Da Bullpen | Knee Wraps for Heavy Squats For Big Legs, Make Your Legs Do the Work
Da Bullpen | Knee Wraps for Heavy Squats For Big Legs, Make Your Legs Do the Work
Written by George “Da Bull” Peterson III
21 May 2021
For Big Legs, Make Your Legs Do the Work
What is you take on knee wraps? Do you use them? If so, why, and do you only use them on certain leg movements or only when you are going extra heavy? I hear conflicting advice about knee wraps and don’t know if I should use them or not.
I do use knee wraps, but only for my heaviest sets of squats. I typically warm up with 135, 225 and 315 before I put the wraps on for 405 and up. I feel the wraps help protect my knees because I do have extremely small joints, which is perfect for bodybuilding but a liability when it comes to putting tremendous loads on the muscles. I remember early on when I was working with my coach Justin Miller, and he put me through our first leg workout together. Once I had the knee wraps on tight, it looked like I had thighs and calves with just a tiny joint connecting them. Justin was terrified my little knees would snap under four to five plates! I see some guys using knee wraps for all their compound movements like leg presses. That’s fine if you legitimately need the support, but if you’re wrapping your knees tight for a “spring” effect just to use heavier weights, I would say don’t. Make your legs do the work and they will grow much better. If you have thicker joints, you may never need to use knee wraps.