night and day vs Inzer or others.

They still have them, there is a learning curve to them but these are more than adequate for most people. Like full blown knee wraps I would never use anything that overly supports the joint, because that encourages you to lift farther outside of your physical capabilities which can result in disaster (especially in novice lifters). These provide plenty of support when tightened down, they are easy to loosen in between sets without having to completely unwrap, and mine have held up well for over 5 years now without needing replaced.

https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-n...-strength-wrap

[sm1ke]

I have a pair of Stoic knee sleeves (link). They work great and are relatively cheap.

For wrist wraps, any cheap $3 eBay wrist wrap will be fine. I would limit the use of wrist wraps. For example, I only use mine when I feel like I might need the extra support during my last couple of sets, or during heavier 2-3RM sets.

[JRMoore82]

Knee wraps give support and some bounce but no need to touch them until you are working on max lifts after a while of progressing. To be honest, I use them maybe a couple times a year. Others here can speak more about the benefits of them but they are very different than knee sleeves and I wouldn't recommend most novice lifters to consider them at this point.

Knee wraps offer great support and if you’re a close stance squatter you’ll get a lot more pop out of the hole than a wider stance squatter.

With that being said I wouldn’t recommend knee wraps to someone who doesn’t compete or to someone who competes in a fed where raw means knee sleeves and not knee wraps (like USAPL).

Some USAPL guys will use knee wraps to rep out a 3rd attempt as they get closer to a meet. But this is a variable.

As for shoes flats if you have mobility and aren’t competing. If you want to try heels try and borrow someone’s first. I squat better in heels, some of the bigger competitors do as well. Starting out with some cheap powerlift 3.0 (like $60) seems reasonable and if you like it getting some higher end Romalos or Adipowers isn’t bad. I’ve had my Adipowers for 3 years so for a $200 investment they’ve lasted well their worth.

Wrist wraps- THP’s from Titan get the 24”.

[sgarciac07]

Nope. You want the opposite. You want your stabilizer muscles, grip and so on to get as much of a workout as they can.

So in summary, a beginner like me shouldn't worry about getting knee wraps, it's just that after yesterday leg workout my left knee have been bothering me a little and I thought that the knee wraps or sleeves would help me

[sgarciac07]

Knee wraps offer great support and if you’re a close stance squatter you’ll get a lot more pop out of the hole than a wider stance squatter.

With that being said I wouldn’t recommend knee wraps to someone who doesn’t compete or to someone who competes in a fed where raw means knee sleeves and not knee wraps (like USAPL).

Some USAPL guys will use knee wraps to rep out a 3rd attempt as they get closer to a meet. But this is a variable.

As for shoes flats if you have mobility and aren’t competing. If you want to try heels try and borrow someone’s first. I squat better in heels, some of the bigger competitors do as well. Starting out with some cheap powerlift 3.0 (like $60) seems reasonable and if you like it getting some higher end Romalos or Adipowers isn’t bad. I’ve had my Adipowers for 3 years so for a $200 investment they’ve lasted well their worth.

Wrist wraps- THP’s from Titan get the 24”.

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to listen to all and focus more on my form and start increasing strength and then consider if it's necessary to buy something like the knee wraps or sleeves, but thanks anyway.

[sgarciac07]

Knee wraps give support and some bounce but no need to touch them until you are working on max lifts after a while of progressing. To be honest, I use them maybe a couple times a year. Others here can speak more about the benefits of them but they are very different than knee sleeves and I wouldn't recommend most novice lifters to consider them at this point.

Thanks, I will do as you say, first I'm going to progress until my numbers in my lifts go up a little

[rlundregan]

So in summary, a beginner like me shouldn't worry about getting knee wraps, it's just that after yesterday leg workout my left knee have been bothering me a little and I thought that the knee wraps or sleeves would help me

You should post up a video in the Exercise Forum, they can give you feedback about your form. I would be willing to bet that this is really a form issue unless you were squatting more than twice your body weight.

At your age, you really need to focus on mastering the movements, first, then increasing the weight. Accessories like wraps, etc shouldn't be a consideration until you have been lifting for probably more than a year, perhaps even longer.

I've been lifting for about 9 years now. I use a belt, but only on my really heavy sets. I'll occasionally use wrist wraps, but probably only a couple of times per year. I use knee sleeves once in a while if it is cold out in the garage, I've never felt the need or the desire to use knee wraps.

[sgarciac07]

You should post up a video in the Exercise Forum, they can give you feedback about your form. I would be willing to bet that this is really a form issue unless you were squatting more than twice your body weight.

At your age, you really need to focus on mastering the movements, first, then increasing the weight. Accessories like wraps, etc shouldn't be a consideration until you have been lifting for probably more than a year, perhaps even longer.

I've been lifting for about 9 years now. I use a belt, but only on my really heavy sets. I'll occasionally use wrist wraps, but probably only a couple of times per year. I use knee sleeves once in a while if it is cold out in the garage, I've never felt the need or the desire to use knee wraps.

Right now my weight it's 132 lb and I'm squatting like 148lb (67.5 kg) for 6 reps, the last rep it's hard (not failure though).
I will post a video with my form of the main lifts so I can check if they're right, thanks

[chadsalt]

You need nothing to start out except the desire to succeed. Even shoes are not necessary until you start squatting "heavy ish", IIRC I didn't bother with shoes until I was repping low 200's.

Sometimes things just hurt, part of the strengthening process. Form has to be correct, but that's no guarantee of no pain. Straps/chalk, unnecessary. If you can't hold on to it at this point...it's too heavy. Belts/wraps help you move more weight, not your goal right now. Sleeves might help with discomfort if you're starting out at 36, but not 16.

[sgarciac07]

You need nothing to start out except the desire to succeed. Even shoes are not necessary until you start squatting "heavy ish", IIRC I didn't bother with shoes until I was repping low 200's.

Sometimes things just hurt, part of the strengthening process. Form has to be correct, but that's no guarantee of no pain. Straps/chalk, unnecessary. If you can't hold on to it at this point...it's too heavy. Belts/wraps help you move more weight, not your goal right now. Sleeves might help with discomfort if you're starting out at 36, but not 16.

Thanks, I understand. I just got a little worried about the discomfort I felt in my knee and thought that maybe some accessories could help with that, but you're right pain and discomfort it's part of the lifting process, after my two leg days I will do some cold/heat therapy in my knees.

[sm1ke]

Thanks, I understand. I just got a little worried about the discomfort I felt in my knee and thought that maybe some accessories could help with that, but you're right pain and discomfort it's part of the lifting process, after my two leg days I will do some cold/heat therapy in my knees.

The knee issues could very well be due to form. Post a video in the Exercises section to get some feedback.

[dragon360]

Christ - at 16 I wish I had access to a group of vets such as this. You're doing the right thing asking for advice. Just remember to heed much of it.

[sgarciac07]

The knee issues could very well be due to form. Post a video in the Exercises section to get some feedback.

WIIL do it, thanks