I used to be jogging round my neighborhood the opposite day after I glanced down and observed an unusually massive lump below my shirt. I figured a pair of underwear was caught in my prime (which, sadly, occurs manner too regularly after I do laundry), so I reached into my shirt to tug it out. However, alas, there have been no lingerie—only a very clumped up, misshapen pad squished inside my sports activities bra.

I shoved my fingers into the tiny gap on the within of my bra to attempt to straighten it out, however this was an unimaginable feat—the pad was utterly folded in half and I used to be working on a crowded metropolis sidewalk. It wasn’t going to occur. So I let it’s, and completed my run with the pad jutting by my shirt.

To be honest, having my sports activities bra pad visually announce itself isn’t a large deal, however it may be actually freaking annoying, particularly whenever you’re in public or in the midst of a exercise. I do know I’m in good firm—the truth is, this appears to be one of many solely issues individuals on the Web really agree about.

SELF needed to know why these pads even exist within the first place, since, ya know, they’re driving individuals wild. So we went straight to the supply: the manufacturers that make them. Right here’s what they mentioned.

Why accomplish that many sports activities bras have detachable pads anyway?

In keeping with the sports activities bra designers I spoke to for this story, the detachable pads exist for one motive: modesty. Lauren Haron, senior designer of bras and swim at Athleta, tells SELF that sports activities bras and stand-alone exercise tops are often made out of skinny, light-weight supplies. Whereas these materials are nice for figuring out—they whisk away sweat and don’t entice warmth—this additionally means your nipples could make an look, Haron says. In different phrases: These little pads exist to cover your nip.

Numerous of us just like the pads and the protection they provide. Like individuals who wish to really feel extra filled-out (scorching lady stroll, anybody?) or protected whereas carrying a white or light-colored bra in public, Casey Schumacher, senior design director of efficiency at Athleta, tells SELF. They’re additionally successful amongst breast most cancers survivors who’ve had mastectomies, Haron says.

However for all of the individuals who love them, there could also be simply as many who can’t stand ’em. Like my pal Paola Quiñones. She wears a dimension 32H and rips out the pads at any time when she buys a sports activities bra with them. “Possibly they work for smaller boobs however, for me, they only add bulk and spotlight how a lot larger my boobs are than the pads,” she tells SELF.

Jasmine Leidich, product designer at Brooks Operating, tells SELF it’s a 50-50 break up. “Each time we’ve focus teams or interview individuals, they both really need them or they actually don’t,” she says. The Adidas workforce has observed the identical. “Some customers like them, and use them from day one; others take away them from the primary put on, discovering them distracting and an annoyance throughout efficiency,” Amy Charlton, senior director, head of worldwide product, Girls’s Coaching & Bra & Tights Middle of Excellence at Adidas, tells SELF. By including the detachable pads, manufacturers can enchantment to individuals on either side of the aisle. As a result of guess what: Should you hate them, you possibly can all the time take them out and chuck ’em.

Excellent news: Sports activities bra producers are attempting to make the cups much less irksome.

The manufacturers are effectively conscious of the complaints, and lots of have tried to make them much less…unbearable. Athleta, for instance, created fastened pads—principally, the pad is stitched (like this) or bonded to the bra (like this)—so that they don’t wiggle round, along with their detachable ones. Brooks elevated the scale of the opening alongside the sting of the bra so it’s simpler to stay your fingers in to take away them (test it out), and its larger-size bras include larger pads that provide extra protection, Leidich says.