Landmark Study Finds Chest Binders Don't Harm Exercise Capacity — and an AFLW Player Knows Why It Matters
A University of Western Australia-led study has found that wearing a chest binder during exercise does not significantly affect aerobic fitness, muscle strength or lung function — challenging long-standing advice against exercising while bound.
The research, led by UWA's Mental Health and Exercise Research Group in partnership with Curtin University, UNSW, The Kids Research Institute and Thriving in Motion, examined 21 people assigned female at birth who had never previously worn a binder. Each participant completed exercise sessions both with and without a commercial chest binder, allowing researchers to directly compare the results. PhD candidate Kai Schweizer said the 21-person sample was the largest collected in this area of research so far. The findings align with a separate peer-reviewed study indexed on PubMed (PMID 41003444) that also found wearing a chest binder does not impact exercise capacity. ABC News
Chest binding is a practice where trans and gender-diverse people compress their chest tissue to achieve a flatter appearance. More than 60% of transgender and gender-diverse adolescents assigned female at birth report doing it, according to reporting from Chest Physician. Chest Physician But clinical guidance has long cautioned against exercising in a binder, citing concerns about restricted breathing and reduced physical output. Thriving in Motion, one of the study's partner organisations, states the new research directly challenges that common advice. Thriving in Motion
One participant who knows the stakes is Tilly Lucas-Rodd, a non-binary AFLW player for GWS. Lucas-Rodd has had top surgery and previously used chest binders, giving them direct experience of the tension between wanting to play sport and wanting to feel comfortable in their body. The AFLW — the women's and gender-inclusive top-level Australian rules football competition — has run since 2017, and Lucas-Rodd's career sits at the intersection of elite sport and the broader question of who feels safe enough to participate. ABC News
The study did find that participants had lower-than-expected cardiopulmonary fitness overall, a detail researchers flagged as worth further investigation. And Chest Physician notes that ongoing research is still needed to clarify the relationship between chest binding and sleep health. Chest Physician
For trans and gender-diverse athletes, the core finding matters because it removes one more barrier to participation. A 2026 study by JD Wooldridge, published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, found that perceived safety and trust shape whether trans and gender-diverse people take part in exercise science research at all. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living When the advice telling people not to exercise while bound turns out to lack an evidence base, the cost of that gap falls hardest on those already least likely to feel welcome in sport.
Full results from the UWA-led Mental Health and Exercise study will be published later in 2026. Thriving in Motion
