Sports Bras

Let’s talk sports bras. If you are like most women, you can’t remember when your favorite sports bra came home with you. It’s like your favorite socks, hat, or gloves; it just seems like it’s ALWAYS been in your drawer!

Sports bras are a wearable product though. They have a usable life and for the sake of your breast health, your sports bra should not be celebrating birthdays with you. You SHOULD cycle in a new sports bra every three months to ensure that you are always being amply supported in your moderate and heavy impact activities, like running.

Many women don’t know how to properly fit for an athletic bra as nobody likes to talk about their undergarments. Avoiding the topic isn’t a problem when everyone is fitting well, but when most women aren’t getting ample support out of their bra, we need to have the discussion.

When new, a sports bra should fit slightly snug against the rib cage with no space to fit a finger up the cleavage from the band. The breasts should not feel smashed, they should feel supported. Our friends at Moving Comfort/Brooks have often shared their suggestion that most women need to increase the cup size one and go down one band size from their casual bra size to get a proper athletic support. We find that rule to be accurate across most athletic companies’ lines.

Also when buying a new sports bra, the clasp on the back should be on the farthest clasp out. This allows for stretching of the band over time and use. Once you reach the inner-most clasp setting, it is time for a new bra! Don’t risk injury of two irreplaceable assets just to keep your cutest offering in your cycle. I promise that you’ll find a NEW favorite if you just look for it.

Lastly, remember that sports bras don’t have to be washed every run. They can be used 2-3 times before needing to run a cycle in the washer (and hung dry, never heat-dried!) in a technical detergent, like Win, Sportwash, or a similar product. Remember that sports bras are made of the same comfortable tech fiber as your favorite running clothes and should be cleaned equally.

 

BRANDS WE CARRY