Department of Sport
and Exercise Medicine
The Garden Hospital
London UK
March 2003

I am one of the few full time Sports Medicine Specialists in the UK and am the Medical Director of the Department of Sport and Exercise Medicine at the Garden Hospital, London.

I have been involved in Sports Bra assessment for several years, working with various institutions and manufacturers as well as, of course, acting in an advisory role to my patients at both recreational and elite level.

It is my opinion that the Minimal Bounce Bra is currently the best product on this market, since its overall design provides compression of the breasts rather that simple suspension, thus preventing undue movement of breast tissue during light to vigorous exercise.

I have also been impressed by the build quality of the garment in that there are no metal or plastic supports, underwires etc., the shoulder straps are wide enough to prevent abrasive injury and there are no seams across any potentially moving areas. The extended midriff section is also popular with my patients both for its added comfort and the fact that it stops the bra riding up during activity.

Overall I consider the Minimal Bounce Bra to be an excellent product both in terms of efficacy in reducing breast movement and for its user comfort and I strongly recommend it to all my female patients.

Dr CP Crosby MA FFSEM MB BS LRCP MRCS
Medical Director

Dept. of RPER
University of Utah
Logan, Utah
USA

PURPOSE

To evaluate the Minimal Bounce Bra design characteristics contributing to both comfort and support during active sport and dance/aerobic activity.

PROCEDURES

The size medium Minimal Bounce bra was worn in an hour and half advanced dance/aerobic session two days a week for ten weeks. The bra was a 34C. The bra was washed and dried (regular cycle 30 degrees Celsius) five times.

RESULTS

The Minimal Bounce bra is extremely comfortable. Design characteristics, which contributed to this factor include the following observances. The double layer cotton/polyester/Lycra material is soft, there an no irritating metal or plastic parts, the shoulder straps do not slip down or cause pressure on the shoulder and the armhole design is wide enough not to 'cut' into the armpits. In addition the seams am not bulky or irritating and there an no seams over the nipple area. The extended midriff design prevents the bra from "riding up' and also prevents the feeling of tightness around the ribs . The fabric Is stretchy, not hot or bulky and there Is no stiff or itchy trim

Overall Comfort Rating: We rated the Minimal Bounce Bra as more comfortable than any other bras investigated in our study titled "Selected Sports Bras; A Biomechanical Analysis of Breast Motion While Jogging", which was published in The Physician and Sports Medicine. While this particular article dealt only with support, my co-researcher and I have completed another survey/field test phase of the same project and have submitted a second article on subjective comfort and support of the same bras in The Journal of Clothing and Textiles.
The Minimal Bounce Bra has also been evaluated as the bras in this report.

Support: The Minimal Bounce Bra provided above average support for dance/aerobic activity for a C cup subject A description of specific design features of this bra may provide some explanation for the excellent performance in this area.

First the double layer fabric is fairly firm and not as stretchy as the fabric in the bras from our two surveys, which was rated as least supportive. The compression type design holds the breasts close to the body and provides excellent support from both the cup area and shoulder straps These characteristics make the bra supportive enough for A through C cup sizes participating in most activities.

The extra large Minimal Bounce Bra would probably provide enough support for D and above cup sizes participating in continuous activities which cause the breasts to bounce more than just low impact activity (i.e.: aerobic/dance, jogging or horse back riding). It has increased fabric to provide additional support in the top, bottom and sides of the chest. The straps are wider and thereby provide extra support and displacement of strap pressure, which Is needed, for very large breasted women.

We therefore rated the Minimal Bounce Bra as more supportive than the five least supportive bras investigated in our studies and as supportive as the three most supportive bras, across cup size and more comfortable than the most comfortable in our studies.

CONCLUSION

Our studies have demonstrated that the Minimal Bounce Bra
deserves the following ratings:

• Superior in comfort
• Above average in activities for women with A, B or C cup sizes.
• The bra would probably provide, the additional support needed for a D cup and above sizes.
• For the body type of the average woman participating in all active sports, the Minimal Bounce bra is, probably, the most all round suitable bra on the market.
  
  Dr. Deana, Lorentzen, PhD.
  Dept. of RPER
  University of Utah
  Logan, Utah
  USA