This may sound shocking, but most women are wearing the wrong type of sports bra. This can make a huge difference in whether or not you’re being supported when you’re doing high impact sports.
95% of women I fit are wearing compression sports bras. These bras are everywhere, and I’m sure you own a few of them.
To put them on, they go over their head and create a “uniboob.” They don’t restrict breast movement at all. I found this article on HuffPost that explains it beautifully.
“…[These] bras don’t accomplish the main goal of a sports bra: limiting total breast movement. Compression bras only limit the in-and-out movement of breasts away from and towards the chest. But as researchers have found, breasts actually ‘arc through a complicated figure-8 pattern,’ going down and to one side, then up and over to the other side. This movement strains the Cooper’s ligaments, the connective tissue that keeps breasts perky.”
So what type of sports bra should women be wearing? I want to introduce you to the encapsulated sports bra. You’re probably thinking to yourself, what is that? No fear, I’m going to show you.
Encapsulated sports bras are bras are just like regular bras with a separate cup for each breast. These bras provide the best support because they limit horizontal and vertical movement in the breast. The only thing compression sports bras do is smash them down, they don’t limit the vertical or horizontal movement.
Kate Brooks from the blog The Bra Guide said, “This is why a compression bras aren’t ideal in most cases, even though they’re the most common type of sports bra: compression bras squish your boobs without shaping them, resulting in discomfort and a potential uniboob.”
The reason why it’s important to prevent the breasts from moving and bouncing is to protect the delicate Cooper’s ligaments in the breasts. These ligaments are what hold the breasts up and shape them. If you don’t wear a supportive bra when you’re doing higher-impact activities, the bouncing and movement can stretch or break those ligaments, resulting in saggier breasts. The only way to fix broken or stretched out ligaments is get a breast lift. This is why wearing supportive sports bras are so important.
Every woman should be wearing encapsulated sports bras, even smaller busted gals. Even small busted gals have ligaments in their breasts and they can stretch or break when not wearing supportive sports bras.
Watch this video to see the difference in support between an encapsulated sports bra and a compression sports bra. It’s pretty amazing to see the difference.
My advice, stay away from brands like Nike and Lululemon that specialize in exercising clothing because they don’t specialize in bras, are overpriced, and focus on looks than structure and support. Stick with companies who specialize in bras, because they make the best sports bras, with or without underwire.
Another point to mention is to stay away from sports bras that don’t have a way to tighten the band or back closure. There’s two reasons. First, your sports bras won’t last and be supportive for very long if you can’t adjust the band as it stretches out. Second, If you can pull your sports bra over your head, and it fits over your shoulders, it’s definitely not firm enough to support your bust.
Want to try an encapsulation sports bra on for yourself? Click below to book an in-person fitting and see the difference! Not able to make it to our shop? Use our online Fit Calculator and use that size to shop our site!