The Best Sports Bras of 2026

A darling of the 1990s, Champion is having a moment and, based on our experience with their Everyday Sports Bra, it's well deserved. The bra’s nylon-spandex fabric is very soft and breathable, and the straps may be adjusted as well as crossed for extra support or left parallel, depending on your preference. This bra is one of the few that the care tag says can be machine-washed and tossed into a dryer—and it emerged from our laundry unscathed. Finding a fit online was straightforward, based on a table linking body measurements clearly to the sizes offered.

Our testers had mixed reactions to the level of support it offered, with Amy finding it plenty supportive for any activity, while I preferred its medium support for lighter impact workouts only. Still, if you can find it on sale (which Champion offers frequently), it’s a solid value pick.

The Champion Everyday Sports Bra comes in a handful of colors in sizes XS (30A-B) to 2XL (44DD-46D).

Speaking of the ‘90s, if you miss the loud branding of Calvin Klein boxer shorts, you’ll love the Under Armour Infinity High, which spells out the brand name in high contrast along the elastic straps. (If you don’t, the racerback design hides nicely under a top.)

Styling aside, the bra is built for support, with molded cups that encapsulate and compress (though one tester noted more of a uniboob look than the other). The cups initially felt stiff to both testers, and the front is higher cut than most, causing some chafing during initial workouts—luckily, it softened after a few washes. Overall, the bra fits well and offers solid support for high-impact activities.

The Under Armour Infinity High comes in a variety of colors in sizes XS (32 AA-B) to 3X (44 DD-DDD).

The Adidas TLRD Impact Training bra felt like an average sports bra to both our testers. The molded cups encapsulate and compress without the uniboob look, and the recycled polyester and elastane quick-dry fabric wicks sweat well. One tester noticed some puckering after the laundry, which made her concerned for the bra’s longevity. Still, it offered good support in our tester’s usual sizes (though many online reviewers suggest you size up).

The Adidas TLRD Impact Training bra comes in over a dozen colors and sizes 2XS A-C (band 30-32) to 4X (46-48E).

The SheFit Ultimate looks and works differently from every bra we tested, with its front zipper-plus-hook closure and velcro-adjusted straps and band that allow you to hone in on your fit. This was a blessing or a curse, depending on which of our testers you asked. When I put on the SheFit for the first time, I felt like a valkyrie, suiting up to head into battle—this is a serious sports bra. The SheFit’s maximum support is directly attributed to the 2-inch wide ribcage band made of thick elastic with a Velcro adjustment. If your weight fluctuates depending on your exercise level, this bra will accommodate a wide range of sizes, saving you from repurchasing a new bra. The encapsulating cups have mesh panels for breathability and a removable foam liner for modesty and shape. Because the bra is machine-washable, the included washing bag is a fantastic bonus, and the bag is large enough for two bras. All of that translates to the SheFit earning my highest scores on our tests.

However, Amy’s experience proved a different matter. While she agrees the bra is well made with a lot of thought going into the design, she found the wide straps and band uncomfortably unyielding. When she got it snug enough for adequate support, she felt her ribcage was constricted—a conundrum when trying to breathe during a run or any other high-impact activity. She also experienced near-instant chafing on her collarbones beneath the thick, velcro-lined shoulder straps, effectively ending her run less than 2 miles in.

Our conclusion: If you need warrior-level support, you might give SheFit a try. Just expect to make micro-adjustments until you find your best fit and maybe lube up with a good dose of Body Glide first.

The SheFit Ultimate bra comes in about eight colors in a proprietary, if expansive, size range of XSmall (approximately 28A) to “6Luxe” (50F). The brand offers multiple ways to find your fit, including a virtual fitting.

The New Balance NB Power X Bra confounded me in several ways. For one, most of the support felt like it came from the shoulder straps, which is not ideal, yet it seemed sufficient for high-impact activities. Moreover, despite having a foam lining, this was the only bra we tested where I noticed the shape of my nipples showing through. (On closer inspection, that foam is perforated, which may make it better for sweat–wicking, but less effective for modesty.)

Amy agrees that the band’s elastic is too stretchy to allow the band to do the expected heavy lifting, and she experienced some chafing where the X on the back comes together, as the ends of the lower straps scrunched up inside the metal bracket where they’re anchored and rubbed her skin. Otherwise, she also found the support adequate for high-impact workouts (with no headlight issues for her).

The NB PowerX bra comes in a half-dozen colors in sizes XS (30) A-C, or up to XL (40) D-DD.

For Amy, the Panache wireless sports bra offered SheFit-level support without the discomfort she experienced wearing that bra. The molded and seamed cups didn’t chafe but felt akin to a breastplate to her, controlling every possible jiggle. With all that structure comes thicker material, making the bra especially sweaty for her. All in all, it felt like a little too much of a good thing.

My experience was confounded by my Panache running small, though, admittedly, I found the site’s sizing directions tricky to parse, and I ordered a band two sizes smaller than my usual (my advice: don’t do that). Although my bra was wearable after adjustments, the fit remained disappointing. Worse, after washing—which, again admittedly, I did in the machine on cold, despite instructions saying to hand-wash—the bra felt even smaller.

The Panache Non-Wired Sports Bra comes in a slew of colors and patterns in band sizes from 28 to 40 and cups from B to J, though not all combos at the smaller and larger ends are options (28DD is the smallest cup for that band; 40GG is the largest cup for that band).

The Brooks Dare Crossback Run Bra 2.0 is one of the few pullover styles we tested, and as such, it doesn’t offer any adjustability either in the straps or band. The fabric feels luxurious—a silky smooth neoprene-like synthetic—and the near-seamless molded shape seems to promise invisible support (if there were such a thing).

Unfortunately for me, sizing was an issue here. The size guide was clear, and its recommendation made sense. The bra that arrived was the one I ordered, but the fit was at least two sizes too big—I couldn’t wear it for testing.

Amy didn’t have the same miss on the sizing, though she also wished she could have adjusted it to customize her fit—and that it has a back opening for ease of putting on and taking off. Not to mention, with its raw-cut, taped-seam design, the inability to shorten the straps and or snug up the band is a real loss as the bra inevitably will stretch out with wear.

The Brooks Dare Crossback Run Bra 2.0 comes in about half a dozen colors in sizes 30AB to 40DDE.

On first inspection, both Amy and I were impressed with the design of the Thirdlove Kinetic Impact—though Amy would’ve preferred the straps not scream the brand name à la Under Armour. Amy was happy with her fit and the adjustability of the straps and back—until she began running and found that the wide-cut cups chafed her underarms badly. She doesn’t think going down a size would’ve fixed the problem, as it wasn’t an issue of fit but too much coverage, and she was already wearing the smallest size.

I was unable to test ThirdLove due to a poor fit (though the company is good about exchanges, we opted not to do that in general for this guide). The material and construction looked great, but the size—my usual bra size—was way too big.

The Thirdlove Kinetic Impact comes in black and a rotating selection of seasonal colors in sizes 32C through 44D, with some larger cup and half-cup sizes in the band sizes in between.

As one of the more expensive bras tested, the Knix Catalyst was a pricey disappointment. For me, the design puts all the support in the shoulder straps with none on the band around the chest. I also couldn’t decide which way to wear the straps—parallel or crossed—to achieve a good fit. This might have been a fit issue, as the cups also gaped at the armpits. The fabric—a neoprene-like blend of nylon and spandex—trapped sweat, making it one of the few bras that, to me, felt like a soupy mess after exercising.

Amy’s bra was so large that it was completely unwearable, despite the fact that she ordered one size smaller than the website recommended. And that size, a 2, is the second-smallest available, so she doubts going to the smallest size would’ve made a difference.