"There's lots of competing implications from a performance perspective in terms of how we should reposition the breast tissue, where we should put it, how we should support it," said Wakefield-Scurr. The wrong sports bra, she said, can also make balance and muscle strain more challenging, change body dynamics by repositioning breast tissue and weight, which can change players' centre of gravity and force them to work harder. WATCH | Researchers are examining how breast support impacts athletic performance:ĭuration 0:28 This video demonstrates breast movement metrics being recorded at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K., where scientists study how breast support impacts athletic performance. "We've seen reductions in muscle activity, so that can actually help reduce fatigue during sporting activity." They can improve your breathing frequency, they can lower your heart rate, so they can make you more efficient," Wakefield-Scurr said. " can improve your running mechanics, for example. Those exercises are then repeated in a variety of sports bras while researchers study how different bras create or restrict motion and change the stress on the body.Ĭommercial sports bras have been around for a long time. A "jogging" bra was developed by two New Jersey women in 1977 who sewed two jock straps together. But the bras' importance in soccer, and the application of technology to make them better and more responsive to women's needs, is a recent development. (CBC)Īt the professor's lab, athletes run on a treadmill without a bra while sensors record the movement of tissue. Joanna Wakefield-Scurr's research group in breast health at the University of Portsmouth worked with the English women's team to outfit them with bras designed to improve their performance on the field. In fact, Chastain tweeted to her English counterpart on Sunday: "I see you ChloeKelly well done."
player Brandi Chastain whipped off her jersey after netting the World Cup final winner against China. Perhaps the last time a sports bra had such a big moment in soccer was in 1999, when U.S. "Now bring a sports bra home," read another from The Times, a play on the English soccer anthem Three Lions (It's Coming Home).ĭepartment store John Lewis reported a 130 per cent increase in searches for sports bras following the victorious moment and a 15 per cent bump in sports bra sales from the previous week. "Cups and trophies: How the bra inspired players to fitting finale," read one headline in The Guardian.
It perhaps would have remained a hidden secret weapon but for Chloe Kelly's now-iconic bra-baring celebration after scoring the game-winning goal, which prompted a national conversation in the papers and the airwaves and a massive sales bump for sports bras. When they took to the field to face the Germans in the Euro Cup final on Sunday, England's national women's soccer team didn't just have the support of the country, they had the support of specially designed sports bras chosen in consultation with scientists.
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