14 Best Sports Bras for Running, Endorsed by Actual Runners 2024
Just like running shoes support and cushion your feet, the best sports bras for running are important to protect your chest from bouncing and chafing. Finding the right sports bra can not only make your run much more comfortable and enjoyable, but proper breast support can even improve your running performance. But make sure that it fits properly, because if doesnāt, you may restrict your breathing. To find the best running sports bras, we asked marathoners, trail runners, trainers, running coaches, and even Olympic athletes for their top picks, whether on daily jogs or long distance races.
The best sports bras for running, at a glanceBest Overall: Lululemon Energy Long Line Bra, $58Best Budget: Puma 4Keeps Sports Bra, $20Best Style: Alo Airlift Intrigue, $64Best Light Support: Nike One Convertible Bra, $32Best Medium Support: Nike Swoosh Medium Support Sports Bra, $40Best High Support: Sweaty Betty Zero Gravity Running Bra, $108How to find the right sports bra for runningRunning is a high-intensity and high-impact activity, so your perfect sports bra should offer more support than for other exercises like, say, yoga. Sports bras are usually categorized with a level of support: light, medium, or high. The bigger your chest size, the more support youāll likely need.
According to Olympic runner Colleen Quigley, youāll also want to look for the right bra features for your chest size. āFor someone with bigger boobs, sports bras with more fabric and a breast shaped molded into the front [molded cups] might be helpful,ā she says, compared to bras that are flat without much shaping in the chest area. Molded cups provide both space and structure to keep the boob bounce-age to a minimum. Those with small chests may be comfortable without molded cups, and with just a compressive fabric to keep everything in place.
Another thing to look out for is the design, which contributes to comfort and breathability. For example, do you want a high neckline or not? A high neckline will offer more coverage, but may trap sweat. Length is also important: āSome [longline sports bras] come further over your ribs and look more like a crop top, while some are shorter and definitely give off more of a bra look,ā Quigley says.
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