Thoughts on Men’s Exercise Running Tights

exercise running men's tights

I know this is mostly a bikini and thong blog, but I think tights kind of fit in with them being form fitting. Don’t worry I’ll fit some bikinis and thongs into the post. The tight idea came about while chatting with a friend online about his wearing them to the gym and running along with the potential of the thong triangle showing. Or even the color of the thong depending on the tights color. So I thought I would throw some of my thoughts out there on tights for guys.

I always thought it looked a bit silly seeing guys wearing tights under shorts. Seems like you should just wear one or the other. I know the reasoning why they wear both, but here at the blog we know shorts are not needed. We should not be ashamed to show our package bump. I also don’t believe we should worry about showing underwear lines under tights either. Who cares if bikini lines are showing or thong lines. With showing no lines people probably would assume you are wearing no underwear over a thong. I mean women are wearing form fitting pants all the time and are showing underwear lines and personally seeing bikini underwear lines or skimpier cut underwear lines is sexy to me. Thong lines are even spottable too.

I don’t really have experience with tights working out or running. Normally, I wore shorts when I went to the gym. Now I do have tights and bike shorts for bicycling, so I have experience wearing them. Some believe you don’t wear underwear with them, but I always have. I never worried about showing underwear lines. Actually at times I tried to wear bikinis that would show lines through them. Was one way to promote them and show them off. Of course no one ever mentioned if they saw them.

So why wear tights? One reason would be for comfort. They’re going to hug your body, so no worrying about rubbing anywhere and the hugging material is typically comfy material. With the hugging you’ll have some kind of support for your muscles if you are wearing them for some sort of exercise or activity. Even if they aren’t worn for exercise you’ll still have some muscular support. They’re great for wicking sweat away. No soaking wet sweat or athletic pants and sweat running down your legs. For those that workout in the woods like cross-country skiing, mountain biking, or running you have less worry about getting grabbed by a branch compared to baggy pants or shorts. I know I don’t want a branch getting caught on my clothing while mountain biking single track trails. A bonus with tights is it shows off your legs and butt. Personally, I’m not one for aiming to show off the package especially with the negativity out there with form fitting swimwear. My goal is to try and wear form fitting items in a positive way whenever possible. Now, I’d say it is free game to do so, since women are able to show off their entire silhouette. I just say aim to do it in a respectful manner.

As I mentioned I wouldn’t say I have a lot of experience with wearing tights. I just have a couple pairs of padded cycling tights for cooler weather rides. People seem to think less about form fitting tights or shorts when they are part of a sport. I’m not sure how they are looked at at the gym. I don’t recall many guys wearing just tights when I worked out some at the gym several years back now. My guess around my area they probably still aren’t popular without shorts over them. Now and then I see guys running in them outside, but not very many. Seems most women are running in them though.

Another reason I decided to write this post is I decided it is time for me to explore wearing tights at least more than the padded bike ones. Seems like it should be part of my journey of trying to promote it is fine for guys to wear form fitting items too. So since my wife wanted an exercise/spinning bike, I took the opportunity as an excuse to pick up two pairs of exercise tights (non padded butt) from Amazon. I’ll start experimenting with them with the exercise bike, but will try to incorporate them in other ways. Not sure if they’ll motivate me to go for a run, but we’ll see. What’s your thought on tights? Do you like to wear them to workout in? Run in? Sports? Wear them for just everyday comfort?

28 Responses

  1. Bill says:

    I do wear them to the and a thong under them. I get support for my boys and my muscles. Along with great comfort. So I get the best of both worlds.

  2. Crossfithong says:

    I wear tight pants and compression shorts all the time at the gym obviously I wear a thong under them.
    Honestly, they are really confortable to do exercise, i do CrossFit and running, squatting, jumping is a daily thing to do when I do CrossFit, unfortunately I’m the only one wearing tight clothes that often, must of the guys wear shorts or shorts over their tights.
    Of course my bulge is notable time to time, sometimes its cold and my penis and balls get small, but I don’t care.
    Honestly I started wearing them because I want to show off my butt and my bulge, a change at the locker room looking for the opportunity to show off my thongs, I want to inspired other men to wear thong and tights. In the way I think probably they would wonder about wear tights but they’re concerned about underwear, and when they see me wearing thong under my tights they’ll may get the courage to do it.

  3. Black Stallion says:

    I wear tights for gym, lounging, or running errands, or simply because I feel like it. No I’m not going to wear shorts over them. And yes you can tell my religion “sometimes”.
    I figure it like this, I’m not on this earth for your entertainment, nor am I here to please you. So those who look, just look, those who don’t care to look, or are un-phased, cool. They are comfortable. That’s just it, they’re comfortable.
    Now, what do I wear under them? Sometimes I go commando, or I wear a thong. I don’t think anybody really cares.
    Once again, I always have to be the adult, and break the social norms.

    • The Bottom Drawer says:

      Do you have ones with a pocket for running errands? I see some have them, which is probably designed for a phone. Now that I have a couple pairs that aren’t padded for bike riding, I’ll start experimenting with them some.

      • Black Stallion 76 says:

        I have some with pockets, and I have some without pockets.
        The ones without pockets, I wear a runner Fanny pack with.
        Is like a Fanny pack, but it’s smaller and streamlined. Small enough to carry keys, money, or cards.

  4. T says:

    This subject matter might seem like a fairly recent trend,but it probably goes back a lot further than we realise. I don’t wish to go back as far as medieval times,so how about starting with all the male ballet dancers who wear very revealing often flesh coloured tights with just a thong underneath. Then we can add the hair metal bands of the 80’s who wore sprayed on spandex pants(David Lee Roth springs to mind).

    I’m not a gym bunny or runner,but nary a day goes by when I don’t see a guy out running wearing tights(with or without shorts on top),or on social media. I agree with Nate that wearing shorts over the top does look silly,but I understand that the main reason is probably maintaining one’s modesty.
    On the other side of the coin,the wearing of almost totally transparent tights has become the go to for self styled “glute gods” and gym exhibitionists on social media. Most of the gym guys will have a t-shirt that covers their bulge,but they tend to lift it up at the back to show off their butts when they are being filmed. The guys who are promoting their butt building programmes understandably want to show off the fruits of their labours,and recently I saw one going through his exercise routine on a public path by a river,wearing totally transparent tights with no underwear and just a small dark modesty patch at the front. I had to admire his confidence and understood that underwear would have detracted from the visual image he was going for as well as pleasing his many followers.
    In closing,I’m unlikely to have a need for these tights in the future,but for those of you who do, I say good luck to you and don’t let anyone tell you you shouldn’t be wearing them(which goes for thongs,bikinis etc too).

  5. SM_Thongguy says:

    Hi Nate and forum

    What a great topic. You mentioned something very interesting. Tights are more acceptable due to the activity or sport. Such as biking.

    I had always wanted to be like the guys who just wear tights without shorts. Being skinny, I started to gym and bought tights.

    I’d wear shorts over and found out I look more dork and uncomfortable then anything else.

    After a 2 years of gym and actual results. I went the no shorts route.

    Just today I was at gym with tights and Tshirt. My gribe is more showing VP outline.

    So I make sure shirt is longer or have sports boxer brief on.

    If I don’t shower at gym.. I wear a thong underneath.

    There are some materials that will show what you have on underneath.

    One such is Formatex lycra. It’s basically a very form fitting material and used to print specific prints on.

    Some brand like Nike introduced cheaper lighter polyester as well which can show outline.

    To me wearing tights is being proud of your body or just showing you are comfortable. With all the reasons you mentioned as well. It’s way better than shorts.

  6. SM_Thongguy says:

    One more thing.

    I’m in the process of R&D for my own tights brand.

    The same issues you often find with underwear seems to be with tights.

    Name brands with over priced tights

    One local brand has center seem for men’s tights. Which makes your balls look like vagina moulds

    So always check that the front is designed for men.

    In my country the other issue is. Black and Grey is the staple. Anything that is a different color cost double the price.

    So it often feels like the same issue with underwear. That men must just follow this lane. Who decides it I don’t know

    • Scotti J says:

      Hey SM thong guy, just thought I would give you my two cents since I’ve purchased a lot of tights, leggings and joggers over the years. Yeah, the front seam is not necessary as is turning the front pouch into a different color. Definite a turn off! But also you MUST have a seam on the back side. I was extremely disappointed when I bought a pair of tights and the butt had no seam. These were pretty expensive and looked great with that one exception. I didn’t send em back thinking I d wear em. But I never do. So, yeah, the back but seam is really important!

      • SM_Thongguy says:

        Hey Scotti

        Also experienced this. I always make sure I see both front and back.

        Especially if it’s online.

        With having made custom one recently. The image differed from actual product.

        So it has center seem front and back.

        Exactly like a female tights. Will wear it but not doing business with this company again.

  7. Brian says:

    I personally can’t stand lose fitting clothes especially swimwear and gym clothes! Honestly I finally tried a pair of women’s yoga shorts and was instantly hooked! So much movement and comfort! I usually look for an inseam of 3-5 inches… sometimes I get some looks, but honestly who cares? I’ve had multiple women complement my quads and glutes and ask for advice on which exercises I do lol…. my advice is wear what you want, life is too short to care about what the haters might think! My personal goal is to learn how to paddleboard (I live in Florida) and yes I’ll be wearing my swim bikinis while I do it!

    • The Bottom Drawer says:

      We should have no issues with form fitting shorts too. Probably not a whole lot of difference between contruction of men’s in women’s when made of stretchy material. I thought paddling boarding in a swim bikini would be fun too. I also want to water ski in them!

  8. Randy says:

    I’m trying to detour the thoughts of guys can’t wear stuff that shows the bulge. I don’t like the term tights, like to use the term leggings just like the female counter parts do. I started riding mtb and wearing cycling shorts 10 years ago. This gave me confidence to wear briefs and less plus leggings. I’m usually the only male in the gym wearing leggings. I have only seen one other guy wear them in a gym.
    I wear them everywhere I go except for business. Shopping, eating out, gym & yoga of course. I don’t wear anything under or over them. I try to wear long T’s or hoodies to help with the wow factor. The looks I get are amazing from stocked to smiles. I agree with Back Stallion on breaking the social norms.

    • Randy says:

      My go to brands for leggings are, Virus, 2XU and Nike cold gear for winters in Michigan. Under Armour are not good because they have see through crouch areas
      I haven’t tried any women’s leggings yet.

    • The Bottom Drawer says:

      I’m not a fan of the term meggings. I don’t see why we need to differentiate men’s and women’s leggings or other types of clothes that are basically the same thing (potential future blog topic). I don’t mind the term tights, since that is what I’ve always seen them named for biking, which is all I owned until recently. I think the term tights is a broad category and a descriptor with it like dancer, exercise, bicycle, etc, since they are going to be different for those activities. I also know that what my daughter wears under her dresses are called tights, but they are footed. The term leggings works for me.

  9. Black Stallion76 says:

    Here is the thing.
    Wear your leggings, never mind the display. If you’re a man you have a Dick, penis, pecker, Johnson, or whatever you want to call it. If other people can’t help but to notice what you’ve got, you have to ask yourself, “ where is their head at, what are they thinking about”? This includes women. Yes, I said it includes women.
    They most likely will be the ones to say something about covering up.
    Think about that, “ DOUBLE STANDARD”. And you can bet, a majority of them wear leggings also, and if you’re a guy who says anything at all about them wearing leggings, whether negative or positive, they will have something negative to say, or just be upset with you, and find you to be the creep.
    This is one reason why I say wear leggings, and don’t give it a second thought, other than a shirt and shoes to match. Most men need to stop acting like little phussies, because they are worried about what others think. Be a man wear them, and go on about your day.

  10. Simon says:

    I took up running earlier this year and I do wear running tights with no shorts.

    I have been in to cycling on and off since I was about 10 years old and have always worn Lycra shorts / tights.

    For some reason it took a bit more courage to run in tights but they are super comfortable and I like the way they feel so I got over any fear quickly.

    I wear a thong under running tights. With cycling clothes I wear nothing underneath, as intended.

  11. Black Stallion 76 says:

    Here is something everybody overlooks, and they think it makes things better, but it only makes things worse, and it only draws more attention to the groin area.
    They need to “Stop” adding those groin seams to leggings, or those pouches, like they put on base layers leggings.
    And stop putting those center seams in Guys leggings
    Like I said, it only draws more attention. I have leggings without the pouch and they fit perfectly. In fact it’s not only good at Supporting the package like the leggings pouch, it also doesn’t have that uncomfortable center seam that divides, shifts, or gives you that makes cameltoe.
    It also doesn’t stand out saying “LOOK AT ME, I’M THE GROIN”.
    I mean come on let’s be real.
    I have Lululemon, and N2N men’s leggings, and they don’t have that exterior center seam, or that ugly obvious groin pouch.
    Face it, these so called leggings makers, think they are doing justice, but they only make us look more ridiculous.
    Try N2N or Lululemon, the men’s versions, and I promise you’ll like those better.
    Not only are they comfortable, but they look good, fit well, and they have a little more style than those long Johns, or base layers, which obviously are “Underwear”.

  12. S says:

    I’ve been wearing leggings all winter working from home. Matador Meggings (https://matadormeggings.com) are my favorite, followed by some PIQIDIG Workout Leggings found on Amazon. Matador Meggings come with a pad to avoid VPL but are much more comfortable with it removed. They are both great, but Matador is the most comfortable accounting for package comfort. Both are most comfortable without underwear and never shorts over the top. Easy to say, harder to do, own what you’ve got and stop worrying about reactions. My biggest gripe with leggings is the gradual slide down over time and the need to pull them up and adjust. If there was a little rubberized band/ stripe built-in to help them grip the waist and upper thigh, it might help mitigate the inevitable slide.

  13. SM_Thongguy says:

    One of the hottest topics lol.

    Definitely agree, leggings or compression tights are comfortable and sexy. Much like the thongs we wear.

    It provides confidence and shows off good form and provides freedom of movement.

    One guy really pushing the norms is Theepursuitofselflove on Instagram.

    Wearing leggings, bikinis and even swim thongs on beach. He is well endowed but still receive backlash.

    If he is on his own, someone must say something

    If he is with his gf, then it’s okay.

    Always comes back to people having gay prejudice. And lack of being open minded.

    Great to read everyone’s view and experience.

  14. Scotti J says:

    Love this subject. I’m always telling the wife how unfair it is about the double standard of woman wearing tights any where and if a man were to do the same, weather it’s tights, leggings or tight joggers people giving them the stink eye.
    I agree with Black Stallion, screw them. If they’re comfortable, wear them. I used to wear them to the gym when i could go to the gym, pre pandemic and what changed my mind on the whole subject was how much more comfortable they are than even sweats. Also they’re better for your circulation especially when they re tight such as compression tights. And yes I wear a thong under them. I’m not sure if you can tell but I do only buy tights that have a seam in the back.
    So guys, skip the stupid shorts, and if you must wear a shirt that will cover up the boys, go for it, but be true to your self and wear those leggings!!!

  15. John S says:

    I use tights for jogging. I bought some from Target’s private label for women, which they make in extra long sizes. Under the tights I wear a very tight Japanese Speedo. I tuck my penis and testicles tightly in between my legs and scrunch it in the back so that the seam of my tights runs between my cheeks.

    I really like the smoothness of the tights.

    On the one hand, I don’t get why many people find it socially acceptable to stare and make comments, while they would never do the same to women wearing a halter top or a sports bra. On the other hand, there’s something enjoyable about making people feel awkward about me showing my body (or simply its contours). Anyone else have that?

  16. Samuel says:

    Good story, on a good subject. I have been getting more brave and wearing my tight/ leggings more out and about. Wearing a thongs or a nice bikini bottom is a must. I like wearing them in the cool time of year. At In the fall, winter. I love them and how they fit. I like going to my Community ad store, salvation army stores and pick them out of the women areas of clothing. I have had the cheap Walmart and good underarm hole length not the 7/8 crop kind. I am a big fan of the taper leg Danskin/ Playtex womens tights/leggings. I am very fond of the pairs that I find at this store and they have a tag that said USA on them. So when I find those and they are the right fit I buy them right up. They may friends were made at one time in York Pa.

  17. Geoff says:

    I also wear mens exercise tights, the ones offered on Amazon are pretty good or at least the ones I have found are working for me. I wear them for warmth in the winter under jeans especially outside and even sitting around at home. I also simply like the feel of them, I’m comfortable with me and my skin. I also wear thong underwear, under the tights and on their own in the warmer weather, again I like the feel of a thong when it fits properly in the right places, they offer perfect support and nothing moves or rides up. Society is all too good at dictating what is considered to be normal, and the crimes of straying outside of that normal.

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