13 best men’s gym bags for carrying all your workout kit

What this rucksack can’t hold probably isn’t worth hauling to the gym. There are water bottle holders on either side which easily held our protein shakers, two smaller zipped pockets on the front for accessories, a sneaky padded laptop sleeve on the back and two large compartments in the body of the bag.

We found the main compartment easily stored a few pairs of shoes, which CrossFit fans wanting to switch between training shoes, runners and lifters will appreciate. But our favourite feature was a hidden, waterproof and aerated pocket on the bottom of the bag, perfect for storing your sweaty gym clothes – just don’t forget to take them out at the end of the day.

The straps and back are heavily padded for comfort, and the bag has been load-tested to 30kg, so you can even use it for a spot of rucking if you want. The only downside? The hefty price tag.

Dwayne Johnson has given this 36l backpack his seal of approval, and like the man himself, this is a gym bag with a very tough exterior – from its abrasion-resistant bottom panels to a finish made from Under Armour’s storm technology (made with water resistance in mind).

The straps are configured so the bag can be carried either as a backpack or a duffel, with an ingenious zipped opening doubling as the backpack straps panel, for easy access to the main compartment.

Inside you’ll find a lined sleeve that will secure a 15in laptop, and plenty of other pockets so that you can separate your phone, car keys and headphones from the bigger items. Post workout, your shoes and laundry can then fit into a roomy, gusseted pocket placed at the bottom of the bag.

We liked the understated design of this spacious gym bag. There’s plenty of room inside the 60l duffel, with its zipped main compartment, which has another one underneath that’s really cavernous and will store two pairs of trainers with ease.

The outer pockets are good for quick-grab items and the whole bag feels very well made, especially in the areas that usually start to degrade over time, such as zips, seams and straps attachments.

Backpacks aren’t for everyone, especially if your commute is a busy one so if a duffel style is more your speed, you can’t go wrong with this sleek style from Nike.

Rucking (walking or hiking with a weighted bag) is growing in popularity – if you have limited time to exercise, why not get more bang for your buck from walking?

GoRuck specialises in rucksacks for this very purpose, with the GR2 handing 22.5kg of ruck plates and whatever other gym gear we chucked in it with ease. Inspired by special forces medical packs, the robust materials feel almost bullet-proof too, with the brand so confident in its product that it offers a lifetime guarantee to any buyer.

Beyond this, the padded straps and back panel felt comfortable, even when we were hauling heavy weights, and the inner laptop sleeve-turned-plate compartment held them in a place that distributed the weight nice and evenly across our back.

We also liked being able to open the entire bag up to easily access any area of the main compartment – even finicky little bits like lifting straps that had fallen to the bottom.

There weren’t as many exterior compartments as other competitiors, which we missed a bit, and the price is eye-watering. But with GoRuck’s lifetime guarantee, this might be the last bag you ever buy.

Made from the same waterproof PU material which makes up the brand’s highly effective rain coats, this 30l bag is perfect for anyone who doesn’t let a downpour get in the way of their daily workout.

Comfortable on the shoulder or in-hand, we liked the boxy, simplistic styling, which is restricted to one main compartment and a zipped front pocket.

This may not be the biggest bag going, but everything was where we needed it to be when we got to the gym and the added benefit of knowing our belongings would stay bone-dry on the wettest days gave us peace of mind too.

Completing a Hyrox race is an impressive achievement. If you’re part of team Hyrox and you want everyone at the gym to know you’re capable of this hardcore fitness feat, this is the bag for you.

It has a velcro section on the front where you can slap personalised patches, and comes with a couple of Hyrox ones to get you started. The zippers also have the word “Hyrox” on them – just in case anyone didn’t get the message.

Beyond the branding, it’s also a fantastic bag. As a slightly slimmed down version of Built For Athlete’s top-scoring pro rucksack, it still has plenty of pockets for stashing your valuables, lifting knick-knacks and bottles. It also boasts a hidden waterproof compartment underneath for all your sweaty gear.

The spacious main compartment easily housed our running shoes and lifters, while the padded shoulder straps and waist strap helped keep us comfortable when we carted it to the office and back. Like it’s bigger brother, it’s pricey, but you get what you pay for.

With a nice comfortable shoulder strap that takes the weight of a fully loaded bag, this voluminous 85l duffel has two big external pockets, which we found were ideal for used gear and trainers, and a handy slip pocket inside to store your earphones. This still left plenty of room for changes of clothes, a water bottle and protein shaker.

Considering how big this bag is, it didn’t feel unwieldy, and it’s comfortable to carry over the shoulder or in hand. The reinforced panels at the bottom and sides means that it also makes for a good weekender bag when you’re having a well-earned rest from all that training.

Although the larger dimensions do make it a bit trickier to stash when you’re travelling by bus or train so bear this in mind if you’re planning on commuting with it at rush hour.

If you take a military mindset into the gym, this Bergen-esque 25l backpack will suit you down to the ground. It boasts four compartments, the largest of which can easily house your shirt, shorts and trainers. The three other compartments come in descending size order, and will be able to take a 15in laptop, notebooks and all the other pocket shrapnel we carry around. The two biggest compartments open out to 180 degrees, making it easy to pack and unpack, and there are two side bottle holders.

No matter how loaded the bag was, we were still able to dial in some good ergonomics, thanks to waist and sternum straps, along with some compression straps that can slim the bag down when it’s not fully loaded. Although we did find, when it was at capacity, it extended back quite far, making us far from popular when using the tube.

If you want an extra bit of #fitinspo, you can buy Velcro patches to personalise the top pocket of the bag with motivational phrases that range from the encouraging “Hard work pays off” to the brutally blunt “Nobody cares, work harder”.

This Myprotein barrel bag is uncomplicated and affordable – two attributes we can get behind.

The large main compartment is plenty big enough to store a change of clothes and a whole host of workout accessories, while the zipped inner pocket is a welcome addition for valuables like your keys and phone.

Admittedly, you don’t get some of the premium features seen on other bags in this list, such as heavily padded straps, waterproof compartments for sweat-logged clothes and protected laptop sleeves. But the top zip running along the length does mean everything inside is pretty accessible, however messy the bag is.

So, if you’re after a sleek, cheap and simple gym bag to sling over your shoulder, this is a solid shout.

If you really travel light to your workout, then this canvas sack might be all you need, with a top-opening, zipped main compartment and a small zipped pocket on the outside.

It’s only 17l, but we were still able to fit all our regular kit, including trainers, water bottle and shaker inside it.

The over-the-shoulder straps are fully adjustable, and it’s a good option for lunch-break workouts, porting over the necessary kit from your bigger commuter bag and letting you get there and back with minimal fuss.

Stylish and supremely comfortable, this canvas bag has a 21l capacity, which is plenty of room for all your workout gear, as well as a work laptop and folders. There’s plenty of functionality, too, with an internal 16in padded laptop compartment, as well as two side pockets and inner and outer zipped pockets for smaller items.

The canvas material ensures durability and breathability, and will help you stand out from the gym herd in town, too.

You’ll have to figure out how you want to segregate your sweaty socks post workout, but if you want something a little more permanent than a plastic bag, you can purchase a bundle of three different-sized packing cubes from Stubble & Co, which will add £30 to the total cost.

If your gym bag gets plenty of use, then firstly, good for you, and secondly, this 30l duffel will be able to stand up to wear and tear so could be a great investment.

It has a big main compartment, which will give easy access to training apparel, and a zipped inner mesh pocket to keep all of your tech bits and valuables separate. 

The vardag has a padded base and is constructed from G-1000 HeavyDuty eco S, Fjällräven’s hard-wearing outdoor fabric, which weathers very nicely, so the bag will only look better the buffer you get.

It also makes a great weekend bag so you can bet you’ll get plenty of use out of it and it will have your back, no matter how far you travel with it.

If you’re a heavy lifter even before you get to the gym and tend to carry a lot of kit around with you, then you’ll like this 33l carrier, which has the convenience of a backpack but with the easy access of a duffel.

Comfortable and ergonomic in backpack mode, when you put the bag down, a large zipper opening means that you can easily find what you need without having to take everything out. There’s an internal, padded, 15in laptop compartment and two external easy access pockets, as well as bottle pockets on either side of the bag.

The whole bag feels high quality too, made from waxed, water-resistant fabric, and we really liked the false bottom, which means you can dump it down on the ground when it’s really heavy and know that any hardware or valuables inside are well protected.