Knee Wraps or Sleeves?

Hey all I know the raw vs geared etc is beat to death. I’ve got a question on wraps but since fitness and strength training is so individualized a little history:

I haven’t lifted seriously in about 4-5 years and even when I did I was afraid of going over 205-225 on squats because of a family history of lower back injuries in my family and I had an acl reconstruction. I had a second ACL recon in '09 and haven’t trained for more than a few weeks at a time since then.

I’ll be doing 531 since the progression is so simple(should get me up to 450-500 within 3 yrs or so if I have half the genetics of my father) and the program itself is so adaptable and has room for conditioning and other stuff.

That brings me to today: out of shape @ 250, heaviest I’ve been since I originally got down to 200 lbs, wanting to get back into shape and always knowing how important squats and deads are good for (everything). My knee still gives me problems at this weight occasionally.

Should I go with wraps or just sleeves? I’m not wanting to lift competitively at all, I just want to maintain/increase my numbers for a bit while doing conditioning(hitting the rower and such) on my off days since 531 will be a 3 day full body split.

If I go with wraps, I don’t want it numbingly tight. I figure 2 warm up sets going into the 3 working sets and I can wrap them moderately tight the last couple sets of each week and keep them looser for some warmth on sets 1-3.

All the info I’ve found online was “wraps for pl” “sleeves for warmth” and “wraps have to be wrapped as tight as possible if you wear them”. I figure wraps are the more flexible option, allowing me to have them loose for a little support/warmth when I’m not @ near max loads.

I’m not going to use a belt until I get to major weights as my lower back is pretty strong and I don’t want to miss out on the strength that I gain by squat/dl w/o a belt.

I feel that if its still healthy then the unaided lifts will assist in strengthening ligaments/tendons but in my case w/ 2 acl reconstructions I don’t want to be back in the operating table any time soon

[quote]bwhite829 wrote:
Should I go with wraps or just sleeves? I’m not wanting to lift competitively at all
[/quote]
I’d say just sleeves then my man.

18 tips for bullet proof knees: 18 Tips for Bulletproof Knees

See the first tip, that should help you out :wink:

Lol. I all but forgot about that article.

I guess thats what happens when you don’t stay up on t’nation morning and night for like 4 yrs.

Thanks. I knew I’d get the answer somewhere on this site :slight_smile:

No need for wraps unless you are competing really. Also sleeves are cheaper.

I will be the asshole to say it though: carrying unneeded weight and being out of shape is way more dangerous for your knees and back and far less awesome than becoming a beast at the Squat.