This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 8:37 pm and is filed under Top Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
For this post I have handed the writing baton over to my lovely wife, Nicky. Whilst I do consider myself an expert (very modest of you – Beeble) in all things fitness related I feel that Nicky has slightly more experience in this department than myself, enjoy – Hugo
OK ladies, you have the high performance trainers suitable for your workout (whether it be cross trainers or running trainers), you have your sexy sporty flattering Lycra trousers and a good quality sports’ top, gym membership paid for or the tennis court booked and your favourite “kick ass” music on the ipod – you are ready to go……..NO! Wait….what about your sports’ bra? You have put all this effort into everything else to help you achieve your goals and that’s great, but it won’t look so good if one of your most important assets are hanging down by your knees giving you a bad back. A slight exaggeration however gravity is not your “breast” friend and if you don’t invest in a good sports’ bra you will be losing the lifelong battle with gravity.
To give you better idea of how important this is, studies have found that the breasts move 9 cm when exercising on the treadmill. The support for your breasts is a fragile structure called Cooper’s ligaments, and when these ligaments are stretched the damage is irreversible. Then the only remaining support of the breast is the skin, so now you can see it’s important to have the correct type of bra. Research has found that nearly around 65% of women suffer from breast pain when exercising due to poor support.
When buying a sports’ bra it is as important as buying your normal bra – you need to get the right size, if you get the wrong size it can result in sagging, chafing, upper back and neck pain.
Types of sports’ bra:
Compression – Pulls the breast into the body best for size A & B cup women – not so flattering (but that’s not what’s important – Beeble).
Encapsulated – This type gives more of a natural shaping by added structure - more for women with larger breasts as they offer more support.
Underwire – Provides additional support for the fuller breasts and also helps with shaping.
When buying a sports bra look for the following features:
- Fabric that promotes the air flow
- Fabric that has moisture control
- Soft material
- If you use a heart rate monitor then get a sports’ bra with a pocket for the transmitter.
- Friction free areas for the arm pits and shoulders
- Wide straps
- Any hooks/fittings to be covered
- Make sure the bra is snug but you can still comfortably take a deep breath
- Buy a bra suitable to your type of workout e.g. high or low impact
Low impact: Weight training, road cycling, yoga, golf etc
Medium impact: Stair climber, speed walking, martial arts, skiing etc
High impact: Running, mountain biking, aerobics, horse riding, tennis etc
When should I change my sports’ bra:
- You should change your sports’ bra regularly (as you would with your trainers – Beeble), on average if you are training 4 times per week every 6 – 8 months or…..
- When you start to see more movements in your breasts when exercising.
- When the elastic starts to break.
- When the sports bra becomes looser and you are getting less support
Here at beebleblog.com we would recommend ’shock absorbers’ (the make of bra and not actual shock absorbers - Beeble)
So remember: give your breasts a bit of support and wear a sports’ bra.
July 1st, 2008 at 2:28 am
Lots of great tips on buying a sports bra, I am a big-breasted girl and it does hamper your style (unless of course you are dressed to impress and then it’s easy, just wear something low cut no man in the room looks any further you could be wearing a sack ;).
However back to the point - one thing that has been stressed to me over the years is to make sure your bra actually fits, I know I used to make the mistake of buying a size too small, just to hold my breasts a little more firmly and then someone fitted me properly and what a difference! No cutting into my shoulders, no little pushed up pockets of skin and fat under my arms and shoulders, and I didn’t feel like my breasts had been sandwiched together. Now I know I have gotten a little graphic, but every big breasted woman out there will know exactly what I am talking about. Thank you for your post, Annie
July 9th, 2008 at 2:58 am
Lots of great tips! But the one thing I look for is nipple coverage. I need a sports bra to have enough padding to keep everything covered. Sorry if that is TMI, but I think it is important, and I don’t like people looking at me at the gym and seeing things they shouldn’t.