Wearing the right sports bra is important for breast health and comfort – but how do you measure your chest for the perfect fit?
Shopping for a bra that gets you through your commute and stays comfy for a day at a desk is tough. Finding a sports bra that can withstand your workouts is another quest entirely – and one I’ve never quite succeeded at.
The majority of my training is medium-impact, so I want support without being excessively strapped down. On the days I do attempt HIIT, I need something that feels secure – but also comfortable. The problem, I find, is that high-impact sports bras just feel tight and uncomfortable, rather than supportive.
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I’ve always thought that my back is relatively wide (thanks to a mixture of top-heavy genetics and a love for pull-ups and handstands) but that my boobs are small. Most of the sports bras I own either ride up my back, make me want to grip my chest during burpees or have moulded cups that I don’t quite fill.
The problem was me, I thought, not my sports bras. That was wrong. It turned out, I was in the wrong bras the whole time – a fact I discovered during a virtual fitting with Marie Thomas, founder of activewear brand Maaree. As an ex-sports clothing researcher, she knows exactly what goes into making and fitting the perfect sports bra.
How to measure your sports bra size
During my consultation with Thomas, she explained to me how to measure my sports bra size.
- Take a tape measure to where the underband of your bra sits and take the measurement in inches with the tape pulled tautly.
- Then, take the tape measure across the largest part of your boobs and take the number in inches. This should sit naturally, rather than being pulled too tight.
- Round up to the nearest inch on both measurements. The first number is your underband size, for example 34 or 36. To work out your cup size, subtract your underband measurement from your boob measurement, and work out the corresponding letter in the alphabet. For example, if the number is one, you’re an A cup. Two, B. Three, C… and so on.
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The measurement I got during my time with Thomas was four underband sizes and two cup sizes out from what I usually wear. To say I was shocked was an understatement. How was I getting my bra size so wrong? “Bras never used to be made of elastic, so shop assistants would add two or four inches onto your measurement for comfort. That never really changed, so if you get measured in a traditional store now they stick to the same policy,” she explains. That is, of course, no longer the case – particularly with sports bras, which are stretchier than other bras to allow for free movement.
Getting that underband size right is crucial. You can increase the size of the underband by one size to allow for comfort (“I recommend that if you are someone who prefers a twizzle – doing it up at the front and turning it round,” Thomas says) if you go down a cup size, but jumping two or three inches isn’t advisable on a sports bra.
“That’s because 80% of your support comes from the underband,” she explains. “If that’s not tight enough, then it’s not a good anchor point to give you your support.”
What to look for in a sports bra
While I often opt for pullover bras, Thomas suggests wearing a clasped bra for optimum fit as you can tailor the length of the band. Plus, many women find them much more accessible. “They’re so much easier to get on and off. I always see memes on social media about how getting a sweaty sports bra off is the hardest part of the workout. Being able to loosen the back makes it easier,” she laughs.
What’s happening up top is also important – yet overlooked. “When I was testing, we’d constantly be measuring the downward motion of the boobs. But when you exercise, your boobs can move 15cm in each direction, so I was confused as to why nobody was putting support in place to reduce upward motion too,” Thomas explains.
“Rather than squishing boobs in with tight material, it’s best to restrict the range of motion that your boobs are allowed to move through,” Thomas says. She began cutting and stitching belts onto the top section of her sports bras to turn “a good running bra into a perfect running bra”. That led her to add Overband Technology to her designs for Maaree – leading to a sellout success last year.
There are so many activewear brands out there, so finding the perfect bra is usually a battle of trial and error. For medium and low-impact training, you might be OK without a fully measured and clasped bra, but I’ve realised that it’s not OK to ignore the wobble during high-knees. Wearing the right-sized bra is an obvious, but game-changing, step to better workouts.
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