If you’ve ever been in a situation where your bag is full to bursting, you can’t find your keys because they’re wedged somewhere at the bottom and your dirty gym shoes are making contact with all your belongings, we feel your pain.
A well-organised kit is one of life’s simple pleasures and makes those regular trips to the gym, the track or the studio far more enjoyable. This is where a decent bag comes in. The best gym bags come complete with handy pockets for easy access to your valuables, dry bags to hold wet or sweaty clothes and separate areas to stash your shoes.
The very best are customisable and feature bonus features such as yoga mat straps and water bottle holders. Then there are the bags built for all eventualities – if you’re commuting on top of your exercise regime, you don’t want your used gym clothing tangled up with laptop cables. Some gym bags offer laptop sleeves, travel mirrors and little pouches to hold make-up, snacks and more.
When it comes to finding the best gym bags, we’ve done the hard work for you, putting a range to the test to discern which would go the distance.
How we tested
We carried each bag to classes, trips to the gym, into the office, on weekends away at hotel gyms and even on short-haul flights, rating the bags on a range of variables. We looked at comfort when carrying the bags, the size of each, value for money, materials, additional features and, of course, how good each bag looked.
