4 The impact of poor breast support on sports performance

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The image shows a side on view of a female from her chest down to her waist. She is wearing a t-shirt but the image indicates that she has she is wearing an appropriate sports bra

Poor breast support during sport and exercise not only influences breast health but it may also have a negative effect on performance. Breast support requirements will differ depending on the type of sporting activity you are performing, and across a woman’s life as the breast size changes during adolescence, through pregnancy, and into menopause. Being aware of the requirements for different sports, as well as individual requirements and preferences, is key in maintaining good breast health and optimal breast support.

Activity 3 What impact does poor breast support have on performance?

Listen to the section of the podcast ‘Bounce’ where the panel discuss the impact of breast health and breast support for a variety of sports.

Then watch the animation which identifies the impact that poor breast support can have on performance.

What were the key considerations of breast movement for marathon runners, tennis players and javelin throwers and the type of support required?

Download this audio clip.Audio player: boc_sfps_1_session5_activity3.mp3

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Transcript

SPEAKER 1

Boobs move in different ways, as we were just hearing, depending on what sport you do, depending on how big you are. Jo, I mean it’s a vast, vast range.

SPEAKER 2

Absolutely. We see breast movement differs depending on the activity that you’re doing. So, for example, during running, we know from our research that the breasts move in a figure of eight pattern during running. And so the design of a run bra-- of a bra for running-- is to prevent that figure of eight movement. We know during other types of sports, so for example, Hinda was referring to tennis earlier. So we have a lot more upper body rotation occurring. So sports bras for that type of activity would prevent that lateral movement of the breast.

SPEAKER 3

And for Goldie, I mean, she is she is twisting, throwing the javelin. There’s an extension there as well, which is possibly why it has to be personally designed for her and her sport and to enhance a performance, that’s what ended up happening.

SPEAKER 2

Absolutely. And if you look at the shoulder straps, for example-- so in Goldie’s situation, there’s a lot of arm movement occurring on both sides, I guess. And so the design of the shoulder straps is very important to allow that arm movement to occur, that range of motion in the shoulder.

SPEAKER 1

And she’s had back issues as well, so the bra also supports that?

SPEAKER 2:

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER 1

The London Marathon coming up on Sunday, of course, and you might well think, well marathon runners don’t tend to have boobs. And maybe at the top level, they’re not so well endowed in that sense. So why is it still important to wear a sports bra?

SPEAKER 2

We did a study in the 2012 London Marathon, and we surveyed 1,500 women who were running the London Marathon and found that a third of those women experience breast pain. And that breast pain was severe enough to affect their training routine. So we know that breast pain is a real problem.

SPEAKER 1

Wait a minute. We’re talking about breast pain caused by movement? Causing muscular pain or--

SPEAKER 2

Well, there’s a number of different types of breast pain. So one of them can be caused by movement, but there’s also breast pain that’s thought to be hormonally affected, so related to your menstrual cycle. So you could be in a situation where you’ve almost got a double whammy. So you’re at the time point in your cycle where you might be experiencing breast pain, and then you’ve got to go and do a training run and you’ve got the movement of the breast also causing pain. So you can see how breast pain might actually then become a barrier to women exercising.

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NARRATOR

There are significant variations in breast size and shape, with larger breasts placing more stress on their supporting structures and potentially causing more pain. The movement of poorly supported breasts can impact sporting performance by increasing muscle activity in the pectorals and deltoids using up valuable energy during exercise. Breast movement also contributes to a less economical running style and a decrease in stride length.

To illustrate the impact of breast movement on running performance, if you had two identical women running a marathon, one in a well-fitting sports bra and one in a poorly fitted sports bra, the woman with the perfectly fitted bra would finish around a mile ahead of the one wearing a poorly fitted bra.

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Discussion

Scientific analysis of running has shown breasts to move in a figure of 8 and over a third experienced breast pain which impacted their training. Breast pain can be due to movement but also related to hormonal changes linked to the menstrual cycle.

In tennis, the upper body rotation causes a lot of lateral movement from side to side and so a suitable sports bra is one that supports the breast during this type of movement.

For javelin a key concern is the range of arm movement and, therefore, the design of the shoulder straps of the sports bra are of great importance to provide support, without restricting any movement.

Additional considerations are, in some sports, also given to the aesthetics of the breast support, for example, in gymnastics or figure skating the underwear must not be visible or interrupt the silhouette of the leotard. The next section looks at the type of bras and breast support available.