Masters level weightlifting officially begins at age 35 and the age groups change every five years. 35 seems too young to be considered old, but weightlifting presents a physical demand on your body that becomes very palpable as you age. Depending on training age (how many years you’ve actually been in the gym training), weightlifting can be downright brutal on the body. It’s therefore no surprise that masters lifters appreciate any legal assistance for training that’s available.
 
So how does one know if and when you should use supports such as knee sleeves, wrist wraps, lifting belts, etc.?  More importantly, are you using supports to help your lifts or are you using them to cover up mobility issues or to mask pain? This article will hopefully help to answer those questions. I will cover the four most common pieces of support gear used in weightlifting: lifting belts, knee sleeves/wraps, wrist wraps, and lifting straps. I would like to mention that my philosophy with weightlifting gear is to be a minimalist and to save supportive gear for when you really need it. 
 
Lifting Belts
 
Lifting belts are probably the most popular piece of weightlifting support out there, but despite their widespread use, much controversy exists about whether or not they prevent lower back pain or lower back injury.
 
Most of the research on wearing a lifting belt focuses on occupational settings, such as airline baggage handlers or Home Depot workers, rather than competitive weightlifters. While it’s true that wearing a belt will increase the amount of weight a lifter can lift, there’s just not enough research to definitively say if wearing a lifting belt will prevent a lower back injury.
 
Lifting belts come in many shapes and styles, but for the purposes of weightlifting competition, the maximum legal width is 120 mm or 4.75 inches. Most weightlifting belts are made of either a tougher leather with a metal buckle, or a softer nylon material with Velcro fastening.
 
While it’s perfectly legal to wear a belt in the snatch or clean and jerk, most lifters shy away from using a belt during the snatch and just use one on the clean and jerk. The advantages of the leather belt are that it’s more durable and offers more stability. Unfortunately, for some lifters, the buckle can sometimes get hit by the bar during the second pull, so depending on your bar path, the buckle may or may not be in your way. Another downside is that depending on your weight fluctuation, you may find yourself in between sizes on where the holes fasten in on the buckle.
 
Velcro belts are more comfortable overall and have more variation on how tight or loose you prefer to go, but I’ve had them slip under super maximal loads and almost result in injury. While training, my advice is to use a belt for squatting, cleans, and any heavy overhead work like jerks or push presses. I’m not a fan of using a belt on pulls or deadlifts as it makes more sense to focus on lower back strength off the floor. Also, if you get used to pulling without a belt, when you take a heavier clean while belting up, it feels easier. I also keep track of PRs on both belted and non-belted lifts.
 
One final point: I rarely recommend belting on any lift under 80 percent and sometimes try going through a whole training session without belting up. 
 
Knee Sleeves/Knee Wraps
 
With all the deep squatting required in weightlifting, it’s no surprise that masters lifters start getting achy knees. Enter knee supports, the two versions being knee sleeves and actual knee wraps. As with lifting belts, there’s not a lot of agreement on whether knee supports actually reduce injury or just aid the lifter in increasing the amount of weight being lifted. One thing that everyone agrees on is that knee supports help keep the knee warm and aid in compression, which can offer lateral stability in the knee and keep the patella tracking properly.
 
Knee sleeves are a neoprene tube generally available in a range of 3mm-7mm in thickness, with the thicker the sleeve, the more aid they give in the bottom of a lift. They can be worn on both of the classic lifts and throughout your training session if you respond well to the warmth and compression.
 
Knee wraps are more common in powerlifting than Olympic weightlifting and are generally more restrictive. Knee wraps will give you more elastic rebound out of the bottom of a lift than knee sleeves, but knee wraps tend to be more time consuming and require some experience to get a consistent wrap.
 
As a younger lifter, I never once used knee sleeves or knee wraps, but as I got into my mid-30s, I found that the warmth and compression afforded by the knee sleeves made my training more comfortable. I do find that thicker knee sleeves tend to slightly restrict the bottom position of cleans and snatches, but as a tradeoff, they can help give you some elastic rebound out of the bottom. That said, do not use knee sleeves as a substitute for leg strength. If you can’t squat your snatches or cleans, you need to get your legs stronger first before you invest in knee sleeves.
 
 
Wrist Wraps
 
Wrist pain is one of the more common problems in masters weightlifters as wrist mobility seems to decrease with age and getting a bar in the proper front rack position in a clean can become increasingly difficult. As in the case with knee supports, wrist wraps seem to offer compression to the wrist, making it more comfortable especially with the front rack or overhead snatch grip. However, as with all the other supports, wrist wraps should not be used to cover up injury.
 
There are two types of wrist wraps: the softer, cotton string wraps like CrossFitters commonly use, and the thicker, canvas type, with a Velcro fastener. I prefer the softer wraps as they tend to be more adjustable without having to take them off and rewrap. The heavier duty wrist wraps tend to be too bulky for me personally, but they do offer more support.
 
I recommend using wrist wraps for the classic lifts and for overhead work, but not for deadlifting or other pulling variations, especially because they can get in the way of using lifting straps.
 
Lifting Straps
 
Lifting straps are typically made of a canvas or nylon type of material and are primarily used for variations of pulling like clean pulls, clean deadlifts, snatch pulls, snatch deadlifts.  Straps are helpful especially when your hands are torn up from training.
 
In my opinion, straps should only be used for heavier clean or snatch pulls (80+ percent) or over 100 percent on clean and snatch deadlifts.  I don’t recommend turning any lift over with straps as it’s just too risky if you have to bail out on the lift. There are straps that are designed for easy bail out where the strap will just pop off, but my philosophy has always been to work on your grip strength if that’s the weak link in your lifts. I try to make myself go without straps as often as I can for as long as I can, saving them for either higher rep sets or for when my hands are ripped up.
 
 
Bottom Line
 
Masters weightlifting places much physical demand on the body. As athletes get older and continue training at high intensities, the need for supports to both aid in comfort and assist with lifts increases. Keep in mind that weightlifting supports should be used to aid the lifter in maximal lifts, not to mask underlying injury or restrictions in mobility.
 
I believe it’s useful to keep a journal of your personal bests both with a belt and without a belt, especially as you age. This is a great way of tracking how much you’re relying on the supports. Finally, try to be a minimalist with supports as long as you can, and take every opportunity to use them only when training at the highest intensities. This will allow you to gain the maximum advantage from supports when taking max attempts either at a meet or in training.