Betts Fit High Impact Sports Bra | Sports Bra Struggles As a Personal Trainer (Part 3 of 7)

In the previous two blog posts I discuss the sports bra struggles I faced as a competitive youth soccer player and D1 collegiate soccer player. 

This post brings my message home by sharing my experiences and practical knowledge from being a personal trainer from 2008-2015 after half a lifetime of sports bra struggles.

I launched my health and fitness company CBetts Fitness in 2008 after a few years of working for a start-up at the time TRX, also known as Fitness Anywhere.   

At TRX I had the opportunity to work with fitness and health professionals from around the world.  I was so inspired by what they were doing and the impact they were having on people’s lives that I quit my job and jumped on the fitness bandwagon.  I knew if I was ever going to work in the startup world again I wanted it to be for a product I created and for a problem I solved.  I realized working for someone else was not for me.

So I took a leap of faith even though everyone around me thought I was crazy and I went for it. Being a personal trainer for me was a love/hate relationship.

LOVED

1. Changing people’s lives for the better
2. Being able to be outside most day
3. Ability to be active all day
4. Working with motivated individuals

DISLIKED

1. Working with unmotivated clients and I found it terribly draining, because for better or worse, I am someone who easily absorbs the energy of those around me. (If you are a trainer here are some ideas for helping with this issue we all face.)
2. The hardest part I found was the schedule. Most of my clients wanted to train before or after work.  Which meant my workday would begin at 5:00 AM and end most days around 8:00 PM.  Let’s just say this lead yet again to many hours in my sports bras.   

Right around the time I was reaching a breaking point and considering other work options, I had an epiphany. The funny thing is - these very long hours were a constant reminder of something I have always been frustrated with as an athlete. The struggle of living in a compressive sports bra day in and out!  

Being a trainer took it to another level.  Not only was I looking for function (i.e. support) I wanted to look cute and needed something I could comfortably wear all day.  I was constantly demonstrating for clients how to perform certain exercises and because I trained outdoors most of the time, I was constantly on the go from one location to another.

I found myself every morning asking the same question.  Who am I training today? Will I need to demo and have the ability to run with them?  If the answer was no, I would wear a “comfortable/cute sports bra.”  If the answer was yes, I would put on my high impact bra which would start to hurt after about 1 hour of wearing but at least I wasn’t awkwardly demo-ing exercises with my boobs bouncing everywhere.  Having both comfort and support just wasn’t an option for me. This bra just didn’t exist.  In her article “Understanding a Woman’s Most Essential Fitness Accessory: The Sports Bra, Ellen breaks down quite well many of the issues with sports bra today.

My life as a trainer taught me so many wonderful things and led me to studying neuroscience, natural movement & alternative health all of which inspired the idea to create a more supportive yet comfortable sports bra for women on the go.

In this next part of this series I discuss how a condition I developed at age 16, Hashimoto’s disease (Hypothyroidism), added a whole other layer of challenges to my experiences as a competitive athlete, personal trainer and need for a better sports bras.  (Click here to read on)