The Benefits of Wearing a Sports Bra During Exercising

Sports bras are not just workout accessories. They are essential in staying supported and comfortable during daily activities and workouts. Reducing breast pain and movement during physical activity,

Sports bras will easily become your workout's best friend.

Which type of bra is best for workouts?

For most types of workouts, it’s important to wear a high-quality sports bra. In particular, you should wear a sports bra when engaging in medium- or high-impact activities such as:

Cycling

Dancing

Hiking

Kickboxing

Running

While you may be able to get away with wearing a traditional bra when engaging in low-impact activities such as walking or yoga, it’s always best to wear a sports bra not only for its support but also for its moisture-wicking and quick-drying benefits.

Sports Bra vs. Regular Bra

There are several key differences between sports bras and regular bras.

Sports Bras

The purpose of sports bras is to provide proper breast support during exercise. They tend to fit snugger than regular bras, which helps decrease breast movement. They’re also typically made from materials that are ideal for exercise, helping to wick away and quickly dry sweat so that you’re comfortable during your workout.

Most sports bras also have downsides in that they only come in a couple of alpha sizes (XS–XL) and often cause the dreaded "uniboob" look. At Abely, we recognized that most sports bras don’t look or feel great, so we created a better one. Our Kinetic Impact Sports Bra was designed so that you don’t need to think twice about your boobs during your workout. It comes in your everyday bra size for optimal support, and it makes you look great as well!

Regular Bras

Regular bras are designed to provide basic support and comfort throughout the day. They come in more sizes, styles, and designs than your average sports bra. While regular bras might feel more comfortable at first, we do not recommend wearing them during your workouts as they are usually not supportive enough and can become sweat-logged, chafing your skin.

Eliminate Discomfort

There are several reasons why you should consider wearing a sports bra when exercising, but the greatest benefit is probably its ability to eliminate discomfort.

Many women, especially those with larger breast sizes, find it uncomfortable to exercise or play sports. Repeated activity causes breast movement, including bouncing, which both distracts from the activity at hand and causes discomfort.

Wearing a sports bra that fits properly keeps your breasts from moving so much during exercise, eliminating discomfort and allowing you to play at your best.

Reduce Breast Pain

Similarly, another benefit of sports bras is that they have the potential to reduce breast pain. This is because excessive breast motion can irritate and damage the breast tissue.

Wearing a sports bra provides additional support, comfort, and security. It helps reduce overall breast movement, so women can avoid damaging breast tissue during their sports activities.

Maintain your breast shape

Excessive breast movement can not only cause pain but also result in damaging your Cooper’s ligaments, which are the breast tissue that supports the shape of your breasts. When these ligaments become damaged, it causes breast sagging. Wearing a sports bra will help ensure that you don’t damage your breasts, inside or out.

Other sports bra features

Besides providing support to reduce discomfort and breast pain during your workouts, sports bras also have several other features that help make exercising less of a hassle.

Moisture Wicking

Working up a sweat can feel so good, but the aftermath is less than ideal. Avoid walking around in drenched workout clothing by investing in a quality sports bra. They’re made from moisture-wicking materials, which means your clothes will stay a little drier when you’re working out.

Enhance your posture

Wearing a sports bra while exercising can also enhance your posture. Studies have shown that women actually change the way they run depending on the bra they’re wearing. Further, running causes the breasts to move in a figure-8 shape, causing pain.

Having your breasts properly supported — especially if you’re bustier — can also reduce pain in your neck, shoulders, and back. Pain in these areas is associated with poor posture, which can lead to worsening pain and more difficulty during exercise.

Offers storage space

Some sports bras come with compartments built in where you can store your personal belongings, such as credit cards or keys. This small feature makes it so much less tedious when working out, as you don’t need to think of where to leave your valuables.