SBD Knee Sleeves

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

I recently purchased a pair of sbd knee sleeves in size large, My knees are 15.5 inches so this should have given me a tight fit.

I haven’t squated in them yet, but I feel I maybe should have gone down a size. The problem with sizing down would be that these large sleeve are super tight around my thighs, with about 3 to 3.5 inches of the sleeve extending below my knees. I have followed several guides to put them on, the best being to fold the bottom up a couple of inches and then fold the top down all the way. I then pull this up to center of knee and unfold.

Am I wearing these right? Do I need to pull them up further, even though they are already tight around thighs? Will there be any kind of break in needed, allowing me to pull them higher?

Anybody else have these fit tight around thighs and not so tight around knees?

How far below your knees are you guy’s wearing you’re sbd’s?

2

This is precisely the reason that I am hesitant about buying knee sleeves. I think in general though the looser ones help with warmth and the tighter ones help with rebound.

3

Raw lifting is getting a little silly now if there are guides on how to wear knee sleeves to get the most out of them.

As for the topic at hand, I don’t wear SBD sleeves, but the placement you are describing sounds pretty normal for a sleeve.

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4

I pull my sleeve up my leg so it covers my knee. If it slips down a bit I pull it up. That’s about as much thought as I give it. I think generally my knee is in the middle of the sleeve. I’ve got Eleiko sleeves, though.

5

SBDs are designed for powerlifting so they are ment to be longer, if your comparing them to other sleeves.

They are a tight fitting sleeve in general, do your best to size them and all, if you can take them back for a smaller size and you feel you need to do it, if not break them in and play around with the fitting.

6

I think my sbds have become a bit looser over time but not by much., so there isn’t really a break in. I tend to wear them fairly high (an inch or two below the knees) but it really is whatever you’re comfortable with.

If youre looking to get some lbs out of the sleeves, buy the tightest you can pull on by yourself (with the technique you described) - this will usually be 2 sizes too small for most. Probably worth saving this for competition lifts as they are fairly uncomfortable and your ego shouldn’t be driving your trainimg.

7

One might say that powerlifting is a little silly in general, in terms of how far many competitors go to try to find loopholes in the rules to lift more weight.

I think people overthink it a bit. I like my pair because the tightness and warmth make my knees feel nice while I squat. I didn’t pick a really small size and my knees are in the middle.

8

See, I just see that as being an athlete. You’re always looking for the advantage to win. I just find it funny in raw given that the whole “raw movement” was about rejecting gear so that you could see who was really the strongest. It seems to now be going in the exact same direction that powerlifting went into before. Meanwhile, geared lifting just lets everyone use wraps and calls it good, haha.

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9

Thanks, guys. I feel better about my sleeves after squatting with them, cut down on knee pain substantially.

I learned the hard way that the sleeves should be put on before any pump develops, absolutely impossible after legs are full of blood.

I do wish they where tighter around the knees, but the reduction in pain and the added stability are worth the $90 I spent.

10

You are right about putting them on before you have any leg pump. I have pretty skinny legs and wear extra smalls. They go on pretty well but getting them off after sweating and leg pump can be challenging particularly since that they are long.

I generally fold mine in half top to bottom and put them on like that.

I’ve had mine a couple of years and haven’t noticed much break in but then I also use a couple of different pairs of Titan sleeves as well and mostly keep the SPDs for competition and leading up to competition.