Best Gym Shorts for Men of 2026

Nothing ruins a run faster than a phone bouncing against your thigh, and nothing in this group solves it as cleanly as the NORTHYARD's zippered pockets. There are three of them, all closable, so keys, a card and a phone each have somewhere to go that will not dump them on the pavement when you stop to stretch.

The length options are the other genuinely useful thing. Five, seven or nine inches means you pick the hem instead of accepting whatever the maker decided, and the seven sits just above the knee on an average build, which is where most training shorts want to land. There is no liner, so you choose your own base layer, and the fabric stays light when it is wet with sweat.

Where these give up ground is feel. The fabric is smooth and synthetic in a way you notice on a hot day, and it is not the softest short here; the BALENNZ is the one to look at if softness matters more than pocket security. Sizing runs small, so go a step up if you are on the fence. For running, outdoor circuits and anyone who trains with a phone in a pocket, this is the pair we reach for.

Two pairs for about what a single branded short costs is the whole argument, and it holds up better than we expected. The cut is loose and basketball-ish, the mesh is light enough for a hot gym, and the waistband is a wide elastic with a drawstring that snugs down when you need it. The leg runs long, closer to a 10-inch short than the listing suggests, so these cover the thigh rather than showing it.

Sizing is the weak spot. The waist runs large, and ordering a size down is the right move rather than trusting the chart. Get that right and you have cheap, breathable shorts that work for training, walking and sleeping in a hotel room. They are not the pair you buy for a decade, but as rotation filler for a gym bag we keep a couple in ours.

Five pairs in one order is the whole pitch, and the per-pair cost here is the lowest in this group. If your laundry basket is what stands between you and a fourth session this week, that solves a real problem, and we think it is the sensible way to build a rotation from nothing.

The fabric is silky and light with a slight shine, closer to a swim short than a cotton gym short, and it dries fast enough that a sweaty session does not leave them damp for hours. The wide elastic waistband sits flat without rolling, which is more than some pricier pairs manage, and the pockets are deep enough for a phone.

What you give up is substance. This is a thin fabric with very little body, and beside a heavier knit it reads as light rather than hard-wearing. Sizes run small, so order up. For a gym bag, a teenager's rotation or anyone training daily who refuses to do laundry mid-week, the value is hard to argue with.

The fabric is the whole character of the BALENNZ. It is soft, smooth and light, the sort of hand that makes you check whether it is really meant for training, and it dries quickly enough that sweat does not linger in it.

The pockets are deep and sit where your hands actually fall, the elastic waistband is comfortable rather than grippy, and there is no branding to speak of, so they read as plain gym shorts rather than a statement. They also sit at the lower end of this group on price without feeling like a compromise in the hand.

What that softness costs you is structure. There is very little body in the fabric, so the shorts hang from the hip rather than holding a line, and a heavier knit feels more substantial the moment you pick it up. In exchange you get a pair that feels like almost nothing in a hot room, and for home workouts, summer runs and anyone who rates comfort above durability, that is a fair swap.

Start with sizing: these run small, and the waist is the part that runs smallest, so the practical move is to order one size above your usual. Do that and the Profectors become a genuinely comfortable all-round short, one we kept reaching for on days that mixed a workout with errands afterwards.

The pockets are the standout. They are deep, sit forward enough that a phone rests against the hip instead of swinging, and they do not drag the waistband down when loaded. The color range is wider than most here, which matters if you are tired of black, and the fabric drapes enough that they look tidy rather than gym-only.

None of that makes them a heavy-duty short. The fabric is light and built for warm rooms, so treat these as a moderate-session pair rather than the one you grab for a max-effort leg day. For the money, having two or three colors in the drawer is an easy call.

If you are tall, or you have simply had enough of shorts that stop above the knee, the Champion Sport Short's 10-inch inseam is the reason to look. Coverage without bulk is a narrow target and this hits it: the standard fit skims the leg rather than billowing, so you get the length without the parachute effect long basketball shorts sometimes have.

The fabric is a lightweight moisture-wicking knit rather than an open mesh, softer against the skin than the mesh shorts a lot of us grew up wearing, and it comes out of the wash holding its shape. Nothing about it needs a second thought, which is most of the appeal.

It is not flashy, and that is the point. This is the pair you buy when you want length, coverage and a fabric that behaves, and you do not want to think about your shorts again. If you have been buying seven-inch shorts and feeling underdressed at the squat rack, this is the correction.