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Knee Wraps: Wraps vs Sleeves, Training vs Competition, and How to Wrap
Knee wraps are long elastic bandages you wind tightly around the knee for a single heavy set. Wound properly they store energy on...
Knee wraps are long elastic bandages you wind tightly around the knee for a single heavy set. Wound properly they store energy on the way down and give it back out of the hole, which is why a wrapped squat is noticeably heavier than a raw one. They are a competition tool for wraps divisions and equipped lifting, and a training tool for lifters in those divisions. They are not a substitute for knee sleeves.
Wraps or sleeves
If you lift raw, in the IPF Classic division or any raw-with-sleeves class, you want knee sleeves: a neoprene tube you pull on once and wear all session. Wraps are only permitted in equipped and wraps divisions, and they only make sense if you compete there or train for it. The rebound from a wrap is large, the rebound from a sleeve is small; the price of the wrap's rebound is that it has to be wound tight for every set, taken off between sets, and learned as a skill. Lifters who buy wraps hoping for extra support in raw training usually end up back in sleeves.
Training or competition
The two wraps here use the same proprietary elastic in two stiffnesses. The training wrap is very supportive but forgiving enough to wind yourself and to wear through a session of working sets; it is the one to learn on and the one most lifters use week to week. The competition wrap is extremely stiff, built for maximal attempts, and most lifters need a training partner to wind it tight enough; it is not comfortable for volume and is not meant to be. Both have a track pattern woven in so each turn seats securely on the last.
How to wrap
Start just below the kneecap with the knee straight, wind upward with tension so each turn overlaps the previous by about half, cross over the kneecap in an X and finish above it, tucking the end under the last turn. Tighter is not always better: a wrap that cuts circulation or stops you sitting into the squat costs more than it gives. Unwrap straight after the set. Expect it to take a few sessions to find the tension and pattern that suits your knee.
Competition rules
IPF rules allow knee wraps up to 2m long and 8cm wide in equipped divisions, and the wraps on this page are made to those limits and are IPF approved. Other federations set their own limits, some longer; check your rulebook before a meet.
Care
Roll them after every use so they are ready to wind next time; a loose, tangled wrap is impossible to apply with tension. Hand wash when they get sweaty and air dry. Elastic loses its stretch over time; a wrap that no longer holds tension at your usual wind should be retired.
Every pair ships from our Sydney warehouse.