Knee Wraps........

[Ken Skip Hill]

I found out today that I reinjured my left knee after first injuring it about 2 weeks ago. I was diagnosed with a LCL weakness in the left leg that I am sure will go away in a couple weeks but the doctor asked for 6 weeks. Yeah, right. lol

I can't squat because the pain is pretty bad.

I was wondering if using knee wraps would benefit my knees. Normally, I would say not to use them but it looks like it might help this time around, for me. I wouldn't use them now but rather after the pain is gone.

I wanted to open a discussion on why and how you use them. Which way do you wrap (in to out or out to in??) top to bottom or bottom to top. How tight is too tight, etc..

Opinions and feedback welcomed!

Skip

[SweatMachine]

I was taught to wrap from the bottom up. 3 wraps below the knee cap and overlap up tp the top of the knee cap then 2- 3 wraps to finish ..my wrapping goes from inside to outside. Now days I use wraps only over 500lbs mainly for the secure feeling. In my powerlifting days I had to have fresh crisp wraps, now I like them a little soft and broke in. The first time I had my knees wrapped by a "Pro" I couldnt squat becuase I was so distracted by the pain of the wraps.

My thoughts are if you wrapsyour knees very "snugly" It should provided a little extra support for your connective tissues.

[ctgblue]

agreed, I use mine at poundages where I know I'll get some knee 'wiggle' on the way up.
I use them primarily for the mental aspect of safety as I am not sure if they help with any weight at all.
I also go inside to outside, quite tight but not painful. I use Inzer 3 stripe Iron Z's and have 2 sets, one for reps and one newer set for heavy maxes.
I do not use them currently on my heavy hacks, although as I move towards 5 pps, I may add them.

[In-Human]

Skip, I was taught to wrap my knees by a very small powerlifter who loses weight to get down to the 308 class, I use the APTs 2 1/2 meter and I wrap starting from the outside of my knee cap and always wrap towards the inside, no criss cross, I go two wraps around knee cap then 3 wraps up and 4 wraps down, this has made one hell of a difference on my leg workouts, no more pains.

Most guys have a tendency to wrap one knee cap inwards and one outwards and this is where problems arise.

I also wear the neoprene knee sleeves over my sweats the whole leg workout then when I get to my worksets, I use the wraps over the neoprene sleeves...

[ntrllftr]

My 2 cents- Personally I do not beleive in any wraps, straps or even belts.
Look at it this way, is the strap going to help what happens inside of the skin? NO.
Like you I have mentioned this b4, that I have problems with my knees. I found out the other day After being alive for 35 yrs that I was born with "club feet" That is when your
foot is turned from front. My legs were taped together for months
so all my tendons cartlidge and crap is all f'ed up. Surgery screw that WORK THROUGH IT!
so my mom tells me now??????
In short I did not know why my legs were always lagging for soo many years and hurt.
now I know and what I did to correct this was-
I put in my mind NO PAIN and I started to do more leg presses and lighter wt squats.
They have grown a lot over the 2 years that I put this into my training.

[In-Human]

NT, I was born with Club Foot on my Right, surgery was done when I was 1 year old, but my foot still has the tendency to want to roll inward and I go through shoes in like 6-8 months, with a 13 EEEE pain in the ass ordering shoes.

I had knee problems with heavy weights and now that I wrap no more problems, I also broke my back when I was younger and I live in a weight belt, have no choice, plus wraps and belts give you that extra safety to push yourself further when you train...

[big_byrd52]

well if its just an LCL strain, u should still be able to train legs, but i would advise only in a fixed range of motion. leg ext, leg curls, and MAYBE some hacks- but light enough so ur knee dont move in or out. the wraps will help some, but u dont want to make the injury worse, trust me! the LCL and ACL take the longest to recover of the knee ligiments! so if u fuck around and make it worse ur gonna be out of doing legs totally for a few MONTHS!

And check out this article by Fred Hatfield(Dr. Squat)... about half way dow it tells the proper way to wrap ur knee and why. in ur case if u do decide to do it, wrap the knee tightly with double wraps so there is more stability in the knee. get a good set of wraps, like from APT (they have great wraps, i think better than Inzer) not an ACE bandage.

[xRAJAx]

I wrap from the inside out for each knee starting on the patellar tendon right below the knee cap. I overlap the wraps so that you cover 1/2 of the previous wrap before......so basically your overlaying the wraps on half of the previous wraps then tuck it in at the top. I'm not a powerlifting expert, hell this may just be incorrect..but it just makes sense to me. Doing this I feel like the support is equal from the bottom of the knee to the top. With the LCL any lateral movement will damage your knee further...so like the post above says try to stick with fixed movements...but if you are going to do compounds make sure that your knee's follow your toes and don't move laterally out of that plain of motion.

R

[hardkor]

As for my experience with wraps, when doing my heavy sets, it does give me a sense of security/stability, which really helps with my squats.

Now as for how to wrap, I've heard them all. Lee Haney always says to criss cross over the knee caps cuz thats the way the tendon run...i think. I also read somewhere to go outward-in because that was the way the tendons ran. I've always done them inward-out, and from top to bottom....cuz that's the way i saw Ronnie doing it in his videos!LOL. And he claims to never of had a knee problem. I guess it all comes down to experimenting and finding what's the most comfortable way for you. As you can see, you'll get tons of different ways of wrapping.

One more thing. I have the heavy duty Inzer wraps as well as the Hardbinger kind that you can find at any local sports store. I like the Hardbinger ones 10 times more cuz they're not as stiff and thick as the Inzer ones. I think if you're not doing maxes, the Hardbinger ones are the way to go. MUCH more comfortable!

[hardkor]

well if its just an LCL strain, u should still be able to train legs, but i would advise only in a fixed range of motion. leg ext, leg curls, and MAYBE some hacks- but light enough so ur knee dont move in or out. the wraps will help some, but u dont want to make the injury worse, trust me! the LCL and ACL take the longest to recover of the knee ligiments! so if u fuck around and make it worse ur gonna be out of doing legs totally for a few MONTHS!

And check out this article by Fred Hatfield(Dr. Squat)... about half way dow it tells the proper way to wrap ur knee and why. in ur case if u do decide to do it, wrap the knee tightly with double wraps so there is more stability in the knee. get a good set of wraps, like from APT (they have great wraps, i think better than Inzer) not an ACE bandage.

Where's the aritcle??

[ntrllftr]

NT, I was born with Club Foot on my Right, surgery was done when I was 1 year old, but my foot still has the tendency to want to roll inward and I go through shoes in like 6-8 months, with a 13 EEEE pain in the ass ordering shoes.

I had knee problems with heavy weights and now that I wrap no more problems, I also broke my back when I was younger and I live in a weight belt, have no choice, plus wraps and belts give you that extra safety to push yourself further when you train...

I was born on a military base so it was tape him up and go. That is why I am soo tough. lol
Seriously, I know what you mean my knees would "roll out" when I squat.
Over time I just focused on keeping them from moving around. Do you get a lot of ingrown toe nails? I have to dig them out all the time from my shoes doing the same thing as you. ouch!

[In-Human]

Do you get a lot of ingrown toe nails? I have to dig them out all the time from my shoes doing the same thing as you. ouch!

I have had so many I cannot count, and some so bad, I did surgery myself a few times.

Its a point where I cut them flat acrossed and let them stay a bit long, the wife hates it...

[SweatMachine]

You guys should start "Pedicures for better squats" thread !

[Ken Skip Hill]

well if its just an LCL strain, u should still be able to train legs, but i would advise only in a fixed range of motion. leg ext, leg curls, and MAYBE some hacks- but light enough so ur knee dont move in or out. the wraps will help some, but u dont want to make the injury worse, trust me! the LCL and ACL take the longest to recover of the knee ligiments! so if u fuck around and make it worse ur gonna be out of doing legs totally for a few MONTHS!

And check out this article by Fred Hatfield(Dr. Squat)... about half way dow it tells the proper way to wrap ur knee and why. in ur case if u do decide to do it, wrap the knee tightly with double wraps so there is more stability in the knee. get a good set of wraps, like from APT (they have great wraps, i think better than Inzer) not an ACE bandage.

Yes, I can still train legs but I may just leave them alone entirely for 4-6 weeks just to be sure that nothing happens. I originally injured it 2 weeks ago during squats but didn't realize how bad it was at the time so I finished my leg session. Last week I came in, warmed up on hi angle hacks and went heavy as hell and had no pain, only some very minor swelling in the knee after the session. I came back to squat this week and only warmed up with 135 and my knee is more jacked than ever.

My form is meticulous. My warm ups take almost 30 minutes (cuz my knees have ached for years but no injuries) so it wasn't from being stupid or careless. It was that I have added almost 200 pounds to my squats in the past 2.5 months. I MUST have waivered only SLIGHTLY with the knee and ended up with my problem.

I don't believe in wraps or belts, either. However, I feel that it is time to re-evaluate my position on wraps because I feel I need the added stability in my knees after training for 20 years and starting to put up PRs at 34 years old. I don't care to use the wraps to eventually squat 700 pounds. I just don't want to continue to have knee problems. There is no "train through the pain" for me. I don't fuck around with shit like that. The numbers I am pushing are big enough that this would only be stupid, at best.

I plan to use the wraps AFTER my knee is better and not just use them now to get through my leg training. However, I may consider this as another option that I hadn't previously thought of.

I thank you guys for the great feedback. It has been helpful. I am also going to check out that Hatfield article, too.

Skip

[Massive G]

You guys like impressions?...OK, here's one:

Boo Hoo, my knees hurt..Where's my Mommy?....