Sports Bra VS Regular Bra

Both sports bras and regular, everyday bras should offer you superb fit and comfort. Your bra should never cause pain.

However, a bra for sports really focuses on minimizing the pain caused by breast movement during physical activity. Sports bras are specifically designed to wear when exercising. Their design focus is on support, minimizing movement and wicking away sweat.

Regular bras are designed for everyday wear. Their design focus is on support, shape / silhouette and aesthetics.

However, just as athletic gear has made it into our everyday, so the lines dividing sports bras and regular bras have begun to blur. Just as you might wear yoga pants when doing many things apart from yoga, so you may find yourself reaching for your sports bra when there isn’t any physical activity in sight.

Is there anything wrong with wearing a sports bra when not doing sports? Or, can you wear a regular bra instead of a sports bra when exercising? Let’s take a look...

Advantages of Wearing Sports Bras

As mentioned, sports bras are designed specifically to be worn when exercising. Most sports bras work by compressing the breasts against the wall of your chest. This means that your breasts cannot move as much when you’re running, jumping etc.

Many women cite breast movement as a major cause of breast pain and discomfort during exercise. For women with larger breasts, this discomfort can be so severe that it puts them off exercise altogether. So, having a bra that keeps your boobs from bouncing, can be a difference-maker for your health and wellbeing.

Besides offering extreme support, sports bras are also good for:

• Confidence: If breast movement makes you feel self-conscious about exercising, a sports bra can give you the support and confidence you need to move without distraction.
• Moisture wicking: Sports bras are usually made of high-performance athletic materials that have moisture-wicking properties. While boob sweat is a normal and natural by-product of exercise or hotter days, it can also cause irritation. A bra designed for sports can help keep you dry.
• Prevents sagging: Although saggy boobs cannot be wholly prevented by wearing a bra, high impact exercise without support definitely won’t help.
• Healing after surgery: Because they minimize movement, sports bras can also be recommended by doctors if you’re recovering from any kind of breast surgery.
• Adjustable straps: Adjustable straps allow you to lengthen or shorten straps depending on your torso size and shape. For larger bust sizes (C cup and above), adjustable straps are more important as more support is required.
• Strap style: As sports bras have become more fashion-forward, different styles of straps have emerged. There’s the traditional tank top style (often a pullover bra). There are also racerback—if you experience slipping shoulder straps a lot, you may love this style. There are also crisscross straps that make a bigger style statement.
• Underwire: As with regular bras, sports bras come with and without underwire. While underwire is often considered to offer more support, it can also be uncomfortable for many women. Underwire bras are also more likely to require handwashing. With many technical fabrics and designs on the market, underwire is a personal choice rather than a support necessity.

Can I Just Wear a Regular Bra? Consider the Impact of Your Exercise...

Some women, especially women with smaller cup sizes, may wonder if a sports bra is really necessary. This may especially be the case as everyday bras have become more performance-driven than simply being fanciful “lingerie”.

The answer is, of course, that it’s a personal choice. Some women go entirely braless, some blur the lines, and some observe strict distinctions between every day, sports and intimate lingerie. Your cup size, comfort, confidence will all inform your decision.

One note: Make sure you wash your bra more regularly if you’re working up a sweat in it. It’s generally recommended that you wash an everyday bra every 3 wears, whereas a sports bra should be washed after every workout. Wearing your everyday bra for these activities and washing it more often will likely shorten its lifespan quite significantly.

Our advice? When making a decision, consider the impact level of the activity you’ll be doing:

• Low impact exercise includes, walking, gentle (street) cycling, hatha yoga and strength training. These exercises can certainly blur into the category of the everyday bra.
• Moderate impact exercise includes hiking, more aerobic styles of yoga, gentle jogging. These exercises generally call for some added support so a sports bra that offers more coverage is generally preferred. However, some everyday bras (depending on style and cup coverage) may still suffice here.
• High impact exercise includes running, most sports and HIIT workouts, dancing, skipping etc. Generally this is where we feel like a sports bra is really called for and an everyday bra just won’t cut it from a support, performance or pain-prevention standpoint.

No Matter What: Fit is Essential

If you’re choosing to wear a sports bra every day because you find them more comfortable than a regular bra, might we suggest that fit might be the problem?

If you’re wearing an ill-fitting bra, you’ll probably be very aware of it because you won’t feel supported, comfortable or have the shape you want.

Here are some of the telltale signs that your bra is the wrong fit for you:

•Your straps slide off your shoulders, even after you’ve tightened them

•You shift around in your cups

•Your breasts bulge out of your cup or sides

•The band rides up your back

•The underwire hurts your ribcage

•Your bra leaves painful marks on your skin

•You’re plain uncomfortable

At Irotica, we really wanted to help more women avoid this experience altogether. As an online retailer, we know it can be especially daunting to make a bra purchase online. That’s why we developed our virtual fit program. Learn more about it today and book your appointment!