BOOBS!

Now that I have everyone's attention...

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and so I thought I would blog about TWO of my favorite things... BREASTS & HEALTH!

BREAST HEALTH
The #1 factor in Surviving Breast Cancer, beyond prevention, is EARLY DETECTION.
Get your ladies checked LADIES! Monthly self exams, yearly physicals for EVERYONE OVER 20 and yearly or bi-yearly mamograms after 30! It used to be 40, but as the hormones in GMO foods increase, so do the prevalence of cancers. SUCKS!  

Here's a link on HOW TO DO A BREAST-SELF-EXAM (BSE)  >>

Guys, sorry it's not as *stimulating* as you thought it would be. That being said - take off your shirt, don't be shy, no one can see you, it's not about muscles... - NOW, see those little dime-to-quarter-sized flesheronis? Now see the fleshy area about 4"x4", from the anterior axillary fold (front edge of your armpit) to the sternum (central breast bone)? THATS A BREAST! - ok, ok, for my Physiqued Geeks, PECTORAL Region - potayto potahto, the POINT is > you can ALSO GET CANCER, so make sure when you go see your doc, and homey has you bent over and coughing, you ask (albeit, meekly) for a little up-top play, as well. Capische? Buono!

Now that I've spread some awareness... time for some FITNESS-related Breast Tips.

BREAST HEALTH in FITNESS

For everyone ::
HOW TO PREVENT RUNNER'S NIPPLES
You know when you get a great routine going... you're up, you go for an invigorating run & your body is feeling the LOVE, and THEN... about 10days into your Committed, Focused, RUNNING routine... OUCH! Your look in the mirror & your aereolae are chaffed & ruddy & painful! Hmmm... you're looking at RUNNER'S NIPPLE - chapping (rawness) caused by the repetitive rubbing of clothing against the nipples.
Men, it usually happens more frequently with you, because you don't wear bras, and you tend to sweat down the chest causing your shirts to stick to your chest.
Women, if you're wearing a WELL-FITTING sports bra, it will prevent movement of the breasts independent of the bra's material AS WELL AS channelling sweat between the breasts, away from the nipples.
SOLUTION
To soothe and relieve the chaffing - Apply a balm. They have fancy-schmancy ones at TheRunningRoom, but I've used Burt's Bees Lip Balm in the little circular tins. They tingle a bit, they're Paraben, Phthalate, Sulfate & additive-free & they're the perfect shape...
To prevent the chaffing - "Elasticised, adhesive bandages" *cough*Band-Aids*cough*

For JUST the WOMEN ::
PREVENTING BREAST & CLAVICULAR (collar-bone) PAIN <During exercise>
This is simple AND complicated... Simple first >The cause of the pain is BAD BRA FIT.
To my Bounty-cupped Beauties (*e.g. anything over a FULL C): As fun & exciting as it is to see your Tatas going BOUNCY, it's HORRIBLE FOR THEM! So CUT IT OUT or you will end up with your nipples tucked into your waist-band! Your Collar bone hurts because the skin, fascia & muscle tissues are PULLING AWAY FROM the bone *Aaarghh* GRAPHIC! (but TRUE).
Here's where the fancy, complicated part comes in > When YOU Move, THEY MOVE. (*Duh! Mia, why is that complex & profound, huh?) Here's WHY > an A-cup breast will move 1-2" in each direction - up & down - for.each.and.every.STEP.you.take!! Wait...WHAAAAAAT?!?! YES!
B-cups move 2-3" in each direction. C-cups 3-4". D-cups 4-5" and so on, and so on...
Sooo... if you're rocking some SMOKING FFs - you can imagine, when YOU run 5km your FunSacks are doing about 7km... YOWZAA!
*FYI : real or fake - the stress on the SKIN & clavicular anchor fascia are pretty much the SAME.
SOLUTION
A well-fitting Sports Bra. Look for a Bra with the key words HIGH IMPACT, for running & Jumping (*Plyo, HI-cardio, Step Class) and if you have over a FULL C (*36C+ and Ds etc...) find the styles with tags marked COMPRESSION, or MOVEMENT PREVENTION. If you have larger than a DD look for brands with support cups (*unwired styles are more comfortable).
If the XLsizes feel too *tight* try to get one specially made OR you can wear a lower-impact style with a "regular" bra underneath.

PSA :: NEVER - EVER -EVER RUN IN ONLY A "day wear" bra... PLEASE, for me! FOR THEM!
No bueno!

My Little-bitty-titty-committee... you can get away with slightly LESS concern, BUT if you're doing prolonged activity at high impact, or running, you should also wear SOMETHING with support.

Okay? Good? Ok! Good!
Ta-Ta!
(*see what I did there?)
xo - Mia

ps - IT's PINK for BreastCancer