With more than a decade of training experience behind me, I know the right gym shorts can be the difference between a great workout and a rubbish one.
The best pairs will see you through any weightlifting or running session in comfort, allowing you to move freely without worrying about wear and tear. The worst ones will cinch in all the wrong places and chafe your inner thighs until they’re red raw.
I’ve experienced the latter scenario more times than I’d like, and hope to help you avoid suffering a similar fate. So I’ve embarked on a mission to find and test the best gym shorts money can buy, and compile a list of my favourites (which you can find below).
I subjected shorts from Lululemon, Vuori, Castore, Under Armour and more to countless squats, umpteen runs, any number of exercise classes and plenty of sweaty workouts. I’ve also worked with experts, from personal trainers and sports scientists to activewear brand designers, to delve into what makes a great pair of shorts to work out in – whether you’re wearing them for Hyrox or pilates. Read on for the results.
How I tested the best gym shorts
I’m a fitness writer; it comes with the territory that I love exercise, and I do an awful lot of it. My average week consists of five 90-minute gym sessions, each containing an assortment of strength training exercises, Olympic weightlifting drills, gymnastics practice and CrossFit workouts. I also run a few times per week, attend occasional yoga and Pilates classes, and squeeze in other sports like football, tennis and padel where I can. So, to my mind, the simplest way to test the best gym shorts was to wear them for my regular schedule.
Each pair was tested for comfort above all else, with any signs of chafing earning an immediate red flag and omission from this list. Flexible materials that allowed unfettered freedom of movement were a must.
There were also bonus points on offer for support, style, storage (I love a zippered pocket in the gym) and extra features that separated certain shorts from the rest of the crowd.
Using this rating system, I whittled down my initial testing list to be left with the 15 best men’s gym shorts I’d happily have in my training drawer.
The best men’s gym shorts for 2024 are
- Best overall – Lululemon license to train linerless short 7in: £49, Lululemon.co.uk
- Best 2-in-1 gym shorts – Under Armour vanish woven shorts: £50, Underarmour.co.uk
- Best affordable gym shorts – Myprotein woven training shorts: £20, Myprotein.com
- Best for support – Vuori qualify run short: £85, Vuoriclothing.co.uk
- Best for intense workouts – Represent 247 fused short: £70, Representclo.com