There’s lots in your thoughts whilst you’re within the weight room: Counting reps, sustaining your type, and timing rests between units is not any small feat. So, what’s not on the checklist? Worrying about your shorts driving up (or, even worse, being see-through).
The perfect exercise shorts for girls are breathable, opaque, and keep in place—so you possibly can give attention to how a lot you’re lifting, not on what you’re sporting. However discovering that magic pair might be powerful. We get it: SELF editors are consistently testing exercise gear, and we’ve got ideas on which shorts are actually price your cash. Store our favorites for weightlifting, operating, climbing, biking, and extra beneath.
Our prime picks
- Greatest Total: FP Motion Stinger Shorts, $48
- Greatest for Strolling: Outdated Navy Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Pocket Biker Shorts, $27
- Greatest for Working: Lululemon Quick and Free Excessive-Rise Traditional-Match Cut up Quick 3″, $78
- Greatest for Marathons: Janji 5″ Tempo Quick, $68
- Greatest for Energy Coaching: Lululemon Wunder Prepare Excessive-Rise Quick 6″, $64
- Greatest for Climbing: REI Co-op Trailmade Shorts, $50
- Greatest for Biking: Peloton Cadent Excessive Rise Pocket Bike Quick 7″, $58
- Most Breathable: Athleta Quick Route Mid Rise 2″ Run Quick, $69
On this article
Store the perfect exercise shorts for girls
Hop on the treadmill or hit the paths in these cozy picks.
Greatest Total: FP Motion Stinger Shorts
FP Motion
Stinger Shorts
You get the perfect of each worlds with these FP Motion shorts: The outer layer is flowy and has zippered pockets, however the built-in biker shorts beneath received’t journey up or trigger your thighs to chafe. “These are my go-to exercise shorts for a number of actions,” SELF’s affiliate social media supervisor, Katie Gunderman, says. “They’re excellent for operating, HIIT exercises, lifting, and sizzling woman walks. And so they’re the proper size for me to really feel cozy and cute, it doesn’t matter what exercise I’m doing.”
She likes that the layered design provides her further protection whereas she lifts weights and offers mild compression that helps her really feel supported. Additionally a plus: They’re manufactured from quick-drying polyester—excellent for further sweaty outside exercises.
Dimension: XS to XL | Materials: Polyester | Inseam: 2.75 inches
Greatest for Strolling: Outdated Navy Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Pocket Biker Shorts
Outdated Navy
Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Pocket Biker Shorts
I’ve had these Outdated Navy biker shorts for years, and so they nonetheless appear and feel the identical because the day I purchased them. I establish as a thick thigh girlie and have discovered that skin-tight shorts are the most suitable choice for me—something looser rides up. I can stroll for hours in these shorts, due to their longer inseam and cozy quantity of compression.
Whereas I’ve additionally worn them to the health club (and might attest they’re squat-proof), I actually like them for walks as a result of they’ve deep aspect pockets that may maintain my cellphone, keys, and AirPods.
Dimension: XS to 4X | Materials: Polyester, elastane | Inseam: 6 inches
Greatest for Working: Lululemon Quick and Free Excessive-Rise Traditional-Match Cut up Quick 3″
Lululemon
Quick and Free Excessive-Rise Traditional-Match Cut up Quick 3″
These are a few of greatest operating shorts on the market—simply ask SELF’s director of health and meals, Christa Sgobba: “They’re my selection for simple, quick summer time runs when it’s tremendous sizzling—the break up quick is so cooling—and once I don’t want to hold lots with me—the slip pockets will match a key fob or a gel,” she says.
SELF author Renee Cherry provides that the built-in briefs are a life saver. “With different operating shorts, I’ve discovered that briefs might be too tight on the leg openings and too free all over the place else,” she says. “The briefs on these shorts match like precise underwear and don’t dig into my thighs. They’re manufactured from a mesh materials with tiny, breathable holes—a pleasant contact when you’re doubling up with underwear and will use some further air flow.”
Dimension: XXXS to XL | Materials: Polyester, elastane, nylon | Inseam: 3 inches
Greatest for Marathons: Janji 5″ Tempo Quick
Coaching for a marathon? As a lot as our testers love Lululemon’s Quick and Free shorts, longer runs name for an improve—like an extended inseam to stop chafing and bigger pockets that may match extra of your necessities.
“These will maintain a ton: delicate flask, cellphone, and keys,” Sgobba says. “They’re my selection for a marathon within the fall as a result of they maintain the whole lot tremendous securely with no bounce, so I don’t have to fret about chafing or rubbing.” Additionally good to have: Silicone grips on the within of every leg, which hold the shorts in place whilst you log your miles.
Dimension: XXS to XXXL | Materials: Nylon, elastane, polyester | Inseam: 5 or 7 inches
Greatest for Energy Coaching: Lululemon Wunder Prepare Excessive-Rise Quick 6″
Lululemon
Wunder Prepare Excessive-Rise Quick 6″
Whenever you’re lifting heavy, you want shorts that’ll stretch with you in each route, and these are it. “They’re smooth, compressive, and completely move the squat take a look at,” Sgobba says.
The huge waistband received’t roll down, and the longer, 6-inch inseam prevents the legs from sliding up. “The Wunder Trains are in all probability essentially the most compressive shorts on my checklist,” she wrote in a assessment. “I’ve been discovering myself reaching for these on my heaviest lower-body power classes, when help is actually essential.”
Dimension: 0 to 14 | Materials: Nylon, elastane | Inseam: 4 or 6 inches
Greatest for Climbing: REI Co-op Trailmade Shorts
REI Co-op
Trailmade Shorts
Whether or not you’re climbing a mountain or setting out on a woodsy path, you’ll keep cute and cozy in these climbing shorts. “I like these shorts a lot, I had to purchase a second pair,” one SELF tester says. “They’re lengthy sufficient so I don’t have to fret about them bunching up, the pockets are tremendous roomy, and the adjustable waist ensures an amazing match. They’re additionally actually light-weight—excellent for decent, humid days.” Plus, the material has UPF 50+ solar safety, the very best score a chunk of clothes can have.
Dimension: XS to 3X | Materials: Nylon, elastane | Inseam: 5 inches
Greatest for Biking: Peloton Cadent Excessive Rise Pocket Bike Quick 7″
Peloton
Cadent Excessive Rise Pocket Bike Quick 7″
We’re so impressed with these biking shorts that we gave them a SELF Activewear Award. Our testers stated their size prevents uncomfortable camel toe and that they’re compressive sufficient to maintain them going by means of powerful reps.
Like a few of our different picks, these shorts have two deep aspect pockets to carry your cellphone and every other must-haves. Put on them with the best biking sneakers for a no-fail ’match, whether or not you’re topping the Peloton leaderboards or tackling a triathlon.
Dimension: XS to 3X | Materials: Polyester, elastane | Inseam: 7 inches
Most Breathable: Athleta Quick Route Mid Rise 2″ Run Quick
Athleta
Quick Route Mid Rise 2″ Run Quick
SELF’s way of life author, Jenna Ryu, says these shorts make her marathon coaching smoother. “They don’t journey up or give me an uncomfortable wedgie, and I’m capable of zoom by means of my runs with them—I put on them for five-mile simple runs and even 15-milers,” she says. “I like them a lot, and I’ve the identical pair in a number of colours.”
With a two-inch inseam, they’re the shortest pair on this checklist—however you’ll respect the dearth of material when you overheat simply. Plus, their aspect slits let much more air in (which is vital when it’s sizzling and humid out).
Dimension: XXS to XL | Materials: Polyester, elastane | Inseam: 2 inches
How we discovered the perfect exercise shorts for girls
The SELF workforce assessments activewear all 12 months spherical. So, when it got here time to decide on the perfect exercise shorts, they have been able to go together with recs for operating, climbing, biking, and extra. Trainers additionally gave us the inside track on what they search for in pair of shorts, together with professional buying ideas that may assist you discover your new go-tos.
What to contemplate whereas selecting exercise shorts
It doesn’t matter what sort of exercise you’re doing, it’s a good suggestion to put on garments made out of sweat-wicking supplies like polyester, nylon, and elastane, Alysha Flynn, founding father of the feminine operating group What Runs You, tells SELF. These materials are light-weight, hold you dry, and really feel stretchy (not restrictive).
Inseam size (a.ok.a. how lengthy the legs of your shorts are) comes right down to what appears and feels good to you. “Longer inseams may also help stop thigh chafing, nevertheless it actually depends upon your construct and the kind of train you’re doing,” Flynn says. The place a pair of shorts hits in your legs can fluctuate based mostly in your peak and construct, however usually, “longer” means not less than 5 inches.
Hold your eyes peeled for further options that may make one pair of shorts stand out over others. A drawstring can modify the match of your shorts, whereas pockets on the legs or within the waistband can maintain smaller necessities. A few of our different favorites: silicone grippers that stop the legs of your shorts from driving up, built-in shorts that scale back chafing, and a UPF score for solar safety (in case your exercises take you outdoors).
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