Today the Panache Full Busted Underwire Sports Bra 5021 made its way onto "The Today Show" with Hoda and Kathie Lee.  What they loved about it was its "bounce free" factor.  I agree with them, but I also love its look.

This is one of the prettiest sports bras on the market today.  It’s multi-tone color-blocking and uniquely designed back make it a stand-out that can be worn alone or peeking out of work-out clothes. And, so far our 10 reviews have all given it a 5 star rating – truly high praise.

When looking for a high-impact bra, you really do want full breast coverage – otherwise the breasts will bounce out of the open area on top. And, having a wider strap is not only more comfortable, but can actually give you extra padding against some of the gym equipment that rests on your shoulders.

This Panache sports bra also has unusually high cup sizing for a high impact bra. Panache makes this bra up to an H cup (their H cup is 7 sizes larger than a D cup). Given that this bra is encapsulation designed, this is quite a feat.  And, this bra has been independently tested and was shown to reduce breast bounce by at least 83%.

Many of us share the New Year’s resolution of getting into better shape.  With this bra, you will look and feel good working out in 2012.

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No kidding–breast movement can hurt. Along with America’s obesity epidemic, the average size of women’s breasts has been on the increase.  Over the last 15 years, the average bra size has moved from a 34B to a 36C, and some are suggesting we are now approaching 38D as the new average bra size in America.  And, with a pair of D cup size breasts weighing in at between 15 and 23 lbs., breast pain during high impact activity is becoming a bigger problem.

Last year, I reported on Dr. Joanna Scarr’s research out of the U.K.  Basically, her findings were that breasts move in a sideways, figure-8 kind of movement.  And, she discovered that the breasts not only move from side to side, but also in and out from the chest wall.  Similar research has been done in Australia by Deirdre McGhee – a sports physiotherapist and graduate student at the University of Wollongong.

McGhee’s research shows that women’s breasts move in a sinusoidal pattern – basically the same finding as Scurr.  However, McGhee feels that controlling of this breast movement is more closely tied to how the bra straps are constructed rather than the bra cup construction.  As a result, her team is working on the world’s first "smart bra."  It will use intelligent materials and electronic textiles to sense breast motion and tighten or loosen appropriate parts of the bra to reduce breast bounce.

All of this is very hush-hush and is in the process of being protected with patents.  Their goal is to create a paradigm shift similar to the shift running shoes experienced in the 1970′s.  The research is being coordinated with British retailer Marks & Spencer.

I for one am looking forward to seeing what turns up from all this work.  As long as it doesn’t need to be plugged in and gets great mileage, I’m ready to try it.

You can see how various sports bras perform in HerRoom’s Bounce Test videos.
Read my original interview with Dr. Scarr about breast movement during exercise.

Find sports bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Sport Underwear

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So we don’t know if bras prevent the inevitable breast sag.  But, here are a few things I do know.  My 80 year-young mom has great looking D-cup boobs.  Even her gynecologist has commented on how high they are compared to those of other women her age.  I too have pretty perky ones.  What both of us have in common is that we have always worn a bra.  Though I’m a C cup, I really avoid clothing where I can’t wear some kind of bra.

I had the opportunity to work with Joanna Scurr last year.  Dr. Scurr is the only one I know currently doing work on breast bounce and movement.  Her research shows that our breasts move in a figure-8 motion as we move – especially while running.  Though she wasn’t able to measure an increase in sagging, she did discover that breast pain and thus breast movement can be reduced or eliminated by wearing a supportive sports bra.   The more support, the less the bounce and thus less breast pain.  HerRoom, in fact, is the only website that conducts a bounce test on every sports bra and shows you how much breast bounce to expect when wearing various sports bras.

Our breasts, like our faces and other body parts, are subjected to daily gravity.  They will sag.  And, since they have little to no muscle tissue, it’s not possible to tone our breasts to make them firm.  Wearing a bra may or may not reduce your sag over time, but what a bra can do is put your girls in a more flattering light.  A bra can lift, separate, push up, minimize, plump up and generally present your breasts in a more youthful and attractive silhouette to make your clothes look better.  And, wearing a bra cuts down on breast pain, reduces jiggle, provides modesty from headlights showing, and makes us more comfortable.  All in all, it’s a great idea to wear a bra.

Find Sports bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Sport Underwear

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Did you know there is a woman scientist studying the science of breast bounce?  Her name is Dr. Joanna Scurr at the University of Portmouth in the UK.  I had the pleasure of meeting Joanna earlier this year when she and I shared a podcast on sports bras and breast bounce. My part of the podcast was sharing the fact that HerRoom.com provides a Bounce Test video on every sports bra that is branded as high impact.  From viewing the videos, several on the market are not doing the job.  Joanna shared that during high impact, our breasts move in a figure 8 movement up and down (as much as 8.25"), side to side, and also move in and out.  Her research showed that no matter what your breast size, wearing a good sports bra in the correct size will reduce or reduce breast pain and diminish the strain on the Coopers ligaments, which help keep your breasts from sagging.

Recently, Dr. Scurr and her breast biomechanics research team have discovered through many interviews with women that embarrassment and/or ignorance are the key reasons for women choosing the wrong type of bra support.

Over a three year study, Scurr confirmed that women tend to purchase bras where the band is too large, and the cup size is too small.  This has been the consensus of almost all the bra manufacturers I have spoken with as well.  Wearing the wrong size during aerobic activity reduces a woman’s breast support and increases her breast discomfort due to excessive movement.  Thus women’s breasts will stretch and sag if not in the proper size sports bra.  Adding to this incorrect sizing are women’s false perceptions about what breast size they want to be.  Rather than finding the right size, women stick with a size that they feel is socially acceptable.  This, of course, is absolute nonsense because no one knows what bra size you are wearing, and the right size will probably make you look thinner and more youthful.

Another interesting point made by Scurr is that women experience breast pain more during acceleration and deceleration of the breasts.  So, once a woman is in the zone running for example, consistent breast movement is not as painful as when she starting to run or beginning to slow down.  I absolutely agree with this finding because I personally feel more breast pain when doing aerobic activity that is not a consistent repetitive movement.

Women also seem to have some built-in predjudices when it comes to selecting bras for sports activity.  Joanna’s team found that many of their interviewees have a stong preference for a certain style of sports bra, and would not consider buying a different style if it deviated from what they thought represented a supportive sports bra.  Specifically, many women feel that a sports bra must be one that pulls on over their head and not have a back or front closure.  If the sports bra resembles the look of an everyday bra, most women feel its not truly a sports bra.  Of course, this is absolutely false.  There are many sports bras with openings that provide fabulous support during high impact activity.  Just look at the Bounce Test to see this point.

Perhaps the UK is really ahead of the US in this area. Last year, a British Medical Association Conference made a recommendation that a free bra fitting be offered during a physical exam.  It is felt that if women are properly fitted, there would be a decrease in the number of unnecessary breast reductions.

 
Find Sports Bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Sport Underwear

Clearly invented by a man, the WineRack comes in two sizes – small and medium. It consists of an almost no-shape sports bra with a removable dual bladder made of polyurethane that slips inside the bra frame and has a hose attached.  The claim is that once the bladder is filled, a woman’s cup size will increase two full sizes.  So if you start at a C cup, wearing a filled up WineRack will have you walking around looking like you have a DD rack… hence the name.  The wearer also now has a portable cocktail station on her chest where she can pass around the hose and simultaneously deflate her breast projection.  See what I mean?  Clearly, invented by a man.

The practical side to all of this is that this device allows a woman to bring a drink into places where it’s not allowed or must be paid for.  For example, church, concerts, sporting events and Disneyland.

Selling for just $29.95, it will probably pay for itself with one wearing given the over-charging of drinks at entertainment venues these days.  But the two sizes are not explained, and the bladder is easy to see.  A shirt or something needs to be worn on top.  And forget about support. 

All in all, I think this gadget is more for the benefit of men than the beautifying of women.

Find actual sports bras at HerRoom in these departments:
Sport Underwear

I put this question to Dr. Joanna Scurr. Dr. Scurr is the lone researcher of breast bounce. Here were some of her comments.

First, we need to understand that breasts are kept in place by the Coopers Ligament – not muscles. Once the ligament becomes stretched, your breast sag, and there is no way to reverse the sagging. A sports bra, or most bras for that matter, support one’s breasts to reduce breast movement. Even testing of breast movement on an everyday bra, says Scurr, showed that it reduced breast movement by 49% compared to not wearing any bra at all.

Dr. Scurr’s research also found that breasts just don’t move up and down, but from side to side and in and out. All this movement, if not supported will contribute to sagging breasts. So, though it would be nice to have a sports bra that provides no breast movement, the truth is, as long as you have a sports bra that reduces your breast bounce enough so that the movement is less than your normal breast hang, you are protected and no further sag damage can occur.

At HerRoom, we offer the Bounce Test videos on all our high impact sports bras. Some clearly don’t provide enough support, but many also show some breast movement. What been learned here is that some movement is fine, but just make sure the movement is less in the 3 directions than your breasts normally move. This way, you won’t be stretching any of the breast’s ligaments or tendons during impact workouts.

Maximum support sports bras are claiming their design will keep your breasts supported during high impact sports such as running, tennis, basketball, etc. This is all great, but do we really know if a bra claiming to be maximum support is doing its job? Before answering this question, let’s talk about breast bounce. The leading researcher in this field is Dr. Joanna Scurr — Professor in the Department of Sport & Exercise Science at the University of Portsmouth in the UK.

Dr. Scurr has done extensive research and testing in this field. Her findings are rather interesting. The first interesting point about breast bounce during running is that breasts move in 3 directions: up and down, side to side, and in and out. And, because of the alternating movement of our arms, the up and down and side to side movement looks like a sideways figure eight.

This movement happens both with and without a bra on. Testing 20 D cup women (ranging from 32D-36D), Dr. Scurr was able to measure the movement. Without wearing any bra, these women’s breasts had a total movement of 15.4 centimeters or a little over 6". That’s a lot of breast movement! Dr. Scurr than set out to find if this breast bounce was reduced significantly by wearing various bras. What she found is that breast movement reduced by 49% just by wearing an average everyday bra, and that wearing an encapsulated high impact sports bra reduced breast bounce movement by up to 73%.

Given this research, can one conclude that all maximum support sports bras will reduce your breast bounce by 73%? Well, HerRoom put all their 35 sports bras claiming to be maximum support to the test. With a 34D model running in place, a still video was shot of the model both in front and to the side. The results of "The Bounce Test" showed that the label of "maximum support" or "High Impact" on these bras did not guarantee a consistent reduction in breast bounce during high impact sports. The poor performers included:

	Champion Double Dry Seamless Sports Bra 2893
	Donna Karan Casual Active Underwire Sports Bra 35160
	Lily of France In Action Sport Underwire Bra 2111210
	Moving Comfort Sera Seamless Sports Bra 705360

Another point Dr. Scurr observed is that encapsulation style sports bras reduced breast bounce more than the traditional compression style sports bras. The Bounce Test proved this out, with the best performers being encapsulation, or a combination of encapsulation and compression. The best performers included:

	Enell Sport Bra 100
	Lunaire Coolmax Underwire Sports Bra 11111
	Anita Active Front Close Sports Bra 5523
	Goddess Sports Bra Soft Cup 5056
	Moving Comfort Melbourne Racerback Sports Bra 720960
	Panache PS Sports Bra 2001

See all the Bounce Test videos on HerRoom.