I’ve just seen something on Facebook that kind of threw me. Genuinely not sure what I think about this thing – it’s called a Buband.

Now I’m a really strong believer in everyone’s running, or any other form of exercise, being completely how they want to do it. Go as fast or slow, as far or near, as frequent or not as you like, and indeed wear whatever you like.

The one problem I have, which gets me throwing my hands up in despair on quite a regular basis, is women not knowing about proper sports bras.

Yes fine, I am sure this strap thing reduces bounce. I get the idea and it looks like it would work. I’m saying nothing actually about the product – I’m sure it does what it says on the tin. It just seems like it’s trying to solve a problem that doesn’t actually exist if you’re wearing an actual sports bra.

I saw this in a Facebook feed from Women’s Running (US version), and there were loads of women saying they might try this because usually they have to wear 2 sports bras. Women who are saying they are a D or double D (which actually in the world of plus sized bangers is not that large – I used to wear an H cup) reckon they need two sports bras for running.

No you don’t. You just need a better bra. Or an actual bra.

The problem is that lots of products on the market are allowed to be called sports bras when they’re nothing of the sort.

I was fuming back in January when I saw an article in a gossip magazine entitled something irritatingly cliched like ‘new year, new you’. The reason it was so irksome was because they were recommending ‘sports bras’ which were all, apart from one, athleisurewear crop tops without even so much as a patch of wicking fabric, let alone a decent level of support. They were also recommending five quid sneakers from Primarni as an acceptable form of footwear for knocking out a parkrun on a Saturday which is just plain irresponsible.

No, no, no. Stay in your lane, gossip magazines. You are making recommendations which will lead to injury and to women having tits down to their knees by the age of 45.

I mean, seriously. Surely these magazines have actual sports publications who fall under the same publisher? Yes advertising these things in gossip mags may give a wider range of people the idea of going for a run, and that’s brilliant. But if you tell people to do that in ‘kit’ that does absolutely nothing to support our knees or our knockers all that will happen is by the first week of February all these poor women will be in agony and decide that running is not for them, or that it’s somehow their body which isn’t equipped for the task when actually it’s your stupid advice.

For the more heavily endowed ladies out there, what you need is a real bra which is designed for sport. There are loads of options – a great starting point is a shop like Bravissimo which is specifically for those of us who never had to pad our training bras. DO NOT believe some silly claim from a more fashion focused sportswear collection that their fancy patterned padded crop top is in any way a bra. I mean by all means wear it, but wear a proper bra underneath.

The brand I use, and always have, is Shock Absorber. There were women on this Facebook feed today saying that they thought they might be a special case because they had small band sizes but big cup sizes. Ladies, I’m a 30F at the moment, and I have an old 28H bra somewhere in a drawer at home. Shock Absorber have absolutely got us covered. They have a great range for loads of different sports and all sorts of fancy colourways.

And the most important thing – they work! Your norks are going nowhere in one of these things. They act on a compression basis rather than some sports bras I’ve seen which still look like normal bras, so there really is no discernible bounce.

Now all of this is purely my own opinion. I don’t understand the need for the Buband because I have sports bras which do the job. I’m more than willing to stand corrected, please do share your thoughts if you’re a multiple wearer of actual sports bras. Maybe there are some ladies out there who have a truly spectacular level of boobage and need more strapping than I’m talking about here. I mean I doubt there’s a sports bra in the universe large enough to bring Lolo Ferrari’s baps in line.

Also there were commenters on the feed that said they knew they wore the right size bra but still got bounce, so maybe there is something to this if you wear a sports bra that doesn’t work with compression. Maybe I’m totally wrong and this thing will be revolutionary – I mean no offence to the folks who have come up with it and I’m sure they’ve done their research and are trying to help people.

My main point here is that it makes me so sad and frustrated when I read comments from women who think that having big boobs means you can’t take up running. It is such a non-issue if you have a decent bra.

You absolutely can take up running. You just need the right support!