Hello Everyone,
We’re here to provide a quick guide to Men’s Shorts. Specifically, Men’s Shorts that are ideal for Running and going to the Gym as well as Everyday Athletic Inspired Shorts. There are a few quick categories that will make it easy to understand the function of any Men’s Athletic Short.
We’ll start with the inner design of the short. There are 3 basic designs:
- Shorts with Built-In Internal Briefs.
- Shorts with a Built-In Internal Liner
- Shorts without an Internal Brief or Liner
Shorts with a Built-In Internal “Brief” have a similar design to an old school tighty whitey. (just thinner and built into the short) The Brief portion helps to provide a bit of support while the rest of the short provides the coverage. Most often this type of Men’s Shorts is primarily for running. The design can be very lightweight, supportive and not restrictive while running. It’s fairly uncommon for people to wear these shorts to the gym and much less common to be worn as everyday wear. Definitely have confidence to go commando in this short.
Shorts with a Built-In Liner may have the same outer material as the above, but the inner material/liner is similar to a boxer short. Sometimes this liner can be a bit lose and sometimes its snugger for a more performance oriented fit on the legs. These shorts can absolutely be used for running, but they have a few downsides. They might be slightly heavier, a bit more restrictive and slightly less supportive. Despite that, a person can run in these shorts and prefer them to a brief. The liner can help support the leg muscles and at the same time provide that bit of extra coverage everyone appreciates while doing exercises that might expose the upper leg. These shorts are most comfortable at the Gym, Classes or Yoga. Same as above, have confidence to go commando in this style of short.
Shorts without an Internal Brief or Liner are often worn as a casual everyday wear in conjunction with normal underwear. This type of short becomes more of a Tech piece when a compression liner is worn underneath. This is a great way for men to find a short they really like and simply wear a liner under it. We carry several great shorts that fit into this category.
- Next up is Short Length. We carry Men’s Shorts with inseams from 2” to 9”.
2” to 4” Men’s Shorts are pretty short. They’re almost solely used for running as they are very light and provide great mobility. These shorts are often cut high on the side making them Split Shorts. This makes it even easier to Run and Race as the shorts provide great mobility and no resistance against the legs. These shorts always have built in Briefs, which everyone appreciates……
5” Men’s Shorts are on the shorter end of a standard length. (Definitely showing a bit of thigh) If you like a slightly shorter short, but not really short - then this is the length. 5” Men’s Shorts are great for Running and most often will have a built in Brief. This style is not overly common at the gym, at classes or often seen in Yoga Classes. Although this length has been getting slightly more fashionable in the last year or 2, certainly as swim shorts.
7” Men’s Shorts are the best-selling length. This is the go-to, easiest to wear, most common short out there. They provide a “normal”, comfortable amount of coverage even for the guy who doesn’t wear shorts often. It’s common for 7” Men’s Shorts to come with the 3 different main designs. We carry several 7” shorts with Briefs, many with Liners and others with neither. Runners who want a normal length short, often gravitate toward 7” shorts with Briefs. The 7” Men’s Short with a Liner is perfect for the Gym, Classes or Yoga. Finally, the 7” Short without a Brief or Liner is typically used as a casual short or as a Gym Short if a compression liner is worn underneath.
9” Men’s Shorts provide plenty of coverage and usually come down to the knee. It’s not as common for this length of short to have an internal brief, but they often have a liner. Therefore, these are great options for the Gym, Yoga or Casual Wear. They can certainly be used for running, but it’s less common then a 7” Short.
A few other small features to look for are the waist band and pockets. Typically, Men’s Shorts with a thicker waist band are going to be more comfortable and pockets are up to the user. They often create extra bulk, unless they are built into the waistband which results in less bounce. So, hopefully you made it to the end of this overview of Men’s Shorts. Should be enough to point any guy in the right direction.
