Bra fat: Why you should watch your back

The inimitable Oprah Winfrey had women the world over hanging on to every word she said when she tackled a rather weighty issue: bra fat. Before her mostly female audience, Oprah, truly a woman’s breast friend, and her guests sized up the problem of bra fat in an intimate woman-to-woman talk.

Some fast facts on bra fat from Michele Stanten of Prevention.com, who gives tips to women on how to deal with bra fat up front and personal: Bra fat is the flab you see hanging over your bra strap. Your back is made up of an interwoven system of four muscles. They help you lift, pull, sit, and stand up straight. When toned, these muscles give you a sensationally sculpted rear view. (You wish!)

According to Michele, women simply look at their "mirror" muscles, perhaps because these are the ones that are obvious. What they don’t see – and bother about – is their "flip side" – that is "until they catch a glimpse in the dressing-room three-way mirror." (With wide-eyed disbelief, they probably ask themselves, "Does that ugly flabby back really belong to me?")

Michele can’t stress enough the importance of banishing bra fat – and not just for the sake of vanity: "Strengthened back muscles will help pull your shoulders back, so you stand taller and appear leaner. You’ll also play sports and perform chores with ease, and will be less likely to suffer from back woes."

Fact is, how to banish bra fat via exercise, Michele notes, is a major concern of a lot of women who want not only to look good (even from behind) but also to feel good. For them, Prevention.com prescribes the exercises below. Michele points our that these exercises target the muscles on the upper back, around the bra. Her prescription: "Do two sets of 10 to 12 repetitions, with a minute of rest in between, two or three days a week. Allow a day of rest between workouts."

Are you ready for some back muscle toning exercises? So here goes:

Bent-Over Row

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, back straight, and knees slightly bent for support. Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your back straight, bend 90 degrees from the waist and allow your arms to hang down toward the floor, palms facing your legs.

Squeeze your shoulder blades together and bend your elbows, raising the dumbbells up to either side of your torso. Hold, then slowly lower back to the starting position.

Seated Back Fly

Sit on the edge of a chair with your feet close together and a light dumbbell in each hand. Lean forward from the waist, and let your arms hang down next to your calves, with your elbows bent slightly and your palms facing each other.

Squeeze your shoulder blades together and raise the weights to your sides in an arching motion until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Pause, then slowly return to the starting position.

Upright Row

Stand with your legs about shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms hanging down at the outside of your thighs, palms facing back.

Squeeze your shoulder blades, bend your elbows, and pull the weights up and out to the sides until your elbows reach about shoulder height. Pause, then straighten your arms, and return to the starting position.

One bra-important fact, says women’s other breast friend Susan Nethero, is that as women get older, they lose their firmness (they complain that everything sags) – and so do their bras. How to choose the right bra size and how to wear your bra are essential to breast health.

On where to wear your bra, Susan says, "The perfect position is midway between your shoulders and your elbows. And your bra should be level front to back. Most women wear their bra bands too high on their torsos and throw their measurements off. They keep going up in the back (increasing their band size) instead of getting a deeper cup."

And you know you’re wearing the wrong size of bra, says Susan, if:

• Your cup runneth over (so it’s time to go up a cup size).

• You have the dreaded back fat.

• You think your bra is too tight (actually, your bra is too big).

• Your strap falls down (but it isn’t because you need support from the Community Chest).

Frankly, finding the correct bra fit can be as tricky as finding the right pair of shoes (or even finding the right man?). Of course, once you have found it, never let it go.

But then again, there are those who say it’s perfectly okay to go bra-less (think Germaine Greer and her bra-burning campaign).

Says www.taraschoice.co.uk, "Don’t be afraid to go bra less whenever you can, as it is very good for your breast health and will assist greatly in preventing general breast disorders such as lumpy and painful breasts, especially during a period when the breasts are more sensitive to the pressure exerted by restrictive bras. Research is starting to show that the less a bra is worn, the better the chances are of avoiding breast disease and cancer, especially later in life."

Whether you opt to go bra less or not, taking charge of your health is certainly the breast thing you can do for yourself.

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