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.
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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
- 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
- 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
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 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.