OK, that settles it. I’m in the wrong research field.
They found breasts moved in a 3D figure of eight and that uncontrolled movement strained fragile tissues and ligaments.
The study suggested as a woman runs a mile, her breasts bounced 135 meters.
The report found each breast moved independently of the body by an average of 9cm for every step taken on the treadmill.
With the average breast weighing between 200 and 300 grams, this movement puts great stress on the breast’s fragile support structure—the outer skin and connective tissues known as Cooper’s ligaments.
I suspect the analysis was…mesmerizing.
The wording was a little unfortunate—I pictured the subject dribbling a pair like basketballs as she runs.
(via Matt Dowling)
There was a long article on this in Dicsover a couple of months ago. Fascinating! I am in the wrong scientific discipline. Is it too late to switch gears and join the elite cabal of mammarologists?
Hey now, this just shows the great depths scientists are willing to go to for their work.
Oh, I think you’ll find it’s the male observers of the experiment who are likelier to be dribbling.
Just to keep it in perspective, the appropriate complementary study would be an analysis of the effects of jogging on the fundiform and suspensory ligaments of that little jiggling item males possess, and on Buck’s fascia. I think I’ll pass on that.
Now why does this remind me of that Monty Python movie The Meaning of Life? Oh, yeah….
ahhhhhh, I’m not going to touch this…
Actually, this is old news. The potential hazard to female human joggers due to straining of the Cooper’s ligaments was first reported in the popular media in 1973. Researchers at that time cautioned that failure to provide adequate support might lead to sagging.
At that time, I was a student researcher at the Center for Transportation Studies at Rutgers University. Our center director was Capt. Cooper B. Bright, USNR (ret.).
“Coop,” as he was known to the students and staff, was a feisty 67-year old at that time. Like many men of his generation, he was a bit shy about discussing sexual matters in public and blushed easily. This was readily apparent given that his Navy knick name was “Skin Head.”
You can imagine his chagrin when the staff posted the article with a note cautioning against “Cooper’s Droop.”
Coop provided his young students with the opportunity to combine operations research, environmental analysis and community action, work that I continue to this day. Thanks for the opportunity to remember someone who was influential in providing me with a career path and a moral direction that I hold to this day.
As an odd asside.. Some members of the nudist community claim that this is a *result* of using things like bras. I.e. by reducing natural strain on the tissues, which would normally make them grow (like bones outside the influence of gravity), the tissue weakens, so that when actually stressed it tears or stretches more easilly. A further avanue of research for these guys?
How many meters in a mile? It sounds like the breasts were left too far behind to ever catch up, even if they bounced all the way.
With the average breast weighing between 200 and 300 grams, this movement puts great stress on the breast’s fragile support structurethe outer skin and connective tissues known as Cooper’s ligaments.
How is breast weight correlated to breastplate and cup sizes?
How is breast weight correlated to breastplate and cup sizes?
Alon, you might want to talk to Xena’s couturier about that. Though I doubt he ever thought of weighing them. On the third hand, there might have been engineering or materials considerations to, um, weigh.
Who else here had to read A Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown for an English Lit course?
This is somehow related to the 50th birthday card my wife found for a coworker: a middle-aged woman with possibly overstretched Cooper’s ligaments is asking the clerk at the lingerie counter if she has a bra in a “36 long.”
As someone whose Italian ancestors gifted her with 36Ds, I wear a sports bra every single time I go someplace where the girls could potentially get a nasty jostle (yes, that includes Disneyland). Otherwise, I spend the whole day going, “Ow! Ow! Ow!”
If you know a lady who needs a little athletic help, the Enell bras are TOTALLY the way to go: http://www.enell.com
Some women don’t wear bras or tops at all here in Australia. I don’t think this has had any negative effects upon their health. But still, I don’t see them doing much jogging. I think the breast shape that many people in the first world might consider natural is actually quite unatural historically.
I guess this means we’re stuck with sports bras that give us uniboob then.
I can’t help this. One day while crossing the golden gate bridge a troop of large women came jogging around the south tower. The motions were unbelievable! I did maintain control of the car but just barely, or would that be boobly.
Thanks for the laugh.
Well, before I had my reduction surgery I was a 36H, and I hadn’t jogged for over 20 years since highschool when I was a C-cup. My surgeon removed 1kg from each breast to leave me as a 36D. Now my neck doesn’t hurt, but I still don’t jog. And I don’t wear uniboob sports bras either – not enough support if you’re over a C-cup – underwire and gel-packed straps are required.
Oh, and remember 36 is the ribcage measurement for bra sizes.
Some women don’t wear bras or tops at all here in Australia. I don’t think this has had any negative effects upon their health.
I must spend too much time reading blogs, because I’ve never seen any lady wandering the streets without anything on. Maybe they’re all really short and I’ve been looking over them without noticing.
It’s a traditional practice that is still carried on in some places. Up north mostly.