One of the fabulous things about a sports bra is that it can basically act like a crop top if you want it to, which is especially nice when you're working up a sweat at the gym or in a fitness class.
Yet, wearing only a sports bra while we work out can be nerve wracking for those of us who have a different body type than most other people in the room.
Body-positive Instagrammer Rachel Sharkey (@babyyshark), recently faced her fear of baring her skin head on — and she's so glad she did.
"First time wearing just a sports bra to yoga tonight! I am deciding to challenge myself," she wrote on Instagram. "I have always told myself that I simply couldn't wear just a sports bra in class. I was self conscious about my breasts hanging and sagging in certain positions. I was nervous to show off all of my bloat."
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Sharkey has the biggest body in her yoga class, she wrote, and was nervous to bare her skin in the same way that other people in the class often do.
"Well tonight, I'm saying F it to my fears," she wrote. "I deserve to take up space too. I am allowed to sag and exist in the same way as others in the gym. It is 90+ degrees and I am gonna feel free and fluid in my skin tonight."
Sharkey told Yahoo that while she was nervous and felt "bare and vulnerable" at first, that ended up being her favourite class.
“As I started to really get into the intense poses of sports yoga, I caught myself staring at my body in the mirrored walls. I was in love with what I saw," she told Yahoo. "I was really feeling myself. I felt free in my skin."