Your uplifting guide to sports bras

Well cheeky friends, the day is here... and we don't just mean the final episode of season one. The time has come to enlighten the world on SPORTS BRAS, which possibly top the charts in terms of most impactful/least understood aspects of running.

We kick off the episode a little bit differently with a race recap, as we both did 5k races the night before recording. We then dive deep into sports bras: why do we need to support our breasts, what's the impact of not supporting them, how will supporting them influence our running performance and finally, how to find a bra that will support you.

We then answer listener questions on finding running friends and pros and cons of coach vs/ training plans in our No Stupid Questions segment brought to you by KICRUN and bring it home with our best weekly weapon yet.

👉 End of Season 1 Survey link here!
📆 Details for cheeky club run here

If you want to support the show, please follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts or on social media: Instagram, Tiktok, Cheeky Run Club Strava community, plus Phoebe's Strava and Anna's Strava.

Music produced by Hugh Raper
Logo design by Michael Cotellessa 

Thank you for listening!

Transcript

Track2-Mic 2: 0:00

Cheeky Run Run Club recognises that every day we live, work and run on Aboriginal land. Welcome to episode 10 of Cheeky Run Club, the social running podcast and community for your everyday amateur runner. Hello, Anna. And hello, And hello, listeners. sports bras, why we need a good sports bra, the impact on our performance, and how to find your perfect fit. I don't want to call it early, but this might be the most important episode we ever do. We're not agree more. we're then going to answer some listener questions and jump into our weekly weapon, which you're not going to want to miss because you definitely know this person. And then we have another announcement to finish off the final episode of season one. Tia! tear. But But first, let's kick it off with our notable runs of the week. Although, we're going to do a little bit differently this time. Because last night, Phoebe and I both raced a five kilometre track race. So we thought we'd actually spend a bit of time here and do a proper race recap. a proper Talk us through the day and the lead up to, I think it's your first track 5k since 2018, Yeah, I think, I think for like 4 or 5 years. Which is Yeah, which is a long time. So the race was at night time, so we both had work, obviously, during the day. I didn't really do much different. I think, I woke up in the morning and went for a walk, which was really, felt very strange. Um, it Um, was nice. But it felt, nice, it was nice, but it felt, I was very confused. I was like, what do I do? How do I go for a was like, Like I just I do? And then, down the street and then like just kind of looking around. I'll walk a bit further and I didn't bring headphones or anything, which is probably the mistake. mistake. So Um, so it was nice, but I didn't really know what I was Yeah, and then talk us through the day and how you prepped for it. Well, it was a Thursday, which is a big meeting day at work, so it kind of just works normally. Like I couldn't really adjust much. I tried to like do more standing up in my meetings because often by the end of the day, I normally don't like running at night time because I'm so stiff from like sitting down all day. so I tried to stand up a little bit more and then, I actually left work at like 3. 34 and rode home and had some toast and a, like finished my day my day from home so that I could do some rolling while I worked worked. Yep. And were you thinking about it like during the day or not really? yeah, because I told all my colleagues I Yeah do it So, yes, um, I was I was like I was really excited I would say until Until about 4 p. m. I decided when I decided to after my toast. I decided to have some coffee which I that was so surprising when you said that last night for the listeners Phoebe doesn't drink coffee and You don't you just don't like it at all. Do you? Yeah, um, and Which is funny, because I feel like you're a bit of an energizer bunny anyway, so when you said that you had a coffee, I was like, oh gosh. I thought, I was like, I thought, I was like, at the end of the day, I need one, even though I I think the And then I started feeling, I think the copy, like, it just makes you feel more anxious, I suppose. and then, um, I, yeah, I just at home did some general rolling and like got ready and tried to like, tried to get my, cause I think normally I associate races with like, I wake up early, I have some food, you know, I, I kind of have a pre race routine for a normal morning race, but I've haven't raced in the evening in years and years and years. So I had to kind of get my head in the game. head in the game. Yeah, yeah. Um, How was your day in the lead up to Oh yeah. my day was, yeah, a little bit similar. I woke up, I didn't go for a walk, I slept in. slept Uh, which actually was was really nice. Um, and 15 minute gonna leave straight from and then I actually drove to work, which I don't normally do. a little bit the same. I think I much prefer a morning race. Because I like to get up, have something to eat, and then, you know, Go and then you feel good for the rest of the day, whereas I kind of felt like I was just like waiting around a little bit. Yeah, um, but I also told my colleagues that I was racing told my I think they, I'm pretty sure they just think I'm crazy. Fur race, cause you've done Yeah, this is my third one. I think they're like, girl, they're like settle down. Um, but yeah, my day was pretty normal. I was thinking about it a little bit. I feel like whenever I, there was like a moment in between like seeing patients or doing something, I. Remember that I was racing of remember Oh yeah, I've got that thing. but yeah, I actually got to the track super early, watched a friend run a little bit earlier, M, who did a PB, Yep, killed it. Yeah. So that was fun. then, yeah, I, sit down for majority of the day. so I was trying not to feel stiff. So I did a big pre run. I saw that Yeah, I saw that was happening while I was racing. I was lying on of content being filmed as well. I I was like, this is so embarrassing, but also, I don't really care. yeah, yeah. Um, and what was your goal for the race? my goal was to get a Yeah. I had a few goals. My first goal was to get a PB, but I kind of knew, My I was pretty optimistic that I would because my last one was so many years ago and I actually think I've like pretty much got that time in park runs without too much effort anyway. anyway. So So that was uh, about about 18 minutes 30, was I wanted to get faster than that and then my actual goal like my real like I'll be really happy with this was like get under 18 minutes. which would have been like a good PB, but also I was like, yeah, that feels like a good, like milestone to hit. but I'd say I did a good job of having, not putting many expectations on myself. And I think it helped that I've been, I've been resting for the past almost two weeks. Not, not like fully resting, but I've been, I'm running a lot less the past two weeks because I've been, Respecting this neagle that I've weeks because I've been Respect the neagle. Um, cow. yeah. And so I kind of knew that it hadn't been a very good race prep and I just had no pressure on myself. I was just like, Oh yeah, I'm really feeling really grateful to be not in, my niggle seems to have gone and I'm not in pain and I'm just going to get out there and run a track race. Like how fun. And so I think I did a good job at focusing more on that. The goals were there, but they were kind of like, Oh yeah, like, Yeah, Yeah, nothing like a little niggle to make you super to make me super appreciative. I know, when I this. for you, are. I know, when I was cheering for you I did see a couple of like cheeky little smiles. smiles. So good. Yeah, my goal was Uh, my goal was to also get a PB. and I mean, similarly, I don't really know why, but I just had this thing that I really wanted to break 17 17 it was an all girls race and I find them a little bit more nerve wracking. I don't know why. Um, girls yeah, I think because they're a little bit more serious. Yeah. And I get so intimidated by other people. people. They all look so pro. I know, and they have the little bloomers on and crop tops. And I'm like, Oh my gosh. god. Um, Um, even it's so, it's actually so silly, but no matter who it is, if someone's in there, like full running kit, I'm like, Whoa, must be. They must be really good. Yeah. They must actually know what Yeah. Anyway, I was wearing spikes, so I was a little bit nervous because last time I've only worn spikes in a race once before, um, and I ended up straining my calf. ended up straining my calf. It's feeling really good. Yeah. Yep. Got a massage today just to keep any niggles at Oh, you've timed that so well, now that I think about it. Not a coincidence that a coincidence. Um, but yeah, I actually was really excited to have a go. And I think cause I knew it was going to be my last one and it was like a bit cooler than the other ones. So beautiful night. Um, and so how did you go? I went really well. If I say so myself. Um, and no, so I didn't hit my main goal. I didn't, well, yeah, I didn't break 18 minutes. But I got a big PB. Yep, so I was really happy with that. I think. I, and I left, I finished feeling like, well, not that I had more in the tank per se, but like, oh, I think I could definitely get a Go. Yeah, yeah. Like, but I was happy with how I ran it. yeah, I haven't, yeah, as I said, I haven't done five carries in ages, so I just wasn't really sure. I had no idea how fast I should go out, or how fast I should try and go. Um, and the other thing that didn't help was my watch pacing. My watch was so off. My watch thought I ran 5. Yeah, I don't even look at my watch in a 5k, around a track, cause there's just no point. I realized when I hit one kilometer and it was like 100 metres before the 1K You're like, hang on what? And so I just stopped looking at it because it wasn't helpful. But it meant that I really had no idea how fast I was going, which was kind of a bit annoying in a way, because I was like, what am I on pace for right now? But I don't know if it would have changed much, honestly, because I sat in with a group. That seemed to be going at a good, like at a pace that felt like hard but comfortable and then after like two, two and a half K's maybe Carly who was in the group like broke away and I was like, oh should I go with her? But I was a bit worried like oh, that's maybe too fast So I just kept sitting with them and then with like two K's to go to go. I I was like, I actually feel really good. I feel fine. And so I just picked it up a little bit And then yeah, just finished feeling like good. I like I felt like I was really pushing by the end but I Was about five seconds off getting that like main oh, I And I was like, I, if I was like, yeah, if I I just think if I'd realized where I was at I would have gone a bit faster in the early Ks when I felt like I was really cruising and not left so much. The last like, I was hit the last lap and I was like calculating my head. head. And you're like, gosh, this is going to have to be fast! I was like, it's not gonna happen. Um, but Yeah, it was just good to like, I felt really, felt really smooth. I felt, I don't know if this is normal for a 5k. You'll be able to tell me, cause you've just run a few. My body felt fine. Like, I feel like I could have run faster, but my, I was really out of breath. So I felt like not fit enough in that sense. Like sense. I can't run skilly. I was like really puffing by the end. Like Yeah, I felt Whereas my body felt like I could have given way more. Yeah, 5k's are hard to grapple with because I feel like, well, the last two I've tried to go out with the guys who've just been way too fast and then it's gotten to the halfway point and, I've been like, holy holy crap, I do not feel so good. So then it's like survival mode kind of thing. Whereas like last night I had the same idea as use. I wanted to hang back a little bit, I think, cause I wasn't sure how fast everyone would go. everyone I also wanted to run within myself cause I didn't want that to happen. But then it also means that. You finish and yeah, same sort of thing. And then it kind of makes you feel like, Oh, should I have gone a little bit faster the in the sort of middle section? Because I think similar to you, I was running behind. maybe a group of like four and then the first two got away a little bit, but then I stuck in with the other girls because I just didn't really have the confidence to go with But then But then it meant that I passed the other two girls that I was, and then I was just running by myself and I couldn't bridge that gap. So you're like, Oh, I wonder if I, you just tried to stick with yeah. But then. Who knows? Like I might've done that and then blown up completely. So I think even though it's like frustrating, I think it's much better to, it's much more satisfying to be like wondering whether, Ooh, could I have gone faster rather than as in like the last two races just felt awful for the last two felt like you a good way to run felt better in yourself this run? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So, Yeah, definitely. It makes for a way more enjoyable time. So yeah, I was like a little bit disappointed cause. I didn't get a PB but yeah, I think I was just happy to put a race together that I was like was proud Cause I feel like the last two I've been a bit like, damn, I've left and haven't really felt satisfied. So yeah, left and haven't really Our main topic this week is how to pick the perfect match sports bra edition. So we're going to go through why it's so important, to have a sports bra that does fit you properly. It's something that impacts every single woman in some way, shape or form. And yet there is little information out Yeah, I was like astounded by, and obviously we've been going on this journey for a little while now, like learning a little bit more about sports bras because our good friend Molly likes to keep us educated on them. But even doing the research for this episode, I was astounded by how ignorant, well we both were Oh, yeah, I had absolutely no idea and it's also made me realize that I need to go shopping. Oh my god, I know. how to support your boobs when you run. We'll talk about what a high support bra, support, support sports bra like, and like and how to know if it fits. One of the things that stood out to us, and this isn't a surprise with women's sport, but the research, there is very little research and generally speaking, the research that exists on all of this has only really begun in the last decade. And most studies, I don't know if you notice this, most studies are really small. The sample size would be like 13 women or 10 women. and this is, I, read this quote when we're doing our research, I thought like really exemplified how nascent this research area is. This is from a study that came out about a month ago. The quote is, no one has done work on breathing with sports bras because that's a really difficult measurement. So no one had really looked at how sports bras impact your breathing. And this feels like it's Breathing is something that is obviously so core to running. Sports bras are something that every And I think probably every woman, can understand and empathize when the feeling of the band is too tight and you can't yeah, yeah. So there's a, there's a lot of, bits of research that blew my mind. A, from a, like, how has no one looked at this before? But B, just from the implications of the research and what they had actually found out. found and just a disclaimer before we go on, we are obviously not experts in sports bras. although we just wanted to acknowledge a lot of the research that we've done, comes from two doctors over in the UK, Dr. Jenny Burbage and Nikki Brown. Uh, Jenny's an associate professor in Professor. professor in She's an Associate Professor in the School of Sport, Health Exercise Science at Portsmouth Uni, and Nikki Brown is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Sport, Health Performance Science. Mary's University, so, as Anna said, the first topic we're going to talk about is why you need to support your boobs when you run. Why do your breasts need extra support compared to the rest of your body? And why do we have a whole separate, uh, device contraption? might have come Actually, here's a fun fact for you, which you may have come across. Do you know when the first sports bra was invented? I don't. Do you want to guess? Uh, I reckon it would be, uh, embarrassingly not that long ago. Uh, probably in the, I'm going to guess in the Um, and it was made by two, two women made it from men's jock straps. Yeah. Yeah. And, and the technology didn't really change at all till the 2000. So even in the nineties, it was, there was a few little improvements in the nineties, largely women throughout Anyway. Anyway. I digress. So, Anna, talk us through one of the reasons why our boobs need more support. support. So the issues lie within the anatomy of the breast itself. it's majority of the breasts are made up of soft tissue. There's no muscle or bone, so there's very little support systems. The breasts are made up of three core parts. So there's the connective tissue, which is the blood vessels, nerves, and lymph nodes. The glandular tissue, which is sort of the functional side of the breast. So the milk producing part and then the fatty tissue and this part varies so much between women, which dictates the size and the shape of your breasts. So it is thought that the main support of the breast is actually the skin. but unfortunately with age, the skin deteriorates. So the thinner the skin, the less elasticity and so it's very individual. And so each woman will have different issues. Yeah. So essentially the first reason why they need extra support is because they can't, they have nothing structurally in them that can support themselves really, apart from the bit of skin The second issue that, it's really important to why we need to look at like support for boobs when you run is like kind of psychological and physical reasons. It is a massive barrier to women participating in any form of exercise. One of the pieces of research we looked at said the four most common barriers for women participating in physical activity, number one is time, number two is motivation, number three is energy, and number four is, is breasts. Yeah, So a common complaint is breast pain associated with movement of the breast. it's obviously not a new issue, but it's just that I think it's more so recently that women feel comfortable talking about it. And historically, uh, we've just accepted that breasts may affect the amount of physical activity that we do. Um, And women may be embarrassed by the movement. I even thinking back to being in school, I remember the bustier girls in sports class running around holding their Yeah. Um, um, to reduce the movement and then they would end up just just dropping out of sport. so yeah, I think the way to combat that is early intervention, like education sessions. in the sense that if we educate the younger girls girls as to how best to support your breasts, it will probably lead to more involvement in sports and less dropout. yeah, one of the stats we looked at said up to 72 percent of women experience breast pain while while running. Yeah, which I just, I find that That is Because they're sort of spoken about, you know, the dark side of running and how hard it sometimes can be to get into running, and keep going with it. But also this whole added extra part which is, It's almost like, it's almost like what's not acknowledged is, is, you have breast pain. It's just another barrier. a lot of running role models are because they're very thin. They are very flat chested. And I think it can, it can actually impact your ability to feel like a runner. If you don't feel like you look like a runner, which is like, if you have Boobs, often, I'm like. It's, yeah, it's, it's really frustrating that I think that for a long time and this, the industry is catching up now, but for a long time, the industry hasn't really considered women with boobs as, not at it's just like sportswear hasn't been made for really flat chested women for a long time. Again, this has changed drastically in the last kind of five, 10 years. Then, and now there's, there's a lot better technology out there. Yeah. But like, how are you ever supposed to, see yourself as a runner if there's literally not, no clothes designed for you yeah. Well, it's, it's the same as if you were super flat footed or had really high arches, but you've got to still wear the same shoe. Um. How are yeah, exactly. And like, we look at shoes there is, I mean, there's hundreds, each brand has so many, such a variety of shoes to choose from yet sports bras are just such a tiny part of. companies, apparel, but. each woman, so like 50 percent of the world, they all need a bra that's going to be supportive to them and they all have they all sizes and shapes of their breasts. Like it's crazy to think that is such a small part of running apparel, yet it makes such a difference in people's like willingness to actually participate in activity. Totally. And how little care there has been until recently about like, Oh, maybe this is precluding women from involving themselves in the sport. Maybe women feel embarrassed. Maybe women are in pain. Like that's just not been a consideration. So yeah, sorry. that's the, the second that's the second reason why we need to care about our bras is because like for our confidence, for our pain, it really impacts how we can engage with running. And running. And Let's look at actually the impact of when we don't have enough support. So, the research that the women over in the UK have done, has suggested that stride length is shortened with less breast support. on average, your stride is four centimeters shorter each time. So, wild. Yeah. And why is, why is your, why does your stride become shorter? due to it not feeling comfortable or supported enough, it often means that there's a little bit of pain, so you might change your running gait, your arms are closer to your body, and then a bigger movement in side to side forces. there's potential to cause injuries. Um, which, yeah, can reduce your stride length and then also potentially lead to injuries because it influences the force they're actually putting through the ground. force Less breast support also as well means a change in your breathing frequency and a reduction in that. people often will complain if they feel like they're holding their breath, which a lot of the time you do when you're in pain or uncomfortable. so women that have breast pain or feel uncomfortable when they're running, are more likely to hold their breath, which I mean, they're breathing whilst Breathing whilst you're running is so important. Yeah, One of the statistics with the, four centimeters shorter stride each time. I mean, to some, that may not sound like much, but over a marathon, that's the equivalent of an extra 1. 6 kilometers worth of steps. Over marathon distance..That is genuinely wild. So you're, you're running much less efficiently. Basically. There's more of the side to side forces. Your breathing is impacted. you're potentially more likely to get injured. A lot of your other muscles are having to work harder to compensate. That's when your sports bra is too big. I don't know about you, when I was reading all the these terrible sounding impacts of your sports bra being too big, I was like, okay, well then, I've just, like, the tighter the better. Obviously, I don't want to get any of those, um, but no. I know. I I was thinking the same, and then I started reading about this. I was like, oh gosh. and also 70 percent of women choose sports bras that are too small for them, compared to what a professional fit. So this, actually this next suite of complications, are probably more likely to be impacting a lot of women. research has only come out in the last 12 months or so. better. Why do you think that is? Is, is, is it just because you feel like it holds you in more Yeah. rather than the loose ones? You can feel more make. Yeah. So I'm my brain. as I The movement. do. Um, yeah, why? I just wanted to feel as struck in yeah. Why is that? I mean, yeah. I think I've just wanted to feel as strapped in as possible. Yeah. Has been my goal. Just like secure, secure, secure, uh, movement is just so uncomfortable. Yeah. And. Also, like, I've never, I really understand what they're saying with, like, there's another stat about, I need to find it, the percentage of women who are wearing the incorrect size sports bra, because I think it's like 80 to 100 percent of women, or something, like, vast than that. Yeah, 70 100 percent of women are not wearing the correct bra size. bra size. The sizing is so a lot of sports bras that don't have cup sizes, which I've only recently started wearing sports bras with bands and cup sizes. So it was just like, do I get a small or a medium? Maybe when I'd put it on, would feel too loose. Like, I could feel the band, like, wasn't really sitting well against my skin. And so the only other option was small. Which actually probably was the wrong, is the wrong size from a cup size perspective. I would just always go for kind the crop tops, which are just tight. And so they almost lift your boobs up a little bit. Cause I would just feel like, Oh, well they're secure then, that means it's better. Like as simple as that. I just. Thought that was the way to way to go. it is not the way to go. The research actually showed that a too tight sports bra affected the woman's breathing as well, but in a different way. So when your sports bra is too tight, what happens is you take more shallow breaths and a few extra breaths per minute. So basically that means that, your, your running economy decreases because you're getting less oxygen in, you're basically. not getting in enough oxygen. And when you're not getting in enough oxygen, they also are saying that oxygen doesn't necessarily get to the right parts of your body that you need to keep you going on a run. So whilst it may feel less painful, so a lot of women opt for this, it's actually really decreasing the, it's, yeah, and, and your ability to like run well, like you're basically starving yourself of oxygen. It's crazy. Imagine if I imagine if you did that in another way, like put a peg on your a peg,you'd be like, or something. Yeah, literally it Yeah. insane. Yeah. Yeah, and so, of this is to say that sports bras, whether they're too small or too big, are fundamentally impacting how you run, how you breathe, it can impact your confidence, how much discomfort or pain you're in, not to mention it can potentially decrease risk of injury. so what about when you are properly supported? What's the impact on your performance? well, yeah, I guess obviously the inverse of the above, you're running a economy, again, amount of oxygen for a given speed improves, your gait will become more efficient, your breathing frequency improves, and you'll likely also feel more confident and be in less pain when you're running. but in regards to the actual impact on performance, To quote an article published last year, is going to blow your mind, listeners. Wait it. A new study found that greater breast support during running is associated with increased knee joint stiffness, altering the lower body biomechanics of female runners. Specifically, a low support bra was associated with a 2 percent increase in knee joint stiffness. Stiffness and a high support bra with 5%. Overall, a well designed sports bra could increase a female's running performance by 7%, female's running performance by 7%. 7%! 7%! is insane. Like even we were talking about our five kilometer races. Like imagine 7 percent were talking about our 5 ponder races. Like, imagine a 7 percent increase. Looking at knee joint stiffness, which was not something I'd heard of before as a metric, but apparently it's basically saying how much your knee moves from side to side. The more your knee is moving, the less efficient your running is, and that has heaps of implications for how we run. sense, I guess, like when you think about it logically, like if your breasts aren't supported and they're moving around Yeah, your plane of of course you're going to be moving side to side more than if you were well supported and sort of like, locked Yeah, So yeah, it, it basically, what we know is that a higher support sports bra, it, well, it increases your running economy, and it improves your running all right, now that we've spoken about the impact of not having enough support and the importance of having good support, how do we support our boobs and when we run? Yeah, I think when we, put up a listener question submission on our Instagram a few weeks ago, percent of the questions 90 percent of the questions were all to do with this. Like, okay, I think, I get that it's probably important, but what does that good support actually look like? And disclaimer before we start, a lot of people wanted recommendations. think it's I think it's fair to say like, it's not really possible to give recommendations because of what Anna said earlier about everyone is so unique, everyone has very unique requirements here. So we can give, and we've like done a lot of reading into to what to look for, what what are the considerations? What are the different types? We're going to go through all that now. But our biggest recommendation is going to be to, you're going to have to figure it out for is going pick the 20 bras that are available to you, try them all on, see how they fit, do some star jumps or something in front of the mirror so you know what it's going to feel like when they move and go and actually get a proper sports bra bra fitting. Like even though, yeah, I'm small breasted, this research has made me want to actually go and get a proper bra fitting because I feel like once you do, you'll just have a better understanding of your own boobs. and yeah, that will just make for a better time. just make And 7%! Um, alright, so when it comes to finding and buying a sports bra, it can be quite overwhelming because it seems like a straightforward task initially, but actually when you start to look at the terms like compression, encapsulation, combination, low, medium, high sports bras, I mean, there's so much jargon, we'll break it down. Yeah. So there's different types of sports bras. Um, the first one that we'll go through is the compression sports bras, and that's sort of like a crop top I like how it's Um, you often put it over your head, and the idea behind them is that they compress the breast tissue closer to the chest, so it moves as one unit. Um, research has suggested that these types are better suited for smaller breasted women, so from sort of A to C cup. one unit. Um, research has suggested that these types of end suites are for smaller breasted women, so it's some sort of A to C cup. So they're able to support it a bit more effectively. And this is better designed for kind of D cup or above. Yeah. Um, and lastly, there's the combination sports bra, which as the name suggests is two separate cups like the encapsulation sports bras, but then have an external layer of material over the top to compress the breasts. so yeah, as we've said, doesn't matter how good a sports bra is, if it doesn't fit, then it isn't going to be supportive or work as effectively as it should. So different styles will suit each different styles That's right. Okay, so now you know about the different types encourage going wearing the wrong size. um, how do you find the right size? Sports bras. And the, the things to consider when you are trying them on, there's a five step process. so first being you want the underband to fit family, which is a common mistake. So you shouldn't be able to pull it more than a few inches from the body. but then at the same time, you don't want to feel like it's constricting your breath. So do some deep yeah. And I would say with every one of these steps, test the jiggle, do some star jumps, so yeah, you want the underband fitting firmly. I, with the underband, something I read as well is it should be even across your front and your back. a sports bra that is too big often the back, the band at the back ends up sitting a bit higher because it gets pulled forward because the, the front's doing a lot of the work. So it should sit evenly the whole way around your trunk. that's it. Yeah. Yep. Around your trunk. Good use of trunk. Um, so, uh, so, uh, second, the breast tissue should be completely encased in the cup. in saying that, there also shouldn't be any bulging. And by bulging, we kind of mean that four boob effect where the boobs are overflowing the bra. Number three. if it has underwire, make sure the underwire isn't resting on any breast tissue. I mean, this is kind of the same as normal bras, it's never going to be comfortable. But, um, Not all bras with underwire will suit your shape. So if you are wearing a bra with underwire, you're probably going to have to try on a few. The middle of the wire, I watched a video on this, the middle of the wire should sit like on your sternum. And then, often, as they come around the outside of the breast, that's where it can end up sitting on the breast. So make sure it's sitting completely on the outside, because otherwise it's going to be quite loose. painful. And so if you have one that's a different shape from you, just don't be afraid to go to another bra or brand and start testing. Yeah, I mean, the benefit of there being so many different brands and types of sports bras now, even though it might be confusing, is that there is always going to be another one that you can try on that might be more comfortable for you. and fourth shoulder straps, you want them firm, but not too tight. So you should be able to pull away a couple of inches from the bra. Yeah. Similar to like the underband, but yeah, you don't want to, I, I, I don't know if you've ever had this, but you can, when you can feel the shoulder bands, like really tight on your sort of like trapezius muscle, the muscle just below your neck. And it's the most, like, it's so, so, uncomfortable it's such an uncomfortable feeling. And then you try to run and you're like, feel so impact that, see how that would impact, the way that you put your arms and everything. and then number five, the final thing to look for is how is the front of the bra sitting against the body. I mean, that may seem quite intuitive, but it should just basically sit straight against you without obviously being like overly compressing. yeah, as we said, try these things, think about your underband, think about if your breast tissue is completely encased, think about the underwire fitting, look at the shoulder straps and look at the front of the bra,, and do some star jumps in front of the mirror. Look at the movement, see if you're happy with the way it looks as well. well. Key to a takeaway from this is, it's incredibly important to get the right sports bra. Don't be embarrassed or ashamed to ask for what you need here and to spend some time. I would love if off the back of this, women listen to this and go, Okay, I'm actually going to take this seriously. I'm going to go get fitted or I'm going to go with my friends. We're going to try on a whole bunch of different sizes. And we're going to find a size that we feel really supported in because it's going to have a massive impact on your running. Yeah, definitely, and I think it's just important to say as well, it's really, pivotal that you do this in person, so trying on a heap of sports bras, I know that there's a lot of cookie cutter online algorithms and size matching tools, but they actually, they don't provide accurate sizes to the masses, because as we've said, each individual, has different shape breasts, chest, I just think it's really important to make sure if you are going to get fitted, closed. Nope. Okay, how can we do questions closed. in like the show. Welcome to our No Stupid Questions segment, which today is brought to you by KickRun. Have Run. Have you ever told yourself, I'm not a runner? Well, you're in good company. Most women stop running by the age of 15. 15. KickRun is here to help you overcome these mental barriers, as it has done for thousands before you. In just eight weeks, Kick Run will help you run towards your goal of 3, 5, 10, or 21 kilometers. kilometers. They're also sponsoring our No Stupid Questions segment to help us help you on your running journey. journey. So first listener question is from Heidi. How do you find running friends? this question I saw come through and it was very close to my heart because having moved cities a few times, I feel like I've had to go through this go through this and I've learned a lot about running. How to do it. And it has similarities in my mind to how you'd go about finding friends in real life. Well, obviously running is real life, but like generally finding friends. Yeah. So, I mean, tip number one is the easiest way to start is by finding a running community. Yeah. And I think what I noticed with you when you first moved to Melbourne is your willingness to put yourself out there. So, although sometimes it might feel unnatural or a little bit uncomfortable, I think by just turning up saying, Yes, to any opportunity that you have, it will give you more exposure to more people, and then with time, you'll, You'll naturally kind of fall in with the group, I think. Yeah. So step one is like putting yourself in a position to meet those people. So you might need to try a bunch of different communities, find the group that is running at a similar pace that maybe they have similar interests to you, or they're at similar stages of life, that might take a little bit of like shopping around to find that. And that's completely fine. It's, it's worth doing. And then the second part is like. putting yourself in the mindset to make those friends. So it is, it is awkward. It feels uncomfortable. You feels uncomfortable. You you're pushing yourself into conversations a little bit. and it just takes time. Like it takes showing up, running with them, but we know that running is such an amazing foundation for friendship. Yeah. yeah. Exhibit A. exhibit A, exactly. think as well, don't be disheartened if you go to the same group run but go three weeks in a row and you still don't really feel like you're fitting in. Although it can be knocked to your confidence, I would just say just keep trying to show up because, like a lot of things, it just, it, it takes time. And I think if you do do that, then all of a sudden one day you'll jump out of the car and go and meet them for a front and not even think twice about like feeling awkward or uncomfortable. And I, to be brave. have to be brave. Yes. We believe in you. Howdy. We question we got a fair different, few different variations of, of the back of last week where we spoke a lot about the anatomy of a training week and the different parts of the training week, which was some variation of, should I get a coach who will give me a training plan or should I just download a training plan off the internet? Yeah. Um, there's often they're free, so that's a plus. and if you're trying to work out what you like with running, it's a great way to keep yourself accountable. you can also do it with a friend and yeah, I think there are so many out there that are really great. That sort of, yeah, it can take you from couch to 5k up to a marathon. in comparison with a coach, I feel like when you do become a little bit more serious with your running, it might be good to transition to a coach because it is personalized and they can give you that immediate feedback. I think the, the danger with a coach, if you're not quite sure how into running you are, is that it can then sometimes feel like a bit of a chore. of Whereas if you're, if, if you're a little bit busy, a little bit stressed, and you aren't able to complete that week's running plans, I think it's easier to accept that when it's a training plan. It seems accountability. Yeah. I is great, the quality of a training plan with a coach, it's so different. It's with a good coach, it will be so much more personalized to you. It can change based on how you're feeling, your injuries and niggles. Like there are, yeah, it's, it's, it's hard to, it's like apples and oranges in terms of the, a cookie cutter training plan versus one with a coach, but as Anna said, you definitely, you feel, you feel the pressure of the Yeah, Our final section is our weekly weapon where we shine a spotlight on the amateur running community. Our weekly weapon for our final episode of season one is a little bit different. is a little bit different. It is, drumroll, you! cheeky listeners. We know we say thank you for listening every week but we thought we'd put pen to paper this time and say a few words about how much every single listen, follow, like message has meant to us. Phoebe Phoebe and I started this because in some ways, even though we have so many running friends, when we looked at the broader narrative around running, we felt like we didn't belong. only running role models we could see and hear from were people who had really different relationships to running from us and our friends. They were also different from us, mostly men, all elite runners, obviously doing amazing things, but in a really different, kind of unrelatable way. and we wanted to create a space that helped define and explore our kind of running. of running. This included challenging ourselves to be brutally honest about running. How hard How hard it can be, how challenging it is to balance with the rest of your life, how waking up early in the dark to run still never feels easy, how horrible it is to get injured, how running can make you obsessive. how it can also be a really dark influence. and even though this has been hard to talk about, honestly, but I feel like we've both learned a lot about ourselves and about each other. And we think we owe it to you to do our best. And there is, there is just so much more to unpack That's right. And this also included though, trying to celebrate why we and all the other everyday runners run. So things like. Running for friends and to get outside and to explore. Running to take care of your body and for your mental health and for the energy it gives you. Running because you want to challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone and learn about yourself physically and psychologically. Running to be better friends and partners and employees and humans. We wanted to create a community for people who run for the love of it. And you, our weekly weapons, you cheeky little listeners, you have embraced this concept with open arms from the very start. You heard us and you said, yes, this is me. I want this too. You've let us into your ears, and that is an absolute privilege for which we will never take for granted. For everyone who has been on this journey with us as season one has unfolded, your belief in us has meant more than we can describe. Our goal of rebranding running feels as massive and ambitious as ever, but with the support of this community, it feels just that little more achievable. Nice. all right, that's it for season one. What? Oh happy two month yes, today is two months of Cheeky Run You know what I was thinking the other day, I was like, Oh, I wish it had been longer because you know, like, romantic relationships when you almost want something to be going for a longer time, so it's a bit time, so it's a bit I'm like, Oh, I, I want it to be two years, make me feel more legitimate. Anyway, happy two yeah. Anyway, happy two months. Happy two months. Um, Quick touch just gonna touch base on the listener survey. We've had a huge amount of feedback through the survey so far, so thank you so much to everyone who submitted. We'll leave it open a couple more days from when this, episode comes out for any stragglers. It'll be in the show notes again, but just remember what's up for grabs here, a head to toe prize pack from the legends at Up There Athletics, but also the chance to shape cheeky run clubs future in a really meaningful way. a really meaningful way. One more thing before we go, we are super excited to announce that the cheeky run club's first club run will be held on Friday the 12th of April. For everyone in Melbourne, please come along. For everyone not in Melbourne, catch a flight! Coming soon. Yeah, No, uh, yeah, coming soon. We'll be starting at 6. 30am from Upday Athletic Store in the city. They'll have coffee back at the shop afterwards, and it'll be a great way to meet, connect, jog, and most importantly, coffee, with all of you cheeky friends. The distance will range from 3 to 5k and we're going to have a whole bunch of pace groups from 5 minute k's all the way through to 8 minute 10 minute K's. 10 minute Whatever you want. have a walking group as well. No one will be left behind. we will share all these details on the Strava group, so make sure you're in our Strava group and we'll probably put it on socials as well. luck. I reckon we will. Alright, for the final time of Season 1. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, when will that, was a shocking ending. Yeah. Oh Okay, so we'll be back mid April, I we have a date. We have a the 15th of April. Is that the Yeah. We have a date. And it's the 15th of April. 15th of April, we'll be back in your ears follow us, like us on social at Cheeky Run Club on all of the different platforms and if you can give us a review on wherever you, yeah, that would be We don't have many reviews, I know, please give us a review wherever podcasts. Dave. Yeah. Um, Sean, Dave. again, so Um, but yeah, once again, thank you so much. And we can't wait to be in your ears next season. That's all we're gonna say. Bye. ya. you gotta go. professor professor in the School of an Associate Professor in the School of Sport. Nikki