Made you look!

Now I’m not sure, how in all of my posting about running, I managed to overlook the important topic of support!  (Sorry fellows, if you’ve continued reading, you may want to bow out here.  I don’t think I can offer you anything in this post.  Sorry!)  But I received a message the other day from an old friend of mine, Sam Zelin, asking me to post a little more in-depth about the topic of support.  Thanks, Sam!  Let’s do it!

Ladies, let’s chat about boobs.  If you’re going to be active – whether it’s running, Turbokick, Yoga, or Zumba, and whether you’re small-chested, or not, you need support.  Not having adequate support is not an excuse to not get active, especially when there are options for every lady out there.  And there is absolutely nothing more painful than when you’re driving down the street.  You look to your right and there’s a girl running.  And her breasts look like they’re fully prepared to give her black eyes.  That’s not good at all.

So the first step? Identify where you fall. Are you small-chested? Middle-of-the-road? Larger chested? Breastfeeding? Just had a baby? Once you identify this, get a real bra fitting to get your actual size. Not the size you think you are. About 80% of women are wearing the wrong bra size. Sometimes, me included, because I can’t seem to let go of some old bras. But get a real fitting for a real bra. THEN take yourself down to the local running specialty store (Fleet Feet ain’t a bad start!) and let the uber-qualified ladies meet your needs.  Whatever you do absolutely DO NOT, do not, DO NOT run down to Target, or worse, Wal-Mart, and grab one of those nasty Champion/Danskin bras off their bra table.  What will happen is your boobs will flop around everywhere as you exercise, unless you put two on.  Which is stupid.  You should not have to layer bras to get a sweet exercise situation poppin off.  At any rate, here’s a little guide to help you when you get down for your first official sports bra fitting.

Honorable mentions: Nike makes a super decent sports bra with adequate compression and shape, so that’s not a bad route to go. If you’re looking for something cute? Check out your favorite running sneaker company, and look at their apparel. Usually they’ll have a decent bra to match whatever new outfit you have.

Now this list is by no means exhaustive, however, Moving Comfort really changed my approach to working out. Instead of having to put two bras on, one Fiona got me through countless summers teaching fitness to teens at camp. In addition, spend money on your bras! If you pay $14 for a bra, what the heck do you expect your boobs to do?