It is no secret that most women are wearing the wrong sized bras on a day-to-day basis, but did you know you might also be wearing the wrong sized sports bra?
Why do you need a properly fitted sports bra?
If you don’t know, breasts are made up of tissue and fat that give your breasts their shape, but provide little to no support on their own. Whether you exercise once a year or you’re hitting the gym a few times a week, your breasts need proper support to avoid damage to the tissue and to help reduce the chance of developing saggy breasts or straining the girls.
Tips to help you pick a sports bra:
The best thing you can do is head to a store to be fitted properly once or twice a year as your body changes.
- Watch the band size – One of the most important parts of the fit is the band that sits around your rib cage. This is where most of the support comes from so try hunting down a band that hugs your body and sits firmly.
- Keep the girls in – When trying on sports bras, be sure to raise your arms above your head. If the girls start falling out the bottom, try looking at a cup size down.
- Encapsulation vs. Compression – compression sports bras are your old favourites that press your breasts to your body, mono-boob style. Encapsulation sports bras act more like your normal everyday bra with separate cups for each breast. If you ask us, we’d pick encapsulation for better support.
- Find a favourite and stock up – You wouldn’t have just one bra to get you through life, so don’t think you can do the same with a sports bra. Sports bras get as much of a work out as you do, so to prolong their already short lifespan, make sure you have 3 or 4 that you wear on rotation to stop the band stretching and keep your girls supported.
- What sort of activity are you doing? – A runner is going to need a different type of sports bra to a yogi, so make sure you look at options that best suit your go-to exercises.
- Think about the $$ – Unfortunately, sports bras are just another item that falls into the “you get what you pay for category”. Sports bras can range from $15 up to $120 so be prepared to spend a little extra cash if you are wanting a high-impact bra.
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There is some great advice here and definitely tips that are needed for an important clothing and personal purchase. I don’t currently use sports bras but will be again in the near future.
I love my sports Bras, I’m not a big fan of the underwires in your everyday bras, I find them quite uncomfortable, I will wear one when I wear an outfit that requires an everyday bra otherwise I stick with my comfy sports bras.
It was a hard lesson for me when I got an enscapulation bra. This article is timely and actually good to know about how to properly pick sports bras.
Never really been a sports bra kinda person…the one time i tried the band type for a day…i hated every second… a normal bra is all good for me… and can do without the sports too…lol
I think I’ve only worn a sports bra twice in my life haha! I can’t really do too much in the way of strenuous exercise due to hip displaysia so I really only walk. These are good tips though as they can sometimes make you look like you have 1 big pancake boob!! Hehe 🙂
Great advice here. Bra shopping can be hard, and I think there are many women who get embarassed by the thought of being fitted by a stranger. I know, I am one of them. Really, I shouldn’t be, I just need to go in and get it done!
There are some great tips here, I never really have put much thought into a sports bra and just wear my everyday ones for everything. I guess I really should change that, it might make excersizing a more pleasurable experience…
Wow I did not know we should be getting fitted once to twice a year!! It makes sense so I had a derrr moment there, but honestly I figured once a A/B/C etc always an A/B/C etc…. In all honesty I’m abit shy about being fitted being a bigger lady too I get quite embarrassed so I appericate these tips alot as I can add them to my tick off boxes when shopping for bras next.
Sports bras are thee best. I would never go back to the wire stabbing me or the itchy back from the hooks digging in. I find them so comfortable and they do the same trick as any other normal bra just more comfortable.