Big Breasts Move In Three Directions
May 20th, 2008
MSNBC is reporting that the bouncing of our breasts in multiple directions can prove painful and damaging to our natural support system. A support system never designed to handle the weight of breasts that tip the scales at 10, 15, or 20 pounds each. Breasts are made up of fat, milk ducts and connective tissues, such as collagen, ligaments and blood vessels.
New studies by Joanna Scurr, a biomechanics professor at the University of Portsmouth in England, will be presented at an annual meeting for the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences. In her testing of what she calls “breast biomechanics,” Scurr recruited 70 women with bra sizes ranging from A-cup to JJ-cup. During a series of exercises, Scurr measured the amount of breast movement in three directions: up-and-down, side-to-side and in-and-out.
“During walking exercise, the women’s breasts moved relatively the same amount in all directions. But when participants sped up to a jog or run, their breasts moved proportionally more in some directions than others: More than 50 percent of the total movement was in the up-down direction, 22 percent side-to-side and 27 percent in-and-out.”
Typically, bras are designed to minimize up-and-down motion and not the other two dimensions of breast movement found in Scurr’s study.
“For all cup sizes, the so-called encapsulation bras in which each cup is separately molded provided the most support, beating out the compression bras, which limit only the up-and-down motion. The encapsulation bras limit some of the movement in the other directions as well.”
The reason for these studies? Scurr is working with bra manufacturers globally to design a bra that minimizes breast movement in all three dimensions. She hopes to develop a bra that will incorporate materials that can change to provide custom-made support for each woman and her activity level.
Joanna Scurr has the right idea and I hope her research can produce worthwhile bras. Unlike this idea. CRAZY! I know it is just a concept product but nobody would ever wear it in real life.
Makes sense to me. When I walk fast my boobs will beging to sway back and forth and this causes a tugging on my straps. It isn’t the up and down movement that one would expect even though they do go in that direction as well.
She says that 27 percent of the movement was in and out…interesting.
According to experts anywhere between 80% of women are wearing the wrong bra size. Untill I was measured prfessionally by Bravissimo I was wearing the wrong size too. I have had bra fittings where the professional bra fitter told me I am a 32C while others at the same store - not Bravissimo - told me I was 32B. Well my real size for the brand I like is 32DD!
Its hardly any wonder gils why wear the wrong bra size. Most women working at these shops haven’t got a clue. They guess half the time and are not aware that brands size differently. A 32D bra will have roughly the same amount of space for the breast as a 36B but the band will be longer to fit a larger back.