How Do You Measure for a Sports Bra? Here’s Where to Start and What to Measure First
A good sports bra might not be the most exciting thing in your activewear drawer, but it’s arguably one of the most important. Whether you’re heading out for a run, lifting weights, or signing up for Pilates, fit matters, and guessing your size based on whatever you wear in your everyday bra most often can only tell you so much. Sports bras can fit differently from regular bras — more than you might expect — while how much support you need can depend on your bust, the activity, or both.
That doesn’t mean measuring yourself has to take more than a few minutes—just a couple of numbers taken in the right places. And all you really need is a flexible measuring tape. For most sports bras, that means measuring around your ribcage directly beneath your bust, then around the fullest part of your breasts. Those two numbers can help you work out your band and cup size, or point you toward the right XS-to-XL size on a brand’s chart.
With so many sizing systems out there—compression, encapsulation, low-impact, high-impact—figuring out where to start can feel like a workout in itself. So we’re breaking it down for you. Ahead, you’ll find exactly how to measure for a sports bra, what to measure first, and how to use those numbers once you have them.
Meet the Expert
Ellie Lovett is the founder of Bells Active, an activewear brand designed with fuller busts in mind. She started the company after struggling to find sports bras that felt supportive while still looking like something she’d actually want to wear.
Measure Your Band Size
Start with the band measurement, since that’s where most of a sports bra’s support should come from. Wrap a flexible measuring tape around your ribcage directly underneath your breasts, keeping it level all the way around and snug against your body.
“The band should be providing the majority of your support,” Lovett explains, which is why getting an accurate starting point matters so much. Once you try the bra on, she likes the two-finger rule as a starting point: you should be able to slide about two fingers underneath the back of the band. If there’s much more space than that, it may be too loose. If you can hardly get underneath, it may be too tight.
Measure Your Bust
Next, wrap the tape around the fullest part of your breasts. Keep it level across your back and let it sit against the body rather than pulling it tight (we’re measuring here as opposed to squishing the girls down).
One thing that’s worth noting here: the letter alone doesn’t tell you how large someone’s breasts are. “Cup size is relative to band size; it’s about the proportions between your band and bust measurements,” Lovett explains. So, for example, the volume of a D cup changes depending on the band size it’s paired with.
How to Calculate Your Sports Bra Size
Once you have both measurements, use the size chart for the sports bra you’re considering. Some brands use traditional band-and-cup sizing, while others translate those numbers into XS, S, M, L, and so on, so your result may change a little from one brand to another.
If you fall between two sizes, resist the urge to automatically size up. “This is very dependent on the brand, so I don’t think there’s a universal rule that everyone should size up or size down,” Lovett explains. Check how that particular bra is designed to fit, then pay close attention to the band. Going larger can sometimes add room where you don’t need it and take away some of the support around your ribcage.
Check the Fit and Support
Once the bra is on, scoop your breasts up and into the cups so no breast tissue is sitting underneath the band. From there, Lovett checks four things: “the band, the coverage, the straps, and then movement.”
The band should feel secure and stay in place, but it shouldn’t dig in. Your breasts should be contained within the cups (even if the bra is designed with less coverage), and the straps should sit comfortably on your shoulders. Lovett also suggests asking yourself, “If I wore this for four hours, would I be thinking about how uncomfortable my band feels?” If the answer is yes, it may be too tight.
Then, move. “I always do a jump test before deciding a sports bra fits,” Lovett says. It’s a good way to check for bouncing, sliding around, or spilling that you might not notice while standing in front of a mirror.
Adjust for Different Levels of Impact
Like we mentioned earlier, measuring for a sports bra starts much like measuring for a regular bra. The bigger difference comes once you ask what you’re actually planning to do in it.
A sports bra that works perfectly well for Pilates may not be the one you want for running (and that’s completely normal). Low-, medium-, and high-impact labels are there to give you an idea of how much movement the bra is designed to handle.
If you’re trying on a bra for running, jumping, or another higher-impact workout, actually do a few of those movements before deciding. If you’re bouncing more than you’d like, the band won’t stay put, or you find yourself constantly readjusting, we’d move up to something with more support and see if that gives you the control you’re looking for.
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