How and When to Use Knee Pads According to Science
Knee pads are loved by many weightlifters , powerlifters and other strong people. But what are they really for? This is a surprisingly tricky question, and there has been a moment in my lifting career when I didn’t know if I needed to buy a pair.
What are knee-length sleeves?
First, let’s figure out what the knee-length sleeves are. They are usually made of neoprene, seven millimeters thick (although there are thinner ones), and they slide over the knees like sleeves. You buy them from specialized strength supplying companies, usually like SBD or Rehband. These are not the same as the front opening braces that you can buy at the pharmacy, and they are not thin compression sleeves that look like socks.
Knee sleeves probably don’t protect against injury
Sometimes people claim that knee sleeves help prevent injury, but there is no conclusive evidence to support this claim – I have not been able to find studies that compare the incidence of injury over time between people who squat heavily while wearing knee sleeves and people who squat hard without them. … There are biomechanical studies that show knees with sleeves work the same as without them, and there are studies showing that people often say their knees feel better when they put their sleeves on, but the injury data seems to be simply no.
It wouldn’t make much sense anyway: what would seven millimeters of neoprene do if you put enough force on your knee to damage it? People talk about “compression” and “support,” but a little neoprene hug will not “support” your knee if hundreds of pounds of force are applied in the wrong direction. (Football teams are beginning to realize that even their heavy-duty knee pads don’t seem to have an impact on injury rates ; it’s hard to imagine that knee sleeves can do what braces don’t.)
Knee sleeves don’t help much when squatting.
Let’s stop for a minute and a contrasting knee sleeve with bandages that are different. Bandages look like long, thin elastic bands and are used in some strength sports to increase the weight you can lift in squats or squat-like movements. You wrap them tightly – or, ideally, have a teammate or coach wrap them tightly – right before you roll onto the platform. They resist the motion of bending your knees, which means that when you sit down in a squat, the elasticity of the bandage helps your knees straighten. Knee wraps can definitely help you squat heavy when used properly.
The knee sleeves are not so tight. They are usually comfortable enough that you can wear them throughout your workout, although some athletes say that if you buy them a size or two smaller and squeeze into them, they will slightly improve your standing squat performance.
But not everyone is wearing ultra-tight knee-length sleeves, and it remains controversial whether the sleeves really help. One recent study found that people could squat slightly heavier weights with sleeves, but narrower sleeves did not have an advantage over those normally seated. The researchers concluded that “the benefits of neoprene knee sleeves may be related to increased comfort, stability, or heat retention in the knee joint due to compression.”
Knee sleeves are just fine
We can now move on to the important part where the anecdotes and the data completely coincide: knee-length sleeves make your knees feel good.
For several months I have asked my fellow lifters why they wear knee-length sleeves and have never gotten really good answers other than that. In the end I decided that I just needed to buy a pair to find out, so I measured my knees and bought the recommended size from Norse Fitness at 7mm.
I noticed a difference in my first workout: my knees never felt bad, but with the sleeves on, they just felt better . From time to time, I would feel a little stiffness or mild discomfort if I did a workout with a lot of deep squats (“scythe to the grass”); with sleeves that just stopped happening. I couldn’t lift anymore, I just felt better while doing it.
One hypothesis is that sleeves keep the joints warm, and warm body parts tend to work better than cold ones, which is part of the “warm up” point. I do not find this explanation particularly compelling; The knee sleeves feel equally good to me in both hot and cold weather, and I felt the effect instantly, without waiting for them to warm me. But I can’t prove it in any way.
Second, compression is good for the tendons and muscles. While there is some research supporting the idea that compression aids muscle recovery, in these studies, people typically wear compression equipment for several hours after exercise. Could compression be a factor here, perhaps just to improve the feel? Maybe!
Greg Nakols hypothesized about the fact that the accumulation of neoprene behind the knee partially reduces the pressure that has patella on the femur. This sounds more reasonable to me than many of the other theories I’ve heard, but no one really knows for sure.
Whatever the reason, squats with knee sleeves are better than without. If you’ve never tried them, you might like how they feel, but don’t expect them to prevent injury or significantly increase squat weight.