It’s been a very reviewy time on this blog lately, for no reason except the timing of generous companies and my own purchase of a new pair of kicks.  This last entry into the review-a-thon is an all-important piece of running gear for the ladies: the sports bra.  More specifically, the Zensah sports bra.

No makeup, messy hair, and an expression reminiscent of Charles Manson, but that's ok because you're looking at my boobs.

As posted before, I wear Target sports bras, not because I think they’re the best, just that they’re cheap, cheerful and do the job. That said, I’m always curious about “nicer” bras so when Zensah offered me up one of theirs, I was all over it.

Zensah, btw, is known for compression gear (the calf sleeves in particular are extremely popular with many of my runner pals) in fact I had no idea they even made sports bras until now. Turns out they make the whole kit and kaboodle: compression bottoms, tops, etc.  But back to the bra, I wore it on two runs to give it a proper try-out.  Here are my observations:

Color: The color choices are great.  I got the pink one, which is a lovely dusty shade so you can wear it under white tops without show-through.

Fabric: Extremely soft and stretchy.  The front is a double layer of fabric, the better to help against radar nippage and the inner layer has some gathering at the center for shape.

Style:The nice thing about these bras is they have textured detailing on the straps and back (almost like a pin-tuck pattern) so it’s not entirely plain, it has some style to it.  What I didn’t like so much, and this is just my own thing, is that the neck is a little high for my tastes, I find a lower scoop more flattering.  This might be due to the fact that I’m a small-busted gal or because I have trollop tendencies, either way it’s a minor deal and I’m sure many women prefer this higher cut.

This is the back of the bra so you can see the pretty textured pattern.

Fit and Performance: They only come in 2 sizes which, for me, is the bra’s downfall.  It comes in Small/Med and Med/Large.  This is ok for dry sports or fitness classes where you don’t sweat much, but if you’re like me when you run and end up with a soaked sports bra (even in winter), the support you leave the house with is not the same as that upon your return – as the bra gets wet, the fabric becomes looser.

Now, this isn’t specific to Zensah, my Target bras do the same but this is why, when I started running and didn’t know any better, I bought medium sports bras.  Then after a year of that, I switched to smalls and more recently, started wearing x-tra smalls.  The garment sizing didn’t change, it just took me a while to figure out what holds me up best since I couldn’t tell there was floppage just by looking down;  it took race photos and video to enlighten me (thank you very much, Brightroom).

For the record, I’m not a tiny person (5’4″ and 123lbs at the moment) though as you can see, I’m not busty by any means.  Still, I need support and the limited sizing here coupled with the stretchier fabric makes this bra iffy for smaller, sweaty runners or other high-impact sporty gals.

For low-impact activities, however, or if you’ve got a larger frame/chest, a Zensah sports bra would work like a champ and keep you extremely comfortable throughout.  I’ll wear mine for Pilates and similar activities, just not for running.

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