I feel your pain!  In fact, one of the things that propelled me into sports bra research in the first place were the bleeding abrasions on my shoulders and chest after my first 26-mile marathon!

When it comes to sore shoulders, the two main perpetrators are friction (rubbing) and pressure (weight).

Friction:  Painful rubbing happens when bra straps are too rough and scratchy.  The culprit may be a harsh strap fabric, or (especially!) rows of stitching with a too-scratchy thread. The tighter an itchy strap hugs your shoulder, the harder it rubs and wreaks havoc on your tender skin.  If you’ve ever worked with sandpaper, you know that the harder you press, the more material you remove.  It’s the same with your skin—rough rubbing can literally remove cells from its very outer layer, which leaves you red and raw.  If your sports bra is so old and thrashed that the straps have lost all their stretch, you may be cinching them too short trying to find support, which adds to your friction woes.

Pressure:  Extra pressure on your shoulders from your sports bra straps only compounds the problem.  It’s easy to create this mark-making stress if your straps are too narrow or lack the cushioning you need for the size and weight of the ‘girls’.  I can’t tell you how many full-figured women have showed me permanent dents in the tops of their shoulders from strap pressure!

To nip friction in the bud, be really picky about how the inner side of your bra strap feels when you rub it across your skin.  When I’m checking out a new style, I actually grab the ends of the strap with both hands, stretch it tight, and ‘floss’ it back and forth across my cheek to gauge its prickle potential.  If a few rubs on the cheek are uncomfortable, just imagine how the top of your shoulder is going to feel after a couple of miles of running! Also, if the straps are adjustable, you can customize how tightly they hug and rub your tender shoulder tops.  For long-distance events, also give friction-reducing body lubes a try.

To ease pressure, your first strategy is to look for a wider strap, especially if you’re a D cup or above.  It’s kind of simple physics:  If you double the width of the strap, you can cut pressure per square inch almost in half.  For a really comfy ride, look for a sports bra with substantial cushioning in the part of the strap that rides over the top of your shoulder (Champion’s Double Dry+ Spot Comfort Full-Support bra is a perfect example).  Another way to take pressure off the straps is to spread the load-carrying around to other parts of your bra.  Features like underwires, side support panels, wider bottom bands that can adjust, and strong ‘back wings’ all help to share the weight-bearing so the straps don’t have to work as hard.

Do you have a fave bra that’s solved your sore shoulder woes?  Spill it here so the rest of us can steal the benefit, and do have a wonderful workout week!!

LaJean

A late and chilly fall has definitely arrived here in my hometown of Portland, Oregon, and I’ve resigned myself to fewer glorious days outside on my bicycle, and more indoor workouts.  That’s actually not such a bad thing, because while my long summer bike rides keep my legs and butt in fantastic shape, my upper body gets a little soft and lazy.

Heading inside to pump up my total-body strength reminds me once again that jumping into a sport-specific bra for whatever workout I’ve chosen definitely makes everything easier and more comfortable!  

When you’re shopping for the perfect bra for strength-training, here’s my short and sweet checklist of what to look for:

Stay strong, and have a wonderful workout week!

LaJean

For a starter, how about some much friendlier terms?  Instead of compression and encapsulation, I’ll bet “Snug ‘Em Down” and “Divide & Conquer” are a lot easier to understand and remember when you’re thinking about your ideal sports bra design!

Here’s a quick intro to the bounce-busting capabilities of each of them so you can pick which kind will give you the personal comfort and support you need for a tough workout. 

Compression bras are the least like ‘everyday bras’. In fact, the snuggy racerback styles that most people think of when they hear the words ‘sports bra’ didn’t even exist before 1977, when the original Jogbra was invented. 

Compression styles are made of strong, spandex-rich stretch fabrics that restrict bounce by hugging your breasts close to your body. You’ll find them in ‘alpha’ (S/M/L/XL) sizes rather than traditional band/cup sizing like 34C.  That’s because all that stretch means a single size can do a great job of fitting multiple body sizes/types.  

Your two top reasons to pick a compression bra can be summed up in two words:  freedom and flexibility.  A mostly stretchy bra moves more easily with your body and is non-constricting during bendy-flexy mat workouts such as yoga and Pilates.

So, when should you choose a ‘snug-‘em-down’ compression sports bra?  They’re best at busting bounce during high impact activities if you’re a small to medium cup size, OR in lower-impact activities if you’re fuller figured.  They can also be a great problem solver if your ‘girls’ are less conventional in their shape and placement (that’s me!). If one breast is a little different size than another (that’s me, too), they will stretch to fit both nicely.

Encapsulation styles have an individual cup for each breast. They look the most like your everyday bras and often come in the same familiar cup/band sizing (such as 38D).   Features like molded cups, underwires and contouring help separate and support each of the ‘girls’ individually.  Which leads to the two top reasons to pick encapsulation:  support and shaping.

Because encapsulation bras are made of many smaller pieces of fabric sewn together, it’s easier to engineer curves and non-stretch support ‘zones’ into your sports bra.  In addition to individual cup/band sizes, there’s often more adjustability in the straps and bottom band to let you customize fit for even greater comfort and support.

If banning the bounce is at the top of your wish list, you’ll want to know that when we take sports bras to the lab and film them on real running bodies, ‘divide and conquer’ bras are generally more supportive than ‘snug ‘em down’ styles, especially if you’re a C cup or larger.  And one more perk—no uniboob! Even if you’re an A /B cup and don’t need the extra support, you may totally love the way an encapsulation bra preserves your curves instead of flattening. 

If you’re torn between compression and encapsulation, check out ‘hybrid’ styles that combine the best of both worlds. Champion’s Seamless Underwire and Powersleek sports bras steal great ideas from both sides.  You’ll find encapsulation features such as separate molded cups or underwires on the inside to lift and support, and an outside layer of firm compression fabric to further snug down the ‘girls’ and restrict bounce. 

Do you have a love/hate experience with compression or encapsulation? Can you barely wait to rip off your sports bra after a workout, or have you found your ideal combo of comfort and support?  Gripes?  Kudos?  We’d love you to share them!

LaJean

I know, I know…we ALL hate dragging a pile of unfamiliar sports bras into a dressing room with scary lighting and mirrors that add 15 pounds, but when it comes to getting home with your dream model, you gotta do the absolutely, positively essential dressing room drill!  The three things to keep at the top of your mind are fit, feel, and anti-flying (bounce control).

1.  Test-drive for bounce.  If keeping ’the girls’ down and secure during high impact sports is at the top of your must-have list, you want to start your dressing room drill with a rousing test drive:

3. Fine-tune fit and feel.  Once you’ve done everything you can to inflict the punishment of your regular workouts on a bra, zoom in your full attention to getting that perfect fit and feel.  Here’s what to check for:

Just between you and your sports bra….  Take a deep breath, close your eyes and focus carefully as you wiggle and move your arms and torso to put a little stress on the bra.  Direct your full sensory attention to every square inch of it against your skin, scanning for these check points:

If the bra you’re considering passes all of these final fit, feel, and anti-fly tests, you’re good to go!

Happy shopping…and if you find a style you’re super crazy about, go ahead and ask for a duplicate on your holiday wish list!

LaJean

You definitely aren’t alone in your love for this comfy, body-friendly fiber!  Some of my favorite exercise gear is totally cotton-rich.  In spite of the amazing new high-performance synthetics on the market, cotton still has natural qualities that many fit chicks prefer, such as supreme cushiness, great durability, and thirstiness for sweat.

But if you’re seriously active, you need to know about the “dark side” of cotton as well…  

Here’s the rub:  When cotton soaks up the sweat, the moisture makes its fibers heavier and stiffer, which may make your sports gear more abrasive and less comfy.  Also, because it’s so über-absorbent it may stay damp or dripping longer, promoting comfort-draining chilling as you cool down from your workout.  

Synthetics, on the other hand, change less in stiffness as they get damp, and tend to dry much more quickly so you don’t get that water-logged feeling that makes you want to strip down and kick your gear to the wall.  The dyes used to create your favorite shades also tend to fade less quickly, so that bright, cute sports bra you love looks newer longer. 

But you definitely don’t have to abandon your cotton gear (I know I never will!), you just need to know when cotton works in your favor, and when a synthetic fabric is actually going to be more comfortable and body-friendly.

Whatever you’re wearing, I hope you’ll go out and have a fantastic workout today!

LaJean