The Quest for the Perfect Sports Bra

Some years ago, I started wearing the Underarmour Sports Bra that crossed over in front and found them comfortable while offering good support without squishing my breasts flat against my chest. Unfortunately, Underarmour discontinued this model and then replaced it with a version that used non-elastic elastic for the band under breasts such that I could either be squeezed to death or have the band pull up and the breasts pop out if I raised my arms above my head. Given these choices, I started searching for a bra that would give me the fit and support that I needed.

What follows are reviews of some of the sports bras I tried during the months that I wandered into and out of various sports clothing departments or purchased online based upon reviews and/or recommendations of friends. I note the winner of the "best sports bra" found thus far is the KALYX "Uplift MAX" Sports Bra

See my own photos for front, back, and side views. This is the only bra I've found thus far that does not squash both breasts flat against my chest into a uniboob configuration to "support" them versus separating them and holding them securely in place. I fence, and this means I'm moving quickly up and down a strip and occasionally lunging forward. I am an older fencer with plenty of aches and pains from sore muscles and do not need the aches and pains of sore breasts. Thus, I want the best of both worlds and I just can't seem to find bras that are designed for women who are really doing sports versus those who want to look nice at the gym. This particular bra has it all... almost. It's not unattractive. It separates the two breasts and seems (thus far) to hold them securely without squashing them. More importantly, the band underneath the breasts stays in place without squeezing all the air out of me. I think I'll be content with this bra on everything except the price. I wish it was less expensive but note that it is: (1) well-made and (2) environmentally friendly.

I've already learned that cheap bras just don't fit me well or give me the support that I want when I'm fencing so my choice is "cheap and painful" or "expensive and functional". I've opted for the latter as I'd rather have a couple of bras that work well than a drawful of bras that do not.

I note the Kalyx bra was developed/designed/made by WOMEN and that the founder was a professional golfer for five years. I guess it took someone who really used the product to develop a product that works for the female athlete.

As always, "your mileage may vary". This bra works well for me but women athletes come in various sizes, shapes, and ages. What works well for me may not work well for you and what didn't work for me might be perfect for you. Thus, I'm including my reviews of the bras that did NOT work for me. This is a listing, first-to-last of various bras I tried during a 7-month search for a good sports bra.

Sports Bra Reviews - originally written 5/31/2010

As my preferred Underarmour bras are shrinking (for which I blame my husband, who occasionally tosses stuff into the dryer and puts it on HOT dry), I've been hunting for potential replacements.

The Underarmour replacement for the front-crossing bra that I prefer gets a failing grade because the band that fits the bra snugly to the chest has been replaced with a different type of some type of non-stretching stretch fabric. [It can't be elastic as it's not... well... elastic. It just doesn't have much give and take.]

The problem with this bra is that the right-sized bra shrank everywhere except around the chest when I washed it for the first time and thus the bra squashes my poor breasts flat against my chest and it HURTS.

The next larger size bra, purchased after the first one shrank, failed to shrink adequately on the band while drying it on HOT succeeded in shrinking the other fabric just fine. Thus, I now have a second bra that squishes my breasts flat against my chest and yet the band at the bottom that's supposed to fit snugly is hanging loose. If I were better endowed, we would have a "waterfall" effect with the breasts falling through the band. As it is, I dare not lift my arms above my heads as the breasts may pop free as the band lifts up and over the breasts.

Grumble!

Sports Bra Review - CW-X Women's Sport Support Running Bra

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...&redirect=true

Well endowed women would hate this sports bra as it simply doesn't provide sufficient support for the very active female athlete. However, I'm on the small side so I gave it a try and found it adequate, if not as good as my ever shrinking supply of 3-year-old, discontinued Underarmour sports bras which have been replaced by the new/improved, completely unacceptable sports bras.

As this bra is one-piece and has no cross over in front, I don't think there's enough support to eliminate the Charlie's Angels syndrome for those with more target area. Ventilation, however, is good, and I don't feel soaked after a good workout at fencing practice. An added advantage is that I can wear a low cut tank top over it and feel comfortable during warm-up.

Sports Bra Review -- the Underarmour $44.99 back X bra

This one promises high performance hold but it has the same problem I noted with other sports bras: It assumes that only skinny people have smaller cup sizes. Worse, this one has real cups versus stretchable cloth and thus buying one of these to fit the chest size means the cups could be too big or too small.

A sports bra is less effective it it doesn't fit what it's supposed to support.

After a day of wearing, I noticed that the straps have a tendency to move towards the neck in what can only be described as a "scissors manuever". I kept moving them back, they kept winding up at the base of my neck. While fencing, the gear kept the straps in place so this was not an issue but it was an annoyance while working out at the gym.

I'll leave everyone with this link and a few bits from the "bra facts" page:

http://channel.nationalgeographic.co...view#tab-facts

The Guinness Book of World Records states that the largest bust is a 48V. The breasts have a combined weight of 56 lbs.

The "smart bra" is made of a fabric that tightens when you need it to.

8 out of every 10 women are wearing the wrong size bra.

A bad bra can cause headaches, back pain and radiating pain down the arm.

Nike 496 Sports Bra Review

http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?site...59/pgid-353869

I purchased this one when I purchased a Nike Livestrong bra and this is my own fault for buying online but....

Size medium, which I've learned to buy in sports bras despite whatever the sizing chart says, proved to be a little too big. I tossed it into the dryer (which you're not supposed to do) and learned that while the fabric will shrink, the alternate color ribbing around the shoulders, the neck, and under the arms, do NOT.

Oh, feh! I spent about 10 years as a seamstress in a clothing factory. I should have remembered that this type of ribbing will not shrink and had only to look at the stitching used to verify that.

It's well made. As a former seamstress, I'm impressed by the quality of the workmanship.

It's unfortunate that the sizing is off and it's doubly unfortunate that some guy (or a woman who thought sports bras were just supposed to look pretty) included metal loops on the shoulder rather than sewing the seams together.

I note that the media player insert is too short for my iPod. It will probably work fine for a Nano.

Shape Tek for $30

at Dick's sporting goods. Initially, this seemed ideal. Sufficient elastic. Padding [meh!] and the elastic band below the boobs can be shortened by simply moving the hook into one of the other fabric tabs along the bottom of the band. [Sort of like the waistbands on some slacks.]

Alas, this was not designed by an engineer. I'm certain it was not designed by an engineer because no engineer would have designed a bra wherein one reduces or increases fit of the supporting elastic band by installing a hook that fits into the bra material going UP. There's this thing called gravity, you see, which works against a hook that is inserted into the fabric and held in place by little more than the fabric and if it's large enough for the hook to go in, then it's also large enough for the hook to fall OUT once one starts moving. While I'm not an epee fencer who bounces around, I do lunge and if a veteran with a bad knee can cause the bra hook to fall out and the bra then fall loose... well... just think what will happen with younger and more athletic gals.

Too, the bra suffers from the same problem as most bras that do NOT cross in front (and this one does not) or have some means of separating the two breasts that most unaltered women possess. The boobs tend to get squashed together in the usual uniboob configuration. The band below the breasts tends to "gap" in the middle, which means it doesn't FEEL secure.

The bra also suffers from maintenance constraints. Specifically, one needs to remove the padding before washing the bras and -- like some swimsuits I've seen -- this has a small opening at the side for the purpose of removing these pads. Now for your next trick: Try to remember which is left and which is right and which way to insert them so they go back on the proper side, facing out, or was it in, and left to right, or was it right ot left, and is up down or down up and why is my left side sticking out like that?

In summary: It's an attractive bra. It will look good at the gym or while jogging. It's priced at $30 at Dicks Sporting Goods and when you try it on in the changing room, it will seem darn near perfect.

Let the buyer beware. It WILL ride up and you will find yourself performing the "Picard Manuever" [tm - Star Trek reference to second season uniforms where the characters frequently had to pull DOWN their jackets, which constantly rode UP]. You will have a uniboob despite the two pads that are supposed to assist in keeping them separate. If you need to adjust the supporting band in, you might want to sew it in place so it doesn't fall loose and after a while, you will notice/feel/be annoyed by that overlap of fabric that you didn't notice in the changing room.

In summary: Fail. Another wasted $30 in my quest to find a good sports bra. This one goes into the "damnit drawer" to be worn for specific events such as days of light workouts at the gym until I give up and donate it to Goodwill.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now... not so good.