Support Your Workout with the Right Sports Bra: Prevent Breast Pain and Injury during Exercise

Breast injury during a workout can happen to anyone irrespective of the size of the breast. 

Wearing a sports bra during a workout can prevent breast pain and injury. A sports bra provides excellent support to your breasts which protects your tender breast tissues from injuries during physical exercise. 

Physical workouts can make your breast move vigorously causing pain and soreness over a period of time. The regular bra does offer support to your breast during regular activities but it is not built to withstand the excess movement during workouts. 

Whether you go to the gym or do yoga, go for a job, or dance, wearing a sports bra can offer great support to your breasts, thus preventing pain and injury.

Understanding your breasts

The breast has no muscle tissues; it is mainly composed of fatty tissue, mammary glands, and connective tissues. Typically, a size of 34 D weighs about 500 g, which means an average woman carries about 1 kg extra weight in her breasts.

The breasts are only supported by two very weak structures – one is your skin and the other is a ligament called Cooper’s ligament. Cooper’s ligament help in holding up the breasts but they are not very strong. Thus, approximately one kg of loose fat is hanging without any good support. 

Thus, when you move vigorously during workouts, if your breasts are not supported properly then the repetitive bouncing can stretch Cooper’s ligaments permanently. It can also cause damage to fatty tissues. This can result in painful or tender breasts, which can cause a lot of anxiety.

Some of the very common injuries to the breast are – jogger’s breasts, jogger’s nipple, breast contusion, and repetitive trauma caused by constant bouncing. 

Have you heard about Jogger’s breasts?

Jogger’s breast is a condition that resulted from repeated trauma from jogging. This is irreversible damage that results in your breasts sagging. This often happens when you go jogging every day without wearing a good supportive sports bra.

In addition to sagged breasts, a jogger’s breast tissue can also result in pain in the breast, upper back, and neck. 

It is much easier to prevent this condition than to cure it as all you need is a good sports bra!

There’s another thing called Jogger’s nipples

Jogger’s nipple is a condition in which you may witness chaffing or bleeding in your nipples. This is most common among long-distance runners and is caused by the friction between your cloth and your nipples.

Unlike joggers’ breasts, joggers’ nipples can occur in both men and women, though it’s more common among women. Thankfully, there are many ways to prevent it. The first and basic way is to change your wardrobe. Wear light comfortable clothes that do not rub against the skin. You can also apply a bandage on your nipple to prevent friction.

Role of sports bras in preventing breast pain and injury

Wearing the correct sports bra would give support to your breasts and prevent vertical or side-wise movement of your breasts during workouts. Breast sagging is irreversible and hence, you must use the right bra to prevent your breasts from sagging. In addition to this, wearing the right sports bra can also prevent back pain

Choosing the right sports bra for workouts

Today, the athleisure and sportswear market is expanding rapidly, thus spoiling customers with choices. This has also resulted in confusion among the buyers. What’s best for one customer is not necessarily the best choice for another. So, when choosing your sports bra for workouts you must keep the following things in mind –

Support – Depending on the size of your breasts you would need to select the support. It is always better to go for complete coverage. 

Impact – There are many sports bras designed for high-impact, moderate-impact, and low-impact exercises. A low-impact sports bra is ideal for yoga, while a high-impact bra is best for jumping, running, or fast movement.

Compression or encapsulation – Compression bras compress the breasts against the chest while encapsulation bras keep the breast separate in defined cups. Women with larger breasts should pick an encapsulation bra. 

Strap width – Always go for wider straps when selecting a sports bra. This will prevent the straps from injuring your skin and offer better support to your breasts. Ideally, your straps should be 1-2 inches in width and they should not fall off or dig in. If you have broader shoulders, then a cross-strap bra is best for you.

Material – Don’t forget to check the fabric of your sports bra. Usually, good quality sports bras are made of high-quality spandex materials which are excellent sweat absorbent. This material is soft, comfortable, and highly breathable. Choosing the right material is very important to prevent jogger’s nipples.

Size – Many women make the mistake of wearing the wrong bra size. Wearing the wrong size can also result in breast pain, back pain, neck and shoulder pain, rib cage pain, sagging, bad posture, and discomfort.

Advantages of wearing a sports bra during workouts

Here are some of the biggest advantages of wearing a sports bra during workouts.

Reduces discomfort and Pain 

A young girl once came to my clinic seeking a remedy for breast pain. She said that she used to keep her hands below the breasts while running to prevent motion but still she was suffering from a lot of pain. I recommended trying a good sports bra during such activities.

Wearing a sports bra during a workout is preventing pain and discomfort. A good sports bra provides great support to your breasts. A sports bra that offers a combination of encapsulation and compression reduces breast movement while offering comfort and breathability.

Prevent injury and sagging

Wearing a sports bra can prevent the sagging of breasts. Though breast sagging is a natural phenomenon that happens with aging, not providing the right support to your breasts can result in premature sagging.

Many young girls in their late 20s come to me seeking natural remedies to prevent sagging. Breast sagging is an irreversible change, you can only prevent it not undo it. Thus, wearing the right sports bra during workouts is very important.

Enhanced performance

Several studies have found that a girl’s performance is affected by ill-fitted or improper bra support. A study found that women lost 4 cm in stride length and showed a restricted range of movements in the arms when they did not wear the right bra.

Wearing the right sports bra during workouts helps reduce the bounce. This leads to better performance. Always opt for a sports bra that offers good support, comfort, and breathability.

Regulates Blood circulation

Unlike normal bras, sports bra does not have hooks, underwire, or elastic straps. These things can constrict blood circulation and make you feel suffocated. This is why health experts highly recommend using sports bras instead of regular bras. 

You can look out for a sweat-absorbent, moisture-wicking sports bra that absorbs sweat from your body. There are also some high-quality bras that can increase airflow to the skin which further keeps one cool and dry all day long. 

Your takeaway!

In conclusion, wearing a sports bra during your workouts is a must. The right bra provides your breasts with the support that it otherwise lacks. So, during vigorous movements, your breasts may sustain irreversible damage and they may lose their original shape once stretched. 

Thus, wearing the wrong bra can also lead to a case of mastalgia (breast pain) and breast ptosis (breast sag). A sports bra offers you the ideal support, improves your mobility, restores body posture, relieves neck tension, and reduces back and shoulder pain.