Game Set Match - The Sports Bra Edit

Which sports bra should you buy?

Belle 30 August 2017

Whether your gardening, running, walking or climbing Mount Everest there’s a sports bra for you! We decided to make it easier and show you the different types of sports bras available, what they’re good for and which ones to buy.

Gone are the days when a sports bra was only available in basic colours and a simple style. Now you have the choice of vivid colours, fancy prints and different fabrics.

Sports bras are just as important as your everyday wear bras and need to cater to the activity you are getting involved in and provide the right level of support you need. Support is crucial for comfortability and breast protection so we’ve blogged the different levels of support available and the bras in that range.

Activities like gardening and walking are considered low impact, for such activities you need a sports bra which provides better support than your standard bra but the lowest level of support in sports bras. Typically, these styles are non-wired and have compression cups. As the activity, you are doing is not rigorous a low impact sports bra is the perfect choice as it offers you the best protection and correct support.

The Freya Active Freestyle is a great option as is the Wacoal Sport T-Back Wire Free Bra Top. Both styles offer support for low impact activities and are also great alternatives to wearing bras with underwire.

For more rigorous activities like biking, power walking and using the elliptical trainer you need a sports bra which offers moderate level of support. For medium impact activities, you should choose a sports bra which is underwired as it ensures your breasts are kept in the cup and fully protected. Generally, sports bras in this category feature mesh and breathable inserts to allow your body to cool down, they also have lightly padded cups to offer better protection. Choosing a style with crossover or multiway straps is also handy as it allows the bra to worn under a variety of clothing.

Styles such as the Berlei Electrify Mesh are a great option as they feature all of which we have mentioned above in addition Berlei also have a fabulous range of colours and fabrics to choose from.

High impact activities such as running, kick-boxing and football typically involve more direct force on the body. So, you need a sports bra which encapsulates the breasts and provides a high level of support to reduce breast bounce. Sports bras for this category can either be wired or non-wired but will generally have support in each cup as opposed to low impact activity sports bras which have compression cups. The key to choosing the right sports bra for high impact activities is to make sure the fit is perfect as anything big will not protect or support the breasts properly and anything small will be uncomfortable.

We have many styles to choose from in this option including the very popular Shock Absorber High Impact range which is also available in D+, the Triumph Triaction Extreme and the Freya Active Sonic Moulded Sports Bra. The style we’ve chosen however is by Panache and is the first non-wired version they’ve designed (also available in a wired version) and has been created to reduce breast bounce by 83%. It features lightly padded cups and a wide elastic under band to ensure maximum support and comfortability.