2019-07-01_Shape

Yasu + Junko/Trunk Archive

JULY/AUGUST 2019 58 SHAPE.COM

bounce

BACK

New science says the size

of your breasts may dictate

how you exercise. We

look at the biomechanics

and beyond. By Mary Anderson

side, and backward-and-forward mo-

tions. (The latter is caused by a brief

deceleration of the body upon foot

strike, followed by an acceleration

when you push off the ground.) An

unsupported A cup might move an

average of four centimeters vertically

and two millimeters side to side; a DD,

by comparison, can travel 10 and five

centimeters, respectively. And there

are a lot of nerve endings in breast tis-

sue that can register pain and cause you

to pull back on your intensity.

ble up and wear two bras at once for

extra support, Lawson says. As for the

mental side? “You have to approach

bounce as natural and happening

to everyone,” says plus-size model

Candice Huffine, the creator of Day/

Won size-inclusive activewear. “I used

to think my body wasn’t made for run-

ning. Then I tried it. Sure, my breasts

require extra work and artillery to

secure them comfortably, but in no

way would I let them hold me back from

crushing my goals.”

aff ected the amount and level of activ-

ity they did, compared with 7 percent of

women with small breasts. Given those

stats, researchers found that “ breast

size is a potential barrier to women par-

ticipating in physical activity.”

Psychology comes into play too, says

LaJean Lawson, Ph.D., the director of

the Champion Bra Lab, who treadmill

tests women of all sizes. “One DD tes-

ter told me she never exercises in public

because she doesn’t want people look-

ing at her breasts moving,” she says.

Women with the largest breasts spent

this much less time per week

exercising than women with small

breasts, according to a new

Australian study.

37 %

BODY POLITICS