Knee sleeves are commonly used amongst Olympic weightlifters for a few different purposes. Some like the warmth the knee sleeve gives, for others they like a little extra bounce out of the hole, and for the rare weightlifters they like the slight limit range of motion it gives in the bottom of the squat. Below I’ll review the Inzert XT, Rehbands, and EltiFTS knee sleeves.
Rehbands Knee Sleeve
The Rehband knee sleeves are a neoprene based knee sleeve. These knee sleeves will definitely ensure that your knees are plenty warm. I have both the original and the 7551 Rehbands. Personally I like the 7551 because they aren’t as long therefore don’t bunch up as much as the “original”.
The bad side to the Rehbands are the price, they are around $38 PER SLEEV, however they practically last forever. With that said though the knee sleeves are neoprene, so they’ll stink up REAL fast. And a simple rinse will do nothing but just anger the stench monsters that were born in that nastiness- seriously it’ll make it smell WAY worse. So just stick in the washer and make sure you kill off everything in that sucker.
*edit 1/28/15 – we were told that washing them, air drying, then placing them in the freeze (dry and in a zip lock) does wonders for the smell!
Sizing is true to size. measure yourself based on their methods and you should be fine.
EliteFTS Knee Sleeve (heavy)
If you’re looking for a small bounce out of the hole and a good supportive knee sleeve go for the EliteFTS (heavy) knee sleeve. They are a solid and cheap ($29 for a pair) sleeve that can easily slide on and off.
Sizing, unless you want it super tight I’d make sure to order a size up. For instance I wear a medium in the rehbands, so I ordered a large for the EltieFTS heavy knee sleeves. I also ordered the “super heavy” sleeves in a large and I couldn’t get them above my calves- and I have tiny calves. So if you want to go with the stronger ply then I’d suggest you get x2 sizes up and have a friend in hand to help you take it off.
Inzer XT Knee Sleeve
The Inzer XT’s are basically knee wraps sewn together to create a knee sleeve. The benefit to these sleeves are that you can tighten and loosen them up as you please. This was the selling point for me, while knee wraps are nice, I don’t like the fact that I can’t loosen/tighten them up quickly. But with Inzer XT’s you can do just that in a few seconds and once you tighten them up, they’ll give you a good amount of support through the hole but not so tight that you can’t get down into a good pull position.
With that said, I initially ordered a medium and they were way too tight on my legs. Even without tightening the Inzer XT, they still made it difficult to get down to a comfortable/proper pull position. So I ordered up a large and it was loose enough to wear it through a full training session (with no bruising) and when I tightened them they were a good solid support out of the hole. With that said, I wouldn’t look to these sleeves for everyday use, they’re not that comfortable and that much support shouldn’t be used for everyday training anyways.
Pricing wasn’t too bad either, for the pair it was $55. If you do order them, it seems that Inzer makes a small batch at a time, so it can take up to 5+ weeks for them to ship it out.
**For the weightlifters that find the knee sleeve still a bit too snug, I’d suggest to use a deflatable ball, stick it in the sleeve, pump it up, and then let it sit for a few days/weeks. That should help break them in sooner and hopefully allow for a more comfortable fit.
Knee Sleeve Usage for Olympic Weightlifters
With a few knee sleeve choices laid out, I prefer my weightlifters to use sleeves that do not have a bounce for every day training. This way they don’t rely too much on extra support and when they actually need it they’ll be that much stronger.
For example-
- Rehabands- used for everyday training
- Elitefts- used on competition cycles or tough training days where you’re need a little extra leg support.
- Inzer XT- used only during competition cycles.
I hope this was helpful. If anyone else recommends other knee sleeves and such, make sure to leave a message below.
Stay strong,
Would you suggest getting sbd knee sleeves for weightlifting? I didn’t see that as an option
Hey Tommack,
I’ve never used the SBD knee sleeves. One of my powerlifters uses them and he’s pretty happy with them. The 2 issue I could see being a problem is the length- longer than the 7051 Rehband which I don’t like- and it’s not shaped to your knee. The Rehbands have a curvature and seams that are built for you to bend while the SBD is just a straight tube- COULD be tough to put on and not as comfortable. But like I said, the one powerlifter I have likes them.