Is it necessary to wear a sports bra when exercising? What will happen if you don't?

Every girl faces the same problem when exercising - what underwear should she wear?

"Of course you have to wear a sports bra when you exercise!" Most people know this, but there are not many people who can do this every time they exercise. After all, it is really troublesome to change your bra every time you exercise, and sports bras are often uncomfortable to wear. Not only are they tight and narrow, but they will also leave red marks on your body. Therefore, many people do not change into special bras when they exercise.

So, is it necessary to wear a sports bra when exercising, and what impact does it have on our exercise?

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Sub-title: Wearing a sports bra is really important.

Since the breast is mainly composed of adipose tissue, glandular tissue, connective tissue, etc., and is connected to the pectoralis major muscle through the breast suspensory ligament, the breast itself lacks muscle support and is easily displaced during exercise.

Studies have shown that during strenuous exercise such as running, women's breasts will move up and down, left and right, and front and back. Especially in the vertical direction, the displacement can reach a range of 4-15 cm. Even women with cup A will have a displacement of about 4 cm during exercise.

This displacement will restrict women's movements during exercise, greatly affecting their exercise efficiency and effectiveness. This shaking will be more obvious in high-intensity sports such as running, aerobics, and playing ball.

Especially for sports that involve running and jumping, improperly protected breasts can affect women's athletic performance and even cause pain. A 2019 survey of Chinese women showed that 62.6% of women experienced breast pain during exercise.

This kind of breast pain not only exists in the present, but may even have a lasting impact. Breast pain can seriously affect women's quality of life and even their mental health, leading to depression, anxiety and other emotions.

If the breasts are not properly protected during long-term intense exercise, the breast tissue may be torn. In particular, the fragile breast suspensory ligaments are easily subjected to huge pressure during repeated exercise bumps, just like a rubber band that is overstretched and loses its elasticity over time. When ligament damage occurs, the breasts will sag and it will be difficult to recover.

In addition, a large amount of sweat will be produced on the body surface during exercise. If you do not wear moisture-wicking and perspiration-wicking underwear, the sweat will accumulate on the surface of the skin, which may cause problems such as acne and inflammation.

In addition, if the sports bra does not have a strong fixing bra, the bra will shift as we move and cause skin wear and even abrasions.

So, can these problems be solved by wearing a sports bra?

Sub-title: Sports bras are really useful.

Ordinary bras are usually not specially designed for exercise. During exercise, as the body moves, it is easy for them to shift or slide up. This not only forces us to frequently adjust our bras during exercise, disrupting our exercise rhythm, but also greatly affects our enthusiasm for exercise. Imagine that when you are running or doing other high-intensity exercises, you have to stop from time to time to pull your bras. The irritation is self-evident. In addition, ordinary bras are not sufficiently wrapped. If you exercise slightly, the chest fat will shake violently up and down and left and right, and it will not play a role in assisting body shaping.

Sports bras mainly use the pressure of fabric and cutting to fix the breasts as a whole to reduce displacement during exercise. According to the results of relevant research, after wearing sports bras correctly, the movement range of breasts will be reduced by 53%-59%, which can effectively reduce pain and protect breast health.

Sub-title: Sports bras, the tighter the better.

Although the function of sports bras is to fix, it does not mean that we always need to wear very tight sports bras. When we choose sports bras, the most important thing is to choose according to the intensity of our exercise.

Generally, sports bras can be divided into low-intensity support, medium-intensity support and high-intensity support according to the intensity of exercise.

For sports that involve little running and jumping, such as Pilates, yoga, and simple strength training, it is sufficient to choose a sports bra with low-intensity support. For sports that involve some body movement but are not so intense, such as skiing, hiking, and cycling, you can choose a sports bra with medium-intensity support. For sports that involve a lot of running and jumping, such as running, skipping, dancing, basketball, football, and badminton, it is best to choose a sports bra with high-intensity support.

There is no need to pursue high intensity in sports bras. In some soothing types of exercises, it is not conducive to our exercise if we are always restrained and tight by sports bras.

In addition, the size of the sports bra is also very important. The size of the sports bra should also be selected according to the upper and lower chest circumference. In order to reduce shaking during exercise, you can choose a size that is slightly closer than your daily bra. But it should be noted that even if it is slightly tight, it should be enough to allow normal breathing and not significantly compress the chest. After putting on the sports bra, it is best to do a few simple exercises such as jumping jacks to test the comfort of the sports bra.

Although sports bras can support the breasts well, it is not recommended to wear them for a long time. After all, sports bras are specially designed for sports scenes, they are more functional and not so comfortable for daily wear. In addition, there are not many scenes in our daily life where the breasts will shake, so wearing daily bras or even no bras is enough.

Author: Hydra

Reviewer: Ji Gang, deputy chief physician of orthopedics, the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University

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