How Breast Size Affects Women's Workouts

“The girls” can have a profound effect on women’s exercise routines.

- Anne Marie O’Connor

A recent Australian study found that the larger a woman’s breasts, the less likely she was to participate in physical activity. And it didn’t just affect women who ran and did other high-impact workouts; women with large breasts also did low-impact exercise like walking and swimming less. And though the researchers didn’t ask about Pilates, a large chest can be an impediment in the studio, too. “If you’re lying on your back and you do a movement like Bridge, breast tissue will fall into your face,” explains Madeline Black, founder of Madeline Black Methods and creator of the Work with Abundant Bodies workshop on Pilates Anytime.