Moving Comfort is partnering with the Feel Your Boobies Foundation during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to remind women to be proactive about their breast health, and to “feel their boobies”!
During the month of October, Moving Comfort will donate $1 for every sports bra sold in-store to the Feel Your Boobies Foundation! Stop by any City Sports location to pick up a Moving Comfort sports bra! For more about the Support Your Girls campaign and performance bras, we caught up with Sara Woods from Moving Comfort.
Why is it so important to wear the proper bra when exercising or playing a sport?
At Moving Comfort, we believe sports bras are essential technical equipment, along with athletic footwear, for the active woman. Wearing a sports bra while working out offers more than just great comfort, it also helps prevent irreversible damage that can lead to “sagging” breast tissue. Women can help minimize this damage by investing in a great fitting, quality sports bra.
The breast is comprised of connective, fatty tissue attached to the chest wall by fibrous strands called Cooper’s ligaments. There is no internal structure for supporting the breast tissue against gravity and excessive movement beyond this band of fibrous tissue, which is responsible for the majority of the weight of the breast. When the breast is unsupported during activity, the weight of the tissue, coupled with the breast movement, causes the ligament to stretch. This can cause both discomfort and permanent damage to the breast tissue.
It’s important to note that all breasts, no matter what size, are susceptible to damage of this ligament. The best prevention is to minimize excessive movement by providing support for the breast tissue with a properly fitted sports bra.
What makes a Moving Comfort bra unique? What is the genetic make-up of a good sports bra?
Moving Comfort has over 15 years experience in the design and development of sports bras. There are many factors that come into play when engineering sports bras. It is very important to offer good support and shaping, but even more important to minimize the movement of the breast.
We do this with a combination of things—encapsulation and compression, the selection and combination of fabrics, the elastics, the design of the bra, the structure of the bra and the construction techniques. We believe this combination working together offers the ultimate in support, comfort, and style.
The majority of the breast weight should be supported from the bottom band. The combination of a solid foundation (the bottom band) and the structure of the bra moving upward on the body is very important. We use a combination of fabrics and structured panels (sometimes hidden and sometimes visible) in specific areas to offer support, control the breast movement and offer shaping to the breast while holding them in position. This is where the choice of fabrics and elastics are also very important to the structure, support and power of the bra. For the larger cup sizes, some of the support must come from the straps, therefore the straps are constructed with rigid fabrics to offer better support. For the larger breasted ladies, the straps are usually adjustable so they offer a custom fit. The straps are wider to distribute the weight that must be supported by the straps, and they are padded to add comfort. We use a wider hook and eye closure to offer even pressure around the body as well as to give wider coverage on the back which helps with the support structure from the bottom up.
Do you have any advice for larger / smaller chested women who are looking for the perfect sports bra?
Since fit is influenced by style and body type, it may take several tries to find what fits best. For large breasted women, sports bras with adjustability (adjustable band, shoulder straps, or other) will offer a more custom fit and better support.
Tell us more about the “Support Your Girls” Campaign? How do people get involved?
During the month of October, Moving Comfort will donate one dollar for every sports bra sold online at www.movingcomfort.com, as well as at the Rock’n’Roll Marathon expos and at participating retailers to the Feel Your Boobies Foundation. Through grassroots efforts and social networking, Feel Your Boobies uses unexpected and unconventional methods to remind young women to “feel their boobies.”
For more information, and to find a complete list of participating retailers, visit www.movingcomfort.com/supportyourgirls.
What is next for Moving Comfort?
In 2009, Moving Comfort initiated biomechanics research and testing to our sports bra development process to ensure that we deliver best-in-class sports bras. We are performing extensive testing and analysis of our current sports bras as well as bras in development.
In January, Jubralee will hit the market as the first bra developed and wear tested in our biomechanics lab from prototype to production. Jubralee combines the best features from Moving Comfort’s top selling styles to create a state-of-the-art, high impact bra featuring hidden side and under bust support, front adjustable straps and, subtle-contour cups. With Jubralee, Moving Comfort sets a standard for all future sports bra development with testing conducted in our lab from the early prototype stage through production.