When someone sews two jock straps together and calls it a sports bra, the terrorists have won.
Yet that’s precisely the contraption women were relegated to wearing for years in a desperate attempt to avoid knocking themselves unconscious or inciting a riot every time they went jogging. When Kathrine Switzer broke running’s glass ceiling in the 1967 Boston marathon, I guarantee you she was not snugly contained in a sassy fuchsia ultra-wicking number with molded encapsulation cups and gel-infused shoulder straps. The first real sports bra wasn’t even invented until 1977, and even then, the results were less than flattering and far from effective.
At Champion’s recent “Science Behind the Sports Bra” event in NYC, modeling the Damen Jogger, designed by research engineers in the early 80s.
Champion’s Chief Scientific Advisor LaJean Lawson, PhD, was incensed when she crossed her first marathon finish line in 1976…with bleeding abrasions on her shoulders and breasts. Since then, she’s dedicated her career to conquering breast topology, jogging around donning heavy rubber breasts to test out new products and hooking women up in Avatar-style technology to measure their breasts’ bounce in slow motion. Lawson estimates 60-70% women wear the wrong size sports bra, resulting in breast and back pain, chronic chafing, and the dreaded double-sports bra protocol.
“When you buy running shoes, you consider ankle support, lateral stability, whether you pronate or not,” she notes. “The same consideration needs to go into sports bra shopping.”
A few more titbits to impress your friends with:
- A single 36D breast weighs two pounds.
- Your breasts are not venetian blinds, only moving up and down. They travel in 3D: Up and down, in and out, side to side.
-A D cup breast can rocket from 0 to 45 mph to one second. A Ferrari takes four seconds to go from 0 to 60mph. As Lawson puts it, “The nipple has the Ferrari beat.”
A few tips for sports bra shopping:
Basketball, volleyball, or tennis: You’ll want enough stretch that you can reach up to rebound — or spike or smack an overhand shot — without the rib band pulling up over your breasts. To further minimize “ride up,” look for both adjustable straps and rib band so you can tighten to anchor it around your torso.
Try: Moving Comfort Juno ($52, movingcomfort.com).
Yoga: Look for a racerback or Y-back to prevent strap slippage in Downward Dog.
Try: Lululemon Power Y Tank ($52, lululemon.com).
Keep reading at espnW.com
Check out Dr. Lawson’s Champion sports bra blog on Facebook.
OK, what is a guy to say to a post all about bras? Ceretainly I am impressed that the nipple beats out the Ferrari. I’ve never driven a Ferrari so I don’t know this from experience therefore I shall take your word on it.
Also I must say the weight of a 36D has me thinking. Being a guy loosing weight who has had to accept the fact he has ‘moobs’ that are slowly disappearing (thnakfully), I wonder how much they weighed at the hey-day?
Alas, know that after reading this post I shall never be able to look at venetian blinds the same way.
Be well, and comfortable!
Patrick recently posted..Day 386 – 387- Sister- Mothers & Gas
Hahahah. You and Patrick have me chuckling to myself over here. I’ve not had this problem I range from A- to A+. What I want to know is if the bootay jiggle has similar issues, and if I should get a bum wrap?
JourneyBeyondSurvival recently posted..Whadja Do Yesterday
Okay, WHAT exactly is that thing you’re wearing in that photo? It looks like a medieval torture device! I’ve been a Champion girl myself for about 15 years now. LOVE their sports bras. And I now have a wonderful tidbit of info to give my hubby re: the Ferrari. (I’m faster than an Italian sports car! Wait…that doesn’t sound quite right…)
bdaiss recently posted..I am a paleontologist
BDAISS – I know, it looks crazy, right! It’s basically a few strips of fabric that researchers used to try and strap women’s’ boobs down with.
JOURNEY – I’m in your boat. When I attended the Champion event, I got on the treadmill in a raggedy old sportsbra from 18 years ago and ran in it while the expert assessed me. She said something to the effect of, “Yeah, you’re so small-chested that you can wear whatever you want.”
PATRICK – So exciting to see a man here…and with a moobs comment, no less! Glad I could lure you in with an automotive reference
Leslie Goldman recently posted..Wrap your rack
My tatas are so tiny that I don’t worry too much about my nipples overtaking a Ferrari (although I do worry about them heading south of the border… kids… sigh). That is still my fave pic of you ever though!
No love for the Enell? I don’t think you can find the ‘right’ bra until you actually find the right size. The way the Enell is sized – with only 10 sizes, each for a range of body measurements – getting away from the band-cup paradigm is really helpful. A woman who is really a 32G, but thinks she is a 36C will often resist being told her correct size. (“My boobs aren’t that big!”) However, with the Enell size chart, she picks the right size regardless.
It’s all about FITTING. Even if it’s the right cup or right size, if it doesn’t look good on you or doesn’t feel right it still wont be worth it.
Deedee@Padded Sports Bra recently posted..Why Are Sports Bras Good For Womens Health