Why are sports bras still so crap?

*Especially for older women

Last month I saw the most horrendous (in my opinion) photo of me whilst running and I realised two things in very quick succession.

Firstly, my sports bra was no longer doing the job it was supposed to - namely, keeping my boobs secure and giving them a decent shape.

Secondly, I’d spent quite a lot of money on the “latest” sports bra only to be disappointed, yet again, in the marketing promises verses the reality.

I was so annoyed about it, I decided to do something bold - at least, I think so! I reviewed four of my latest sports bra purchases, from my longtime favourite to my newest buy, bearing in mind, all have been designed and marketed for runners, yet I was shocked at how ineffective they were - even my go-to choice!

I had initially planned to film my reviews whilst running, but after watching the first footage, I very quickly realised that the sports bra wasn’t doing the job I thought it was (and I’m not brave enought to share this footage), I was even more mortified than the first original photo that triggered this whole journey, so instead, I decided to do my review in the comfort of my home, filming my evaluation on price, comfort, and fit.

I was pretty unsure if even this video would ever see the light of day but, I’ve taken a deep breath and am sharing it with you all, so that other women, particular those my age (in their 50s), won’t waste any more of our money on products that don’t work and, critically, aren’t actually made for us in the first place.

But before we get to it, a little bit of backstory on the sports bra. Did you know that the first sports bra wasn’t actually invented until the 1970s? It was called the “jog-bra” and was apparently crafted out of 2 jock straps. Thank goodness we’ve obviously come quite a long way since then, but I’m not wholly convinced we’ve come all that far when servicing the needs of (or even, frankly, recognising the existence of) older female athletes like me.

To see if I was right, I did a bit of digging to find some research on sports bras for senior female athletes. I know Portsmouth Uni has a fantastic research unit dedicated to breast health and research. They’ve worked closely with the Lioness Football squad and Adidas, leading to the release of 43 new styles and 73 new fits of new sports bras in February 2022 because of their collaboration.

Thank goodness we’ve got to a point where it’s widely accepted that whatever your age, a key factor in reducing pain and poor movement when exercising is to have the right breast support, i.e. the right sports bra that not only fits you well, is comfortable (so no chaffing) and firmly keeps your boobs in place.

However, sadly, but I don’t think not that surprising, studies have shown there is a direct negative correlation between breast size and physical activity, which basically means, women with larger breasts tend to be less physically active. And as I recall my past PE lessons of track running wearing a “normal” bra, I remember feeling self-conscious, over 40 years ago now, so to read that over half of adolescent girls are saying that they avoid playing sport due to breast pain or embarrassment is heartbreaking. Thank goodness Portsmouth Uni have addressed this issue with a campaign called Treasure Your Chest, a brilliant title with great resources -

Treasure Your Chest

Why do women experience breast pain doing vigorous exercise like running? Exercise induced breast pain is thought to be the result of the breasts hitting the torso when the foot strikes the ground, so, if you’re not wearing the right sports bra and are, for example, a runner with a bra size of 38D, I discovered that the weight of each breast is around 600 grams each, so if we put this into ‘real terms’ that’s like running with a 1.2 litre bottle of water hanging from the front of your chest, hitting your torso every time your foot strikes the ground. Think about it…….Ouch.

I found some more stats, when running, the maximum breast movement is up to 19cm vertically and 4 cm horizontally, watching my first review running video, anecdotally, I can confirm this, use a tape measure to see how high 19cm is, and you'll understand why a proper sports bra is essential.

We’ve established that the primary function of a sports bra is obviously to be able to provide support, but even in just my cohort of women, I’m not sure any one of us are satisfied with our sports bras. Probably because we don’t go around filming ourselves running but also, we just seem to accept the chaffing or the monoboob, that it’s just the price we pay for continuing to want to run into older age; we either put up with it or give up.

We know that the composition and density of the breast changes as we get older; changes in soft tissues lead to the weakening of Copper’s ligaments, these are the bands of tough, fibrous, flexible connective tissue that provide the natural support and shape to the breasts as the skin becomes thinner so does the laxity of the skin - the result being sagging breasts!

Dillaway, H. (2020). Living in Uncertain Times: Experiences of Menopause and Reproductive Aging

If we know that older women’s breasts need more structure, and support why isn’t there the research or collaboration with this demographic?

I did manage to find a thesis titled THE EFFECT OF SPORTS BRA ON SENIOR WOMEN’s EXERCISE BEHAVIOR, but I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as the introduction stated that suitable exercises for senior women were Yoga, Taichi and lower intensity dance! (really?) and because these types of exercise were not popular among the young, this explained why current sports bras design were not suitable for senior women who did literally anything else!

And I don’t think they’re wrong, current commercial sports bras I believe are failing to meet the unique needs of us older women.

Am I asking too much? I accept wholeheartedly that getting older goes hand in hand with my body changing, but I feel left out, I want to feel comfortable, I don’t want to have a monoboob, I don’t want to wear two sports bras, and I still want to run faster!

Because guess what, having your boobs in a correctly fitted, comfortable and supportive sports bra has been linked to actually help you run faster!

The Portsmouth Uni Breast Research Unit found that runners wearing poorly fitting sports bras experience:

• A higher perception of effort - exercise feels harder.

• Increased upper body muscle activity - leading to faster fatigue.

• Greater ground reaction forces - may raise injury risk.

• A shorter stride length - by up to 4cm - (are we hesitant in striding out) which over a marathon could add an extra mile.

This research is amazing, highlighting not only the physical impact on performance but also the psychological effects. How many women have given up running or have never reached their full potential for the same reasons that hold adolescent girls back.

I think we all feel the same way, so isn’t it imperative that the current sports bra market should further develop their designs for older female athletes, not just cater to younger athletes and then call it a day?

What do you think? What are your experiences with your favourite sports bra?

So, without further delay, here is my review video - the overall score I have given them is based on the overall shape, comfort and of course, whether they reduced the horizontal and vertical movements!