adidas have partnered with masters in ‘reactivewear’ engineering, Rheon Labs to launch the new era of hi-tech sports bras which empowers women to experience sport without restraint – as research shows 72% of women experience breast pain when running. The new kit features the RHEON™ reactive super polymer which adapts to support the breast during high intensity movements.
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The adidas TECHFIT CONTROL BRA adapts to support the breast during high intensity movements. This provides women with the support they need, when they need it most, whilst also maximising their running performance.
To research into the science behind poor breast support within sports, adidas & RHEON LABS® collaborated with Joanna Wakefield-Scurr, Professor of Biomechanics and her team at the University of Portsmouth alongside their specialist breast biomechanics laboratory. The findings revealed that poor breast support causes the entire body to compensate for this movement, with research showing this can lead to reduced running performance. Additional findings show that:
- Poor breast support for runners can lead to a reduction in stride length of up to 4cm, with wearers becoming more hesitant to stride out
- Over a marathon distance, that’s a whole mile lost if you run wearing poor breast support.
Two decades ago when Professor Joanna Wakefield-Scurr set up a pioneering research group in breast health at the University of Portsmouth, there were only 6 scientific studies on the biomechanics and support requirements of the breast, while there were 1000’s of studies on sports shoes!
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A recent 2023 study from the University of Memphis noted that 72 per cent of women experience breast pain when running, making this a significant barrier to many forms of sport. The research also shows that good breast support can improve the runner’s performance by 7%.
Olga Kravchenko, Head of Design at RHEON LABS® said:
In sport, everybody should feel inspired by what their bodies can achieve but women’s needs are historically underserved when it comes to sportswear designed to support the female form. Sports bras are a foundational piece of kit, but research into the category uncovered vast dissatisfaction from women who weren’t being properly supported.This is where RHEON LABS® comes in. The RHEON™ strips adapt to support the breast in high-intensity movements, to give women the support they need, when they need it most. Our mission was simple – we want to empower more women to experience sport without restraint.”
|How does it work?
The strips of highly strain rate sensitive RHEON™ polymer are strategically placed across the breast tissue. Like running on wet sand, it only hardens under intense movement, then returns to being soft and pliable. This provides all-around support during activity without being restrictive or overly compressive.
Strands are designed using proprietary ‘geometries’ by RHEON LABS®. The shape, size and placement of each piece is ergonomically designed using computer modelling to offer the optimal support for key muscle groups during exercise.
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This is the third collaboration – adidas and RHEON LABS® first joined forces to design and unveil apparel with reactive support by launching TechFit Control collection in March 2023. In September 2023, adidas launched its second apparel collection featuring RHEON™ technology from RHEON LABS® -the Adizero Control running collection.
RHEON™ will be used on the adidas athletics kits for team GB, France & Ethiopia at the Paris 2024 Olympics and the Techfit Control x RHEON™ Sports Bra will be available online at adidas.com, priced at £65 and available in sizes 32A/B to 48E/G.
