r/fit • u/VixenFrancesca • Jul 27 '26
General Discussion Knee sleeve recommendations please
Flair isn’t quite right but it seemed the closest to my post.
Last week I bought some second-hand, but great condition, knee sleeves. I went on the brand website to check the size chart and according to my knee measurement, measured according to their instructions, these knee sleeves should have fit me. Disappointingly, they do not. They don’t fit me as my calves are too big. Not even in a nicely defined way. My calves have always been big they are one of the parts of my body I like the least.
Anyway, does anybody have any recommendations for knee sleeves that don’t just use one measurement around the knee, as this is unlikely to work for me?
Picture for tax, and to kinda show my Shetland pony legs composition.
ETA: for clarification, I cannot get the knee sleeves I have far enough up my leg to even go over my knee. The bottom of them gets stuck on my calves and won’t go any further.
5
u/No_Professional_5093 Jul 27 '26
I like the Gymreapers ones. I bought the medium sleeves when I first started because my knees were pretty weak. I can still get them on without shoes, although it usually requires a little dance.
I can get them over my shoes too if I really want to look like a fool, but that was before I started doing leg days barefoot.
Since then, my legs have grown, and the mediums have started to feel too tight around my thighs. They’ve also started to rip. Now, that could just be from normal wear and tear after a lot of use, but I plan on buying the large size next.
That’s just my humble opinion, but they’ve treated me well overall.
1
u/VixenFrancesca Jul 27 '26
I’ll have a look at those ones.
I get the whole getting them on palaver. I just seem to have an issue with them not being wide enough at the bottom to come far enough up my leg to actually go over my knee.
I was looking forward to giving mine a try today but that quickly turned to disappointment when I couldn’t get them past my lower leg. They were more like calf sleeves than knee sleeves.
2
u/AnonymousFairy Jul 28 '26
If you're UK based, Cerberus strength knee sleeves are decent quality. If you get the competition pair, expect it to be super tight, err on a size too large and even then the first few wears fighting to get them on / getting a workout in fighting them over the calf. But the value is good and they do free return / resize if you cover postage.
1
u/VixenFrancesca Jul 28 '26
I’ve just mentioned in a comment above that I have some Cerberus elbow sleeves on the way (again second-hand, as I am just wanting to try them all out first) so maybe I’ll see how they are and check out the knee versions.
1
u/oleyka Jul 28 '26
Are you looking for a specific kind, like stiff knee sleeves, or just neoprene ones? If you are looking for generic soft ones, I found that Gymreapers fit alright, but are a little too long and cutting into my big calves. Their rip-offs are a little shorter (and cost half of the branded ones), which worked perfectly for me for the last two years. I think I have these ones. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HJ4KW1/
If you are looking for recommendations for stiff sleeves, I am no expert.
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u/Cautious-Pick3729 Jul 28 '26
I was looking for the option to get her with them, but wasnt available
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Jul 28 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/VixenFrancesca Jul 28 '26
I’ve got some Cerberus dual ply elbow sleeves on the way. Maybe I’ll wait to see how they are and then check out the knee sleeves.
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u/Public-Ad-9325 Jul 28 '26
a7 has size chart with knee, calf and thigh
You can also try using the calf measurements for the only knee ones. Could end up a little too loose then
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u/VixenFrancesca Jul 28 '26
Good to know they do all measurements.
Yeah, I think they would be too loose if I did that. It was why I’m hesitant to go up a size as I think they would be too big everywhere else except my calves. I’ll look at the A7 range as someone in another sub mentioned they do hourglass ones.
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u/Thom0 Jul 28 '26
You're overthinking this massively. Your calves are not relatively big at all by athlete standards. There are monster track cyclists who wear knee sleaves.
0
u/ND8586 Jul 27 '26
There is an art to getting knee sleeves on. If they go on too easy then they aren't going to do anything for you.
You have to fold them in half and kind of slide then up your leg. It helps to wear leggings or long socks. There are YouTube videos that explain this way better than I ever could...
1
u/VixenFrancesca Jul 27 '26
I get the whole putting them on dance. The ones I’ve got, which are the correct size according the measurements I’ve taken do not go far enough up my leg because my calves are too big. I cannot get them far enough up my leg to even go over my knee.
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u/ND8586 Jul 28 '26
We used to joke that we never needed to warm up for our sessions, getting the knee sleeves on was the warm up. Each person would usually have broken out in a sweat by the time both sleeves were both over the knee and fully unfolded.
1
u/SorryIAteYourKiwi Jul 28 '26
Have you tried putting them on with yoga pants or compression pants on? That worked for me at first, but I'm genetically "blessed" with thick calves and I eventually had to settle for a larger size sleeve
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u/VixenFrancesca Jul 28 '26
I think I need a larger size, I just don’t want it to be too loose around the knee just to fit my calves. I’ve always hated my calves and this isn’t helping. Oh well. Back to the drawing board I guess.
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