6 popular sports bras for every type of workout

Breasts are like troops: They need support. Because I spend the majority of my free time working out, I’ve become something of a self-appointed sports bra sommelier. After years of playing every sport and trying every workout—from soccer and basketball to Barry’s Bootcamp and Kayla Itsines—I can confidently predict what kind of sports bra will support me best for any activity. From thick straps with underwire and barely-there mesh, the internet’s top sports bras will make your next at-home workout a total blast.

1. This underwire sports bra from Wacoal

If you can’t part ways with your underwire (the separation anxiety can be very real!) this option from Wacoal boasting over 3,000 Amazon reviews is a great transition option to give you the support of a high-performing sports bra with the look and feel of a traditional everyday bra. Our director of shopping Samantha Matt has owned this bra for years and says she always buys more. I don’t blame her—it’s got convertible straps so you can wear it with a racerback workout tank, a breathable fabric that wicks sweat and keeps your skin dry, and comes in sizes 32C to 40G. The brand suggests sizing up since their bras tend to run small.

2. This cult-favorite sports bra

When I’m not wearing Lululemon gear to work out, I’m wandering around my nearest Lulu store studying their merchandise while lovingly quizzing the educators on the floor. After my literal field research, I can confidently say the Enlite is Lululemon’s most supportive bra, and is widely known as one of the top-performing options on the market. I mean, look at the literal Houdini straight jacket contraption at the rear that supports you from darn near every quadrant of your back. It holds you in like a rollercoaster. A front zipper ensures you spend less time putting it on, and more time putting in work.

3. This Knix sports bra with thousands of reviews

I stumbled across this best-selling Knix bra with thousands of reviews in the most bizarre of ways: to get more points in an app I’m obsessed with called Design Home, I often buy actual real products from their advertisers. It’s a win-win: I get more diamonds to design my dream Parisian loft and I get a sweet sports bra out of it. What the Catalyst bra does is gently squeeze and flatten breasts, and it lies flat on my ribcage for that barely-there feeling. The brand claims it outperformed 800 sports bras it was tested against. What’s most impressive is that its cup and strap combination is so sturdy that it doesn’t even require a classic racerback design to maximize support. It’s all there.

4. This celebrity-approved sports bra from Girlfriend Collective

Get you a bra that can do both. With a higher neckline and lower rib band, the Girlfriend Collective Topanga bra (as seen on the likes of Kerry Washington!) with a five-star rating and over 1,500 reviews doubles as a crop top you can wear all summer, all day. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: from a performance perspective, it’ll keep you nice and tucked in for low-impact workouts like barre, Pilates and yoga, while an adjustable criss-cross back provides customizable support. A frontrunner in sustainable fashion, each Girlfriend Collective bra is made of 11 recycled water bottles and is treated with eco-friendly dyes.

5. This minimalist sports bra

Whether your breasts tend to stay in place during your workouts or you’re planning something low-intensity, there’s always a time and place for a sports bra with minimal padding and thin straps. With over 10,000 Amazon reviews, this top-selling Fruit of the Loom pullover bra is perfect for those who prefer the feel of natural cotton on their skin (with a touch of nylon for stretch). It comes in 20 different pre-set combinations, so you’ll never run out of bras for the week. Here’s a hot tip for bigger busted folks: one reviewer wore two of these bras when more supportive ones were in the wash, and it provided a good amount of compression for a high-impact workout—all for a total of $8.

6. This all-around awesome Under Armour sports bra

I love everything about my Under Armour HeatGear bra: how my cleavage doesn’t spill out of it, how the criss-cross backing provides a surprising amount of breathability, how its elastic feels nice and snug against my ribcage, and most importantly, how the padded inserts never weasel their way out of the bra. With a near-perfect rating on Amazon, it seems as though customers agree: “I'm an avid OrangeTheory kind of person, so I like something that's comfortable for the treadmills, weight floor, and rowers (obviously very different kinds of activities all in one workout). This fits the bill! A great mid-impact bra, and I highly recommend!”