During my life immersed in sports bras I have heard all the sports bra myths. I only need one sports bra. I need to wear two sports bras at once. Or my favourite, I’m an A cup, I don’t need a sports bra.
There are plenty of sports bra myths flying around and this article busts 10 of them.
Read on.
A sports bra needs to feel firm but not too tight to perform as designed. If it is too tight it may affect your performance.
A tight band may affect your breathing and cause discomfort. Tight straps can dig into your shoulders and cause pain.
As a rule of thumb your band and shoulder straps should be tight enough for you to fit two fingers under the band / strap. If you can’t your sports bra may be too tight.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Breasts have limited natural support. Supported only by your very delicate Coopers Ligaments.
As such, even small breasts bounce when unsupported. In fact, an unsupported A cup can move up to 4cm and a G cup up to 14cm!
A good sports bra will help support your breasts and improve your sporting performance no matter your size. Never exercise without one, your breasts will thank you.
Many women think that to get more support you simply need to wear two (or more) sports bras. But as my mother used to say, “two wrongs do not make a right”.
You can wear as many strappy sports crops as you want. They will not give you the support you need during a run.
One good fitting, comfortable and supportive sports bra should do the trick (and save you money!) If you do feel you need a little more support, try a complimentary breastband.
It so isn’t! I challenge you to run 10ks in a yoga crop. And it will be uncomfortable trying to contort into your favourite asana wearing your high impact running bra.
Sports bras have different impact levels. Low Impact, Medium Impact and High Impact. You should try and match the impact level with the activity you do. Low impact = Yoga. High Impact = running. Multiple activities mean multiple sports bras.
If your budget is a bit tight always wear down an impact level never up. It’s OK to wear a running bra to your yoga session (even if it is a little uncomfortable) but never wear your yoga bra running!
When someone tells me this I ask, “do you wear the same running shoes for years?” The answer is usually a resounding no.
And so, it should also be for your sports bra. Over time wear and washing breaks down the elastic and technical fabric of a sports bra. Consequently, they begin to stretch and not offer the support they once did.
If your sports bra allows you can tighten the band and straps to buy a little more time. As a rule of thumb, a sports bra should never have a birthday.
Just like shoes and tights, sports bras fit differently depending on the brand or style. Don’t you just love women’s clothing!
You may be a 12D in one brand, a 10DD in another, and 14C in another. It is called ‘sister sizing’ and you can use it to help you find the right size sports bra no matter the style.
Maybe if you only exercise once a week. But if you regularly exercise you will need more than one sports bra.
It is a good idea to have three sports bras on rotation. Wear one, one in the wash and one for tomorrow. This will also help increase the longevity of your sports bras.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In the sports bra world size, style and quality matter. A high quality technically designed sports bra (yes, the expensive ones) will beat the generic brand every day of the week.
A good sports bra has both a back and a cup size rather than just small, medium or large written on the tag. What are called structured sports bras far out do ‘sports crops’ when it comes to support.
This may be true if you trawl major retail stores. I have done quite a few ‘mystery shopper’ trips to department stores over the years and if you are bigger than a 16 back or D cup then good luck.
The beauty of specialist online stores like Sports Bras Direct is we stock a huge range of sizes and styles. 12G? No problem, we have 23 styles for you. 22E? We’ve got you covered with 15 styles. Wow!
Not at Sports Bras Direct. 100% of all profit we make from every sports bra sold is donated to women’s charities.
Buy your perfect sports bra and help women in need. Why shop elsewhere!
There are plenty of sports bra myths out there. Some of these myths are very believable and some plainly not.
Either way, I hope this article has shed some light on these myths and busted them for the fraud they are.
Yours in support
Amy x
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