Finding the Right Sports Bra for Perimenopause and Beyond

Regular physical exercise is essential for women facing menopause, but often there are two things holding us back: our breasts.

With significant hormonal fluctuations during perimenopause and menopause, breasts can become more tender and painful, as well as change in size and shape.

Choosing the right sports bra now becomes more important than ever. Many women underestimate just how vital a properly fitting sports bra is.

Wearing an ill-fitting sports bra has the potential to not only create breast pain during activity, but it could also cause long-term damage.

When exercising without adequate bust support, breast tissue is exposed to three-dimensional movement: up-down, forwards-backwards, and side-to-side. This can result in pain, chafing and trauma to the breasts' supportive tissue - the Cooper’s ligaments.

Damage to these supportive structures can result in your breasts sagging over time. Once stretched, the Cooper’s ligaments cannot revert to their original position, so it’s important to support your breasts whenever you exercise, no matter how low impact or how short the duration.

Choosing the Right Sports Bra

There are some important things to consider when deciding which sports bra will best suit your needs. Unfortunately, few sports bras are going to look particularly sexy or alluring, but practicality should be your priority over aesthetics in this case.

Sports bras come in different categories of support. A low-support sports bra is adequate for any low-impact exercise, such as walking or strength training.

A medium-support sports bra works well for any exercise with moderate impacts, such as cycling. Any high impact exercise that causes a lot of bounce, such as running, boxing or other intense cardio activities, will require a sports bra with maximum support, no matter your breast size.

Where to Start

The best advice I can give you is to try as many styles of sports bra as possible until you find the best one for you. Instead of putting yourself under the pressure of trying to pick whilst in a busy and cramped changing room, why not order 10 or 20 different styles and sizes to try at home at your leisure and return any (or all) that aren’t right.

That way, not only do you have the time and space to accurately judge the comfort and fit, but you can jump around in it to see if it’s fit for purpose.

Encapsulation Vs Compression

Sports bras typically use either encapsulation, compression, or a combination of the two, to support breast tissue. It is worth trying all three styles to find which suits your needs, and your bust, best:

1. Encapsulation Sports Bras – This style has individual cups to support breasts separately. Encapsulation bras are ideal for low-impact activities as they offer minimal breast support.
2. Compression Sports Bras – Compression sports bras work by squashing and squeezing the breasts to prevent movement. Most compression bras don’t have hook and clasp closure and are instead pulled over the head. This style is ideal for medium-impact activities. 
3. Combined Compression and Encapsulation Bras - These bras offer a combination of the above two support systems, giving maximum support and therefore being the best choice for higher impact exercises, such as aerobics or running. 

Straps and Fastening

Other features to note are how the sports bra is done up, and what kind of straps it has. A thick racerback style will offer much more support than a flimsier criss-cross design, as the solid band of material effectively anchors the bra closer to the body. Wider shoulder straps offer maximum support.

Shoulder straps help distribute weight better than a racerback, making them better for larger, heavier breasts. Also good for larger breasts, or for those who notice their breast size fluctuates, are sports bras with an adjustable back fastening (like that of a traditional bra hook-and-eye clasp).

Most of the support any sports bra will give you will come from the band that sits under your breasts, so having the ability to alter the back clasp for optimum fit is an easy way of ensuring you have enough support.

Finding the Right Fit

If you have never worn a sports bra before, I would suggest you start with your usual bra size but be open to trying on different sizes to find the perfect fit. For any breasts larger than a B cup, I recommend going for a bra with cup sizing – as opposed to generic small, medium, or large sizing – as you will need a more tailored fit.

To determine if you’ve got the right fit for you, slide two fingers under the band below your breasts.

You should be able to comfortably touch your skin beneath the band. If you can only just squeeze one finger in with great effort, it’s too tight.

If you can pull the band more than an inch from your chest, it’s too big. If your sports bra has an adjustable band, set the clasp on the loosest clasp, and work inwards until you achieve the right fit.

If you must use the tightest fitting to get a snug enough fit, it is likely that you need to try a smaller size.

Repeat this step with the shoulder straps. If these are too tight to fit two fingers under, you will most likely find the bra too uncomfortable to exercise in and will end up with neck, shoulder, and breast pain, as well as uncomfortable chafing.

Next, reach your arms overhead. If the band creeps up over your breast tissue, it's too big and will not support you effectively during exercise. The band should stay in place, in a uniform line under your bust.

There's no magic formula to finding out which style of sports bra will suit you best, it is simply a case of trying as many as possible until you find the one for you.

I hope the guidance I’ve given you here makes this process a lot easier and stress-free so that you can look after your breast health in perimenopause and beyond.