THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION
From our video Knee Sleeves: What, Why, and When (click the title to watch):
5.7 hemi
Do the knee sleeves affect quad activation in the squat? I'd imagine if they're aiding knee extension they would take away from the workload on the quads.
Phil
Nah - knee sleeves will provide some compression and warmth for the joint, which makes things more comfortable, but they're not providing an appreciable amount of assistance to knee extension.
Now, knee wraps, on the other hand, specifically the competition version (read: rather thick and extremely tight and restrictive) used by equipped powerlifters will absolutely aid in knee extension. As they stretch on the descent, they store potential energy, which is then used to come back up out of the hole. Of course, this is the point of such a wrap as they are legal in equipped powerlifting (as opposed to raw powerlifting, where only knee sleeves are permitted) and help lift more weight.
Even with this in mind, competition knee wraps won't necessarily reduce quad activation because the lifter will simply lift more weight. Simplistic example here with an arbitrary numbers, but I think it will do the job: 90% "quad activation" without knee sleeves = 400 lb squat while 90% "quad activation" with knee sleeves = 450 lb squat since the sleeves provide the extra 50 lb.
And . . . all this said, we don't train anyone who does equipped powerlifting at Testify, but you'll recognize competition wraps at a meet right away - it visibly affects how stiff someone's knees look when they walk.
Short version: I'd recommend knee sleeves, and I'd stay away from competition wraps unless you want to do equipped powerlifting. (Training wraps are fine - they're thinner than competition wraps and will function like knee sleeves.)
Sorry for the long answer.
Viraj V
nicely explained
Phil
Thanks very much.
