Mark Bell Grippy X sleeve vs freeze sleeve

This is a comparison between the Grippy x sleeve and the freeze sleeve including pros, cons and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the Freeze sleeve

The freeze sleeve is one of the best options for cooling your arms or legs when going about your day.

Overview of the freeze sleeve

The freeze sleeve is a compression sleeve for the legs and arms with an inbuilt cooling system. It works with a gel to combine comfort with icing therapy. This way you can target the areas of most discomfort after training while still going about your day. The main features of this sleeve are:

Made in the USA
Compression Fabric Sleeve with Specially Formulated Anti-Microbial Gel
Flexible Up to -20 Degrees F
Store in the freezer a minimum of 2 hours before use
Color: Black
Important: Do not let the Freeze Sleeve get wet! The gel will absorb water and swell. If your sleeve becomes damp, place it on a flat, dry surface and allow to fully air dry. Do not use wet towels under your FREEZE SLEEVE.

This is a great comfortable and fast solution to cool down any area on your leg or arm.

Size of the freeze sleeve

The freeze sleeve is available in six different sizes ranging from S to 3XL. Measure the circumference just below your knee or elbow for the best results. The size chart is as follows:

S 8" -10" / 20-26cm
M 10" -13" / 26-33cm
L 13"-16" / 33-41cm
XL 16"-20" / 41-51cm
XXL 20"-24" / 51-61cm
3XL 25"-30" / 63-65cm

Take your measurements seriously and maybe go a little down from what you measure as sleeves tend to widen over time with extensive use.

Pros of the Freeze sleeve

The pros of the freeze sleeve:

Fast application
No moving parts
Price

The freeze sleeve is fast to use as long as it has been in the freezer. You easily slip it on and off after raining and is, therefore, a great solution for rehab post-workout.

There are no moving parts in the freeze sleeve that can break or get lost. Other solutions have nozzles to fill in ice or liquid while the freeze sleeve is one piece of equipment.

The price for the freeze sleeve is relatively low compared to other icing solutions with a similar impact.

Cons of the freeze sleeve

The cons of the freeze sleeve are:

Does not use ice
No choice in freeze effect
No choice on compression
Small areas only

Compared to ice packs that are filled with ice cubes the freeze sleeve provides less cooling and compression. If you want to shock freeze certain areas immediately after injury, the freeze sleeve is not the right tool. Here the hyperice range of products does a better job. The same goes for larger areas like the shoulder or back.

Alternatives to the freeze sleeve

Good alternatives to the freeze sleeve are:

The hyperice range can cover bigger areas and freeze them quicker. If you are a big athlete you are probably better off with these. The main disadvantage of the freeze sleeve is that you need to fill the bag with ice cubes to make it work. This requires setup and leaves the product with more moving parts that can break or get lost.

Summary for the freeze sleeve

One of the best solutions for post-workout cooling of niggling areas over time. Not the best solution for immediate icing of severe strain injuries at the side of a pitch.

Overview and review of the Grippy X Sleeve

Grippy x sleeves are one of the stiffest and thinnest knee sleeves on the market and comes in at $85. This is the one to go for to optimize your one repetition maximum.

Overview of the Grippy x sleeve

The Grippy x sleeves come out of the range of Mark bell’s wraps and sleeves. His channel supertraining06 is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, powerlifting channel on YouTube. They are designed to emulate wraps and be as stiff as possible for heavy squats. The specifications are:

Sold in Pairs
Thickness: 6.5mm
Length: 29cm
Approved by USPA

To provide a good, right support to place another squat personal record.

Sizing for the Grippy x sleeve

I take no responsibility for any size information as it usually lands me in trouble with at least one person. What I will say is that the design of the Grippy x sleeve is unforgiving. Take the measurements seriously and spent some time thinking about size or you might be in a world of pain to get these on. This is intended for the support the x sleeves provide. Rehband models are more forgiving in this regard. The sizes are

S - knee circumference 13-14”
M - 14.25” - 15”
L - 15.25” - 16”
Xl - 16.25” - 17”
2xl - 17.25” - 18”
3xl - 18.25” - 19”
4xl - 19.25” - 20”

If you have very big calves which are potentially thicker circumference then your knee, go a size up.

Pros of the grippy x sleeve

The pros of the grippy x sleeves are:

USAPF approved
Stiffness
Experienced vendor

The grippy x sleeves are USAPF approved. This means that you can use them in competitions in this federation. It is always good to simulate competition conditions as close as you can in training. With these sleeves, you at least compete on a national level. IPF approval is a different topic.

The stiffness of the x sleeve is its main selling point. The grippy x sleeves are probably the closest you can get with sleeves to simulate a wrap. A good knee wrap will be tighter and provide more bounce, but it is also hard to do it yourself.

Mark Bell has been around for a long time and was a powerlifter for a long time. Whether you actually need all of the sleeves he puts out can be debated, but his products do what they say on the tin, based on my experience.

Cons of the Grippy x sleeve

The cons of the grippy x sleeve

IPF controversy
Price
Stiffness

One con for international powerlifters is that there is a debate about whether they should be IPF approved. There is a controversy for how they function and a complaint was filed (probably by SBD).The IPF is the international rather than national federation for powerlifting and considered the gold standard of raw lifting. If you read this check the current status as it might have changed.

The price is a little steep but you pay for the quality. This was so good that it was ruled out, so it will probably protect your knees and improve your PR.

The stiffness can work against you. Of you want to use these sleeves for CrossFit WODs or Olympic lifts they might limit your range of motion too much.

Alternatives to the grippy x sleeve

Alternatives to the grippy x sleeves are:

Knee wraps are the ultimate stability tool for your knees. While they are harder to put on correctly they provide the most amount of bounce. Depending on the lifting federation they might be allowed or not. Lifting with wraps is not considered raw lifting.

The Rehband knee sleeve is the long-held general standard for knee sleeves. You will find Rehband products across all different sports. The use is versatile and they are not as stiff as the Mark bell grippy sleeves.

The x knee sleeves from Mark bell are the upgraded version after the IPF pulled their approval for the grippy sleeves. This is the updated version with thicker neoprene that covers USAPF and IPF approvals.

Summary for the grippy X Sleeve

The grippy x sleeves are the “cheater” sleeves which will provide you with great support for raw lifting and were so effective that the IPF banned them. Definitely worth having if it just for the story around them. Of you want sleeves with similar attributes to go for the extreme x sleeves.