New findings from a state-of-the-art climate chamber could inform more comfortable sports bras.
Southampton researchers found differences in how much women sweat due to larger breasts having fewer sweat glands.
The results have been published in the journal Experimental Physiology.
Turning up the heat
Overall, 22 women with varying breast sizes took part. They were asked to jog for 45 minutes in 32-degree heat.
They did this in a state-of-the-art climate chamber at University Hospital Southampton.
The chamber is located within the hospital's NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility. It allows researchers to carefully control the conditions.
The researchers measured how much sweat the women produced across the breast, and how much heat their bodies were producing.
They also recorded how many sweat glands they had on different parts of their breasts.
Improving sports bras
Dr Davide Filingeri, Associate Professor in Thermal Physiology at University of Southampton, led the research. It was conducted by Hannah Blount, a postgraduate researcher in thermal physiology.
“Over 85 percent of women deem a sports bra an essential piece of equipment for exercise, but it’s actually really hard to find one that’s comfortable and supportive, so a lot of women struggle with this,” she explained.
The researchers decided to look at how sports bras offer support and comfort to women of varying breast sizes. They focussed on hot conditions, when women are more likely to experience issues like chafing and sweat accumulation in the bra.
They investigated factors that determine how much sweat ends up in the sports bra. These include the rate the breasts sweat and the number of sweat glands on them.
“Here we got the most exciting finding, as our results indicated that larger-breasted women presented fewer sweat glands, and so they produced less sweat across their breast,” said Hannah.
“This fundamental knowledge is something we can now use to inform sportswear design that considers the needs of women of varying breast sizes.”
Image credit: University of Southampton
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