Hi everyone! Today I’m kicking off a bit of a mini series of reviews on sports bra and fitness wear. I was really lucky this week to have the opportunity to collaborate with Brastop to review three different sports bras and guest post about them on their blog, click here to check out the full post.
But we didn’t want to leave you BCLC readers out, plus I had a few extra pictures to share, so I’m going to post each of the sports bras as a separate review here. I’m going to break it down a little differently to the usual and give the bras a score out 10 for a couple of different points too so you can compare them directly with each other much more easily.
And keep your eyes peeled because we’re going to have a few more sports bra posts too – not just from me! Char’s got one coming up, and we’ve also roped in a lovely lady to guest post for us too!
First up, I’m focusing on the Shock Absorber Active Multi Sports Support Bra in dark grey in a 30G.
Appearance
The Shock Absorber Sports Bra is a non-wired, compression style sports bra. This means that instead of using more separated cups to “divide and conquer” (i.e. encapsulation), it compresses the breast tissue close to the chest wall. I’ve previously not been as much of a fan of this style as it when you’re doing exercise that gets you hot, it can get a bit hot and sweaty, for want of a better phrase! For those of us with larger cup sizes, it can be very minimising and flattening thanks to the ‘smush” effect.
From the front, it looks like a stereotypical crop top style sports bra. The dark grey with blue edges looks sporty but interesting. The back view is where things get more interesting though: it fastens with two sets of fastenings, one below the other. This gives an almost racerback style to the back of the bra which could work really well under certain tops. Personally, I really like the look of this back since it’s very unique, albeit a little more tricky to fasten!
Overall appearance score: 7/10
Fit
I chose a 30G in the Shock Absorber sports bra even though I generally tend to wear a 28GG. I’ve tried a Shock Absorber before in a 30F (when I usually wore a 28FF at the time) and found the band quite tight then, so I stuck with the 30 band for this. On top of that, it doesn’t have a 28 band to offer, so sister sizing to 30G was my only option.
I’m very glad I did choose the 30G as the band is definitely the tightest of all the 3 sports bras I tried, even though one of these was a 28 band! If you’re in between sizes, I’d recommend going for your larger size definitely. I currently measure 27″ underbust and this is a good, very firm, fit. I’m taking a couple of marks off its overall fit score though as it’s definitely tighter than you would expect for a 30 band.
The cup size is also good in a G. If it was a normal bra, I would say it’s a little on the tight side in the cups, but being a sports bra, this is what I personally want for support. Everything fits neatly and comfortable into the cups.
The only downside in fit for some could be that the straps have very little room for adjustment. Because of the width of the straps over the shoulders, which continue on from the main fabric of the bra, and the fact that the fastenings on the back are higher up than usual, the adjustable part of the straps is very small. For me it’s not an issue as I need them tightened about half way, but if you have particularly tall or short shoulders, you might have a problem.
Overall fit score: 6/10
Support
I have only one word to say about the level of support in the Shock Absorber sports bra: amazing!! Thanks to the innovative double fastening at the back, the tight fit and the clever seaming in the front, this bra holds everything in place extremely well for me. In DD+ cup sizes, this is no mean feat! As I said in my review at Brastop, I jumped around rather aggressively and experienced very very little movement at all. In fact, my stomach was moving more than my boobs!
I’d recommend this sports bra for any type of sport, no matter how intensive – Crossfit, high impact, marathons (not that I’ll be doing any of these!).
While I said above that I wasn’t a big fan of compression style support previously, this bra has won me over. To be honest, I think it’s the one I’d reach for first in my drawer now above all the others.
Overall support score: 10/10
I received the Shock Absorber Active Multi Sports Support Bra in dark grey from Brastop where it is available to purchase for £37 in sizes 30-40 D-HH. They also have a range of other colour and pattern options including a teal and purple graphic design (only £26 in limited sizes!), purple & orange, pink and more.