How tight should knee sleeves be?

I just used my Rehband knee sleeves for the first time, and they made my knees really warm and it felt great. My upper calf is 40cm and their sizing chart puts me in Large (37-40cm).

But I wonder if I should’ve ordered medium ones instead? The Large ones slide on very easily, and they are fitting kinda snug but not super tight.

And I hear people usually struggle to get their knee sleeves on, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJTwqWZaZuc

I thought the purpose of knee sleeves was to just keep the knees warm, so why do people use knee sleeves that are clearly too small, like in that video I linked? Is it because they are trying to turn the sleeve into a wrap or what? Wouldn’t you restrict the blood flow to your feet by wearing the sleeves like the guy in the video? Or is he looking to add 5lbs to his squat?

People say knee sleeve don’t add weight, but why do people bother putting on super tight sleeves if their knees would be just as warm from wearing normal sized ones?

Knee sleeves definitely can add some weight to your squat, not really Rehbands though. It would be pretty hard to quantify exactly how much though, since just having someone who usually squats with tight knee sleeves squat without them won’t go well simply because he isn’t used to squatting without them - not because they add a whole lot of poundage themselves.

People say they use knee sleeves to keep their knees warm but I bet most people don’t even know what that means (I know I don’t), really it gives people a kinesthetic cue telling them when exactly to pop out of the hole and also provides a minor wrap like effect which adds a non-insignificant amount of weight onto the bar.

I felt exactly like you described it, a tactile cue. And squats felt/looked much better today than last time I did this weight without the sleeves. Probably some placebo but they definitely help with something.

Knee sleeves are basically just a placebo for me. A very, very welcome placebo. I just like how they feel and they give me more confidence going into a heavy squat. But I’ve done heavy singles without them and it doesn’t seem to really make a difference.

The tighter they are the more benefit they’ll give you. But unless you’re a high level competitor and the extra few pounds they may provide really, really matters, I wouldn’t worry about making sure they’re super tight.

For me, the main benefit of knee sleeves is the warming effect on the joint. And yes, I recognize this is a placebo effect. Very tight knee sleeves could begin to act like knee wraps, in that they could add a few pounds to your lift by creating a rebound effect. However, i find that very tight knee sleeves become annoying (irritating to the point of pain) after a short period of time. I’d rather embrace the warming effect of comfortable knee sleeves for my entire workout instead of worrying that tight sleeves are cutting off my circulation.

If they help warm up your knees/help with some pain and they stay on, you got the right size.

Some people get them super tight for aesthetic reasons or to add like 3 lbs to their squat. Yup

Okay so I’ve used my Rehband’s for two workouts, and they feel amazing. Large size fits perfectly, easy to get on/off and they stay on.

But for some reason I have this feeling I should’ve gone for Tight Fit SBD’s instead, and I ordered a pair of Medium ones on impulse (35.5-38cm tight fit) and my knee joint is 38cm, and they are impossible to get on even with the folding technique. I’ll either return them or change them for Large ones. Opinion please?

So the dilemma is, normal fitting, comfortable Rehband’s that keep the knees warm, or down-sized (tight fit) SBD’s that might or might not be a pain in the ass to get on/off and add 2.5lbs?

Rehbands lol. You could try the garbage bag technique to get the SBDs on, but it’s a pain in the ass that’s probably not worth it.

I love my Stoic sleeves. About half the price of SBDs too. I use them all the time and still haven’t washed them. They smell aweful but feel great. I don’t get them so small that they’re a struggle to get on. I had a set of a Tommy Kono sleeves back in the day and they were a bugger to get on. Gave myself a bloody nose when my hand slipped off pulling them up and smacked myself in the face.

Yeah I’m not keeping this current size, medium. Tried to get them on again today, took 5 min to get them on so fck that.

But I still wanna get SBD a chance, because almost everyone recommends them over Rehband’s so there must be something to it lol. Gonna swap my Medium for Large ones. If I can get them on in <1 min I’ll use them for my C-squat.

Alan Thrall does a quick knee sleeve review. Here it is in case you haven’t seen it.

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