Running is healthy for body and mind, but good preparation is important to prevent injuries. And to improve your sports performance. For example, a good sports bra not only protects against all kinds of ailments, it also makes you run faster.
From a new one movement study it appears that better support of the breasts in female runners causes greater stiffness of the knee joint. This changes the biomechanics of the lower body, which has all kinds of positive effects.
Pain in the breasts
For both men and women, good running shoes are perhaps the most important thing to prevent injuries. For example, old or bad shoes cannot adequately absorb the blows of running on asphalt, which can, for example, cause you to suffer from your tibia membrane or your knee joints. For women, there is also the fact that they can get pain in their breasts from running. This is so bad for some that they no longer run at all.
Lower oxygen consumption
Previous research has already shown that a well-fitting sports bra provides better support for the breasts. As a result, the breasts move a lot less and also improves sports performance. So you will run faster and further through it. Good breast support is linked to lower oxygen consumption and better movement technique. American researchers of the University of Memphis went even deeper into the effects of wearing a good sports bra. “The biomechanical processes responsible for improved running performance with good chest support were largely unknown. So we set out to find the best strategies for women to reduce chest pain associated with running. About half of women suffer from this,” says researcher Douglas Powell.
Stiffness is positive
Together with others he studied the differences in stiffness of the knee joint with weak breast support, good breast support and without breast support. The stiffer the knee joint, the more efficient the movement and the lower the risk of injury. Twelve recreational runners with a B, C or D cup had to run on the treadmill in three different ways: without a bra, with a loose bra and with a high-support sports bra. The stiffness of the knee joint and the movement of the breasts were measured and calculated during running. Their running movements were meticulously analyzed using reflective stickers on various body parts, cameras and a complex biomechanical computer model.
Better performance, fewer injuries
In the end, it turned out that a moderately supportive bra leads to 2 percent more stiffness of the knee joint and a strongly supportive bra produces 5 percent more stiffness. From this data, combined with results from previous studies, the researchers conclude that a good sports bra improves running performance by an average of 7 percent. “Our study shows that breast support not only affects breast movements, but changes in movement throughout the body,” said Powell. “Poor breast support leads to reduced sports performance, increased risk of injury and even increased risk of developing chronic back and chest pain.”
Not just any piece of clothing
The importance of a sports bra is often underestimated. “There has been relatively little innovation in bra design over the last 50 years. Our research builds on previous research and shows that a sports bra is not just a piece of clothing. It is an indispensable part of women’s sports equipment, which not only improves performance, but also reduces the risk of injury and can play an important role in women’s overall health,” concludes Powell. It is therefore certainly worthwhile to purchase a good copy.
2023-04-23 12:05:08
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