Best of … gym bra shopping

Contributed by Cindi Pearce, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

You are turning over a new leaf and getting into shape this year, and that’s final.

The first order of business: Hit the gym regularly. No excuses!

Gym-wear doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should include a supportive sports bra. Before going to the gym, head out for some serious gym bra shopping. Select a bra that is comfortable and supportive. Any woman with ample breasts who has trotted on a treadmill or engaged in a rigorous aerobic workout knows that it is terribly uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful when the breasts are jiggling around, with no support.

Here is our guide to the best of gym bra shopping:

One Hanes Place

Wicking fabrics

When shopping for a bra to wear to the gym get one that is made of breathable material because you are going to sweat. When a gym bra is made of wicking material, this pulls the moisture away from your skin, which lessens the chance that you are going to experience chafing. Wicking fabrics are breathing because they allow air to come in and sweat to move out. Wicking fabric is not like cotton; it absorbs very little moisture because the fabric is made of high-tech polyester. Wicking material collects the moisture from your skin and takes it away from your body. The moisture easily evaporates on the exterior part of the fabric or, in this case, the bra. This helps you stay dry and cool. One Hanes Place offers gym bras that keep you dry and comfortable.

Champion

Comfortable straps

As is the case with any bra, most of the support is provided by the band and not by the straps. When trying on a bra, if the straps are digging into your shoulders, this is not the right bra for you. If the bra is too tight don’t buy it. It needs to be comfortable. Champion offers every conceivable kind of bra that is ideal for wearing at the gym, including maximum support bras, medium support bras, high support bras and even underwear bras. The straps should be wide enough to provide support but avoid non-plastic straps, which can cut into your shoulders and hurt you. The seam in the bra should not run over your nipples so look for seamless bras. The fasteners on the bra need to be covered. If the armholes are too small, this is going to chafe the underarm area. This can be quite annoying not to mention painful.

Title Nine

Supportive bands

A bra needs to have an accommodating band that is situated right under the breasts and there should be negligible vertical (up and down) stretch to the brassiere. A bra is every bit as important as shoes when working out. If the breasts aren’t supported properly the ligaments in the breast can stretch. The older a woman gets, the less skin elasticity she has. If the breasts continually get stretched out, they may not be able to recover their original shape, as the skin could do when younger. Title Nine has a variety of bras for the active woman, including innerwear bras, best wicking bras that keep you dry, 1-2 brabell bras and 3 plus brabell bras that are supportive and keep your breasts protected while you work out.

POPPY Sports

Compression bra

When engaged in physical activity, breasts move in and out, side to side and up and down so buy a gym bra that contains the motion in all directions. Sports bras work by compressing the breasts and by encapsulation. A compression sports bra restricts movement of the breasts by shoving the breasts close together. POPPY Sports offers a variety of bras that can be worn at the gym or when exercising elsewhere. The bras are seam-free with interior molded cups that give you support and contour as well as provide modesty, shape and maximum moisture protection. The racer-back style bras give you full range of arm movement as well as stability in the straps.

Dancewear Solutions

Encapsulation bra top

Encapsulation bras have individual cups that surround each breast, which reduces up and down and side to side motion. The ideal exercise bra top both compresses and encapsulates. Dancewear Solutions has some pretty snazzy bra tops for the dancer, including sequined bra tops that are supportive and keep a dancer’s breasts supported and in place while practicing and performing.