What Are Knee Sleeves For?

It was last summer and we were walking around Vendor Village at the 2016 CrossFit Games. We noticed a giant display of knee sleeves at the RockTape booth and something occurred to us: “we have absolutely no idea why anyone wears these.” So we walked over to the RockTape booth to find out.

First of all, they keep the knees warm. No, not just in the winter. Apparently, your knees don’t get a lot of blood during a WOD because they lack lots of fat to insulate them. And cold joints aren’t exactly what you’re looking for when squatting, snatching or cleaning. Plus, keeping your knees warm can help prevent soreness or injury.

 They’re also great for protecting your knees during any WOD requiring you knees to hit the ground, like the 100 overhead walking lunges you did in CrossFit Open 16.1 WOD.

Does chalk make you stronger? We’re not sure and it seems like the answer depends on the person. Which is why we turned back to RockTape and asked one of their RockDocs to get a real answer. “Doubtful….I would say knee sleeves contribute to squatting better, not necessarily more,” Steve Agocs said.

If you have a nagging knee injury, recovering from one, arthritis, crepitus, your knees are sore after a WOD or ache during one, then you should probably be wearing them.

As for the rest of us with pain-free knees, you won’t do yourself any harm wearing them. Many athletes worry that using legal aides like straps, lifters, or knee sleeves will make you weaker and that’s just not the case. The real answer is, you actually might really like them but you won’t know until you try.

And the best part is, they’re actually 20% off right now with code “OPEN17.”