Should you wear a bra while exercising?

There's a story of an Amazonian woman whose passion was war, but she found that one of her breasts was in the way when she fired an arrow. This was in a time when clothing was almost non-existent and there was no form of bra available, so her solution was to cut off one of her breasts which solved the problem.

Some women today have their breasts removed for fear of cancer, but most women engage in sports that most suit their physique. Runners tend to have a smaller bust whereas some tennis stars have an ample bust although it's reported that the Romanian tennis player Simona Halep underwent surgery to have her breasts reduced as they were holding her back. In contrast, Serena Williams performs well with her 36D breasts is unhindered.

On the whole it's fair to say that women in general are not as athletic as men. Women don't have to win at anything to validate themselves, but it's good to exercise to help maintain one's health, fitness and vitality. So in sport there are times to wear a bra, especially when distance running to avoid nipple rash.

Sturdier than typical bras, sports bra's can minimize breast movement, alleviate discomfort, and reduce physical discomfort during strenuous exercise. But not all bra's are made to fit you. The bra pictured above will reduce breast movement but all bra's will to some extent restrict circulation.

Women under size C have no great need to wear a bra - any time other than to prevent nipple rash. But in competitive sports, those who are C+ may find that wearing a sports bra will stop the breasts bouncing to much and putting them off balance. By holding the breasts against the chest, the bounce is reduced but can never be completely eliminated and a bra that's too tight will restrict breathing and upper body movement thereby reducing competitiveness.

Women over size C or D often find jogging, impact sports and running too much no matter how good a bra they have and in fact good bras are often such a challenge many improvise by making their own from a long length of cloth to bind the breasts to the chest limiting movement.

Some quote studies done by the University of Portsmouth saying that wearing a sports bra will help prevent sagging and breast soreness during strenuous sports, but this evidence is anecdotal. They found that 32 per cent of these experienced breast pain or 'mastalgia', a problem that was closely related to cup size as half the women with an F size cup or larger reported breast pain, compared with one in four of those with an A size cup.

Topless running from Monty Python Showing natural breast movement and a laugh..

Breast pain and in fact any pain in the body comes from over exertion or disease. In the case of runners, the way of running is unhealthy and often leads injuries. But interestingly an earlier study done by the University of Portsmouth proved that "Wearing a bra does more harm than good - it does nothing to reduce back pain and weakens the muscles that hold up the breasts, resulting in greater breast sagging, Jean-Denis Rouillon, a sports science expert from the University of Besancon, France, reported after a 15-year study."

But now that same university with support from leading bra manufacturers has reversed its findings to promote the bra and please its corporate sponsors which smacks of corruption.

Get with the swing