TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of Shock Absorbing Performance of Sports Bras
AU - Jie Zhou, Winnie Yu, Sun-Pui Ng & Jack Hale
JO - Journal of Fiber Bioengineering and Informatics
VL - 2
SP - 108
EP - 113
PY - 2009
DA - 2009/02
SN - 2
DO - http://doi.org/10.3993/jfbi09200906
UR - https://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/jfbi/4992.html
KW - Sports bra
KW - shock absorption
KW - displacement
KW - breast
AB - A scientific understanding on the reduction of breast displacements during activities will be 
necessary for the future development of optimal sports bras in order to prevent breast injury. This 
study aims to evaluate the shock absorbing performance of different sports bras, and to analyze 
the factors involved. Three healthy women were invited to participate in the experiments. They 
wore four types of sports bras of two different support levels and performed three different 
activities. Breast movements were recorded by a 6-camera Vicon motion capturing system. The 
breast displacement and the reduced percentage of controlled breast displacement (RBD) are 
proposed as the main parameters for evaluating the shock absorbing performance of sports bras. 
The naked breast displacement ranged from 1.01 to 4.37 cm. The breast displacement was the 
largest during stepping at the nipple. However, the RBD was larger at outer breast when wearing 
sports bras. The magnitude of shock absorption did not agree with the support levels claimed by 
the manufacturers. The encapsulation bras were more effective than compression bras in 
controlling breast displacement. The encapsulation bra EP-2 was the most effective shock absorber 
due to its higher content of polyamide, wider shoulder strap and higher neckline.