The doggone truth - so that’s why they’re called puppies!
Ladies... we all know
that our boobs can be heavy. It stands to reason that their weight can affect
our posture detrimentally. But did you know that a good sports bra can offer
full support to the thoracic and lumbar spine, and aid the rider’s core
stability, control and strength?
Whether we realise it or not, sometimes female riders hunch
forward to compensate for the bouncing movement of our breasts. This can be detrimental
to our riding position. Hunching when riding potentially tips the head forward,
and the lower back backwards; you may also end up drawing up the knees, or
tipping forward onto your pelvic bone, causing your heels to come up; all of
this results in imbalance, and a compromised connection with the horse.
Sports physiotherapist Deirdre McGhee, PhD, a researcher
with Breast Research Australia, told Runners World magazine that a pair of
D-cup boobs weighs in at 15 to 23 pounds. (That’s the equivalent of strapping a
small dog like a Pug or Border Terrier, or a rubber car tyre, or two writhing
cats, to your chest!)Beat the bounce
“That weight is more than enough to pull your trunk forward
and force you into a hunched-over posture,” McGhee said. She has found that a
set of boobylicious 38Ds move about five inches from top to bottom during intensive
exercise, and that smaller breasts still bounce about three inches. Victoria
Barnaby, an athletics coach, told the title that upper and lower back exercises
can help prevent the back fatigue and poor posture caused by weighty boobs;
examples include forearm plank with alternating leg raises, and abdominal
twists.
Breast tissue, which is made from both fat and glandular
(milk-producing) tissue, can become damaged and stretched when undertaking high
impact exercise. Our beautiful boobs are suspended by fibrous tissue called
Cooper’s ligaments (Fibrocollagenous Septa), but are still very vulnerable to
motion. In fact, studies have found that a good, supportive bra can prevent
damage to the breast tissues by 74 per cent. It goes without saying that female
riders should ride in a well engineered sports bra to avoid damage to the
breast tissue, and support the breasts. Look out for a bra with a wide band
made from wide elastic material, so it can support your breasts without causing
‘bulges’, or riding up. The shoulder straps should be wide so they don’t dig
into your shoulders, while the cups must completely cover your breasts. The middle
of the bra should sit on your breastbone, in between your breasts, and you
should look out for bras with padded support across the rider’s trapeziusmuscles, which move the shoulder blades, as this can help prevent neck and
shoulder pain.
As a company, Derriere Equestrian is not a fan of
underwiring; underwired bras have been linked to health conditions including
breast pain, injury, rubbing, chaffing, mastitis, and allergies. Hence, it has
been important to our team to design a sports bra with the encapsulation
benefits of underwiring, without using actual underwire!
A product innovation
The Derriere SportiefBra allows the rider to actually sit up, open the chest area and hold the
shoulders back comfortably; wearers are able to use the postural muscles of the
back to stay vertical, in an optimised riding position. We have developed a bra
that boasts a fusion of the two ‘styles’ of sports bra - encapsulation and
compression; the Sportief is
designed to minimise breast movement, alleviate discomfort, and reduce
potential damage to the chest ligaments.
The Sportief Bra has
a racer-back-style and padded straps, plus completely seamless areas, to
minimise rubbing - the cup areas are therefore super-comfortable and soft to
the touch. It offers full zipped entry for easy access - so no more getting
‘stuck’ when you try to remove your sports bra after a hot flatwork session,
and release those puppies!
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