Scan the topic threads of any running forum and you’ll find a number of women trading tips on the best and worst sports bras. There’s good reason for all the back and forth on the topic of support. Sports bras aren’t cheap and a good one is absolutely vital to a comfortable run, especially if you’re like me and have inherited your grandmother’s WWII-era knockers.
If you have big breasts going for a run, a jog — even a brisk walk — can be a bit of a drag because even under the strict management of a heavy-duty sports bra (sometimes I wear two and cross my fingers!) those DDs, Es, and Fs have a hard time staying in one place. They jiggle, they bounce, and as a result, those bad girls attract a lot of unwanted attention. The hassle is enough to make some women wish they could master the art of running backwards.
But there is good news: Researchers appear to take the chronic ailment of bouncing breasts as seriously as we top-heavy ladies do, and they’re claiming to have created the world’s best containment unit for wayward milkers.
According to the Daily Mail, Panache, a lingerie retailer in the UK, has spent the past three years building the perfect bounce-free sports bra. This bra, which will reportedly be available in October of this year, marks itself out from other bras that make the same claims by its unique approach to keeping breasts stable. Unlike other sports bras that act as super-snug crop-tops that hug the rib cage, this bra holds the breasts in place in a sort of mould-like design. The creators (rather cheekily) liken this ice-cube tray design to “two hands holding the breasts” in place.
The bra’s design was tested at the Loughborough Sports Technology Institute, in Leicestershire, England. Apparently, part of the testing consisted of watching a woman with 32E size breasts running on a treadmill while wearing the bra (I hope she was paid well).
How effective was the bra in reducing jiggling? The retailer claims it cut bounce by 83 per cent, which makes it almost twice as effective as rival brands.
Whether the bra lives up to its hype is a question each big-breasted jogger will have to answer for herself. But I'll sure be checking the running forums to see if the investment is worth it.
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