Good Fit Bad Fit | How Your Sports Bra Should Fit

How Do You Know If Your Sports Bra Fits? Is a question that I hear asked all the time, it is hard enough knowing if your everyday bra fits, even harder when it is your sports bra. From walking to running we all want our sports bras to fit correctly, add to the fact that sports bras are designed to reduce bounce by up to 70% and offer support and be comfortable, are we asking too much from a sports bra? 

The short answer is absolutely not!

Every bra we buy or use should be fit for purpose. When I hear that women are wearing two sports bras or normal bras as they do not feel supported this comes down to understanding how a bra should fit. First things first you need to establish your bra size using the measurements you have taken, this is just your starting point. Unfortunately there is still no standardized sizing when it comes to bras, so if you are trying to fit yourself at home I always recommend that you get a couple - up to 3 bras in and around the size you have measured.

Once you have received your bras you should divide the fitting into two parts, which is what I am going do in todays' how to fit guide.

I will guide you through how the band should fit, once we have that figured out we will go right on to how the cups should fit.

Alternatively if you would prefer to watch a video I will link to the video below.

Band

When you put the sports bra on you should be fastening the band on the loosest hook and eye fastening, you should be able to get your fingers under the band and be able to pull it out no more than 1". If you can't breath comfortably the band is too tight. If you put the bra on and the band is so loose it is travelling up your back the band is way too big.

If the band is too tight, go up in just the band to the next size leaving the cup size as it is for now, (we are just fixing the band). Repeat the band test process again. If it is still too tight, go up again. 

If the band is too loose, you need to drop down a band size until you can carry out the band test and the band is as it should be. 

You want the band to feel like a hug and not crushing.

Cup

So we now need to move to the cups, there are a couple of key areas we need to look at to determine if the cups are fitting as they should be. First the center wire should lie flat against the chest wall. If you take a look at the bra your breast tissue should not be spilling over the top of the cups or along the sides. There should be no gaping, all of the breast tissue should be in the cups. Finally the wires should be sat on the ribcage and not on the delicate breast tissue.

If you are seeing any spillage increase the cup size until the spillage has gone. 

If there is any gaping in the cup go down in the cup size until you are seeing no gaping.