Supporting research

Brogan Horler is a Senior Research Associate for the Research Group in Breast Health, based at the University of Portsmouth, and worked on the 2020 study ‘How the characteristics of sports bras affect their performance’.

CW: Why is supporting breast tissue so important?

BH: Breast tissue does not have any muscle or bone within it and has very limited intrinsic support. Bras prevent excessive movement which could cause pain and damage to the supporting structures of the breast.

For women who experience breast pain, a good sports bra can help to relieve that by holding the breast tissue in place.

CW: What should women look for when buying a sports bra?

BH: Three key variables: function (is the bra going to be supportive enough for the activity you are doing?), comfort (is the bra going to be comfortable enough to wear for the duration of that activity?), and fit (if the bra doesn’t fit properly this can have a negative effect on the performance of the product).

A compression sports bra is recommended for smaller-breasted women (A-C cup) and an encapsulation style sports bra is recommended for women with larger breasts (D+).

We have recently published a paper on sports bra characteristics and how they affect the performance of a sports bra. We found five key features contributed to greater support: an encapsulation style, the use of nylon as the principle fibre content, padded cups, underband adjustability and a high neckline.