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I had a thought when I was at the gym today. My gym is on the campus of a university so I always run on the track before heading over there. Today while I was on the track there were three very hot and attractive toned men running on the track. One of the guys was wearing what I always wear tight lycra workout shorts...the other two were wearing short short running shorts frankly this is how short shorts should be in my opinion...but the thought I had was one I find more men are willing to wear lycra shorts or short shorts at the gym I see it more now and its becoming more popular, at least at my gym. This makes me wonder if those guys wear speedos to the beach or pool...if lycra shorts and short shorts are more popular you would think speedos would be more popular among guys.

The second thought is why don't men adopt speedos for exercising... its not far off from lycra shorts. They could even wear square cuts and doesn't have to be a full on brief. It can get pretty hot here in SoCal especially during the summer. It is really interesting in the way men perceive body image in our society.

My guess to some of these things is that it depends on the environment in that as a society there isn't a stigma for guys to wear lycra shorts or short shorts for exercise at the gym or while doing sports. lycra shorts and short shorts are seen in different sports such as rugby and football...baseball even has form fitting clothing. What are your guys thoughts? Thought I would put this out there an see what you guys have to say.

I really do hope society in the states starts to change its mind about the male figure... while I don't think it should be objectified I think we could start to appreciate and celebrate the male form, especially those who work hard for a good physique.

Outside of the gym, you see almost universally that bikers wear spandex bike shorts. Absolutely nobody bats an eye at them. Even if they stopped ar a store. So I too would hope things lighten up about spandex swimming attire. If spandex can be accepted in more public areas, why not swimming?

frankjath, where I live in the northern part of the US, compression lycra gear is becoming much more popular, and I would even say, the norm; however, for different reasons then in California, it gets cold here! We are more into covering our bodies with form fitting, warm clothes then going less in the lycra. The cross country ski trails are primarily filled with guys and gals wearing layers upon layers of lycra gear, and the puffy ski pants and jackets are hardly ever seen anymore. Even the snowmobiler's are commonly seen wearing layers of UA compression Coldgear shirts under our coats (I haven't peeked in many of their bibs, but I know my buddies and I wear compression gear under ours, we like having fun in the cold, but don't like getting cold!).

Near where I live, there is a very popular walking path and as it got colder, more runners were seen with the compression shorts under their running shorts, and are now wearing tights under the shorts, and thankfully, the shorts are becoming more and more of what used to be the standard running shorts. Seeing the long basketball shorts (male skirt) is becoming a rarer sight, which I prefer because I hate having the material hitting below my knees and they are just that much more practical, less restriction and freedom....who ever thought is was a good idea to run in shorts that went below the knee just wasn't thinking, but I digress.

I hadn't noticed this past summer many guys running in just the compression shorts outside the organized school events, many with them under their shorts, but not alone. The women are doing more and more so, which is just fine with me. ;) I do see the trend growing with guys daring to run in just the lycra shorts, but more towards the bike-type shorts because most compression gear is meant to be under garments and that would be weird seeing a lot of guys running around in their underwear.

With the explosion of Under Armour, people have realized that compression lycra gear just makes sense as it is so much more comfortable to workout in, in and out of the gym, and when done that the muscles feel better. I don't see the trend of compression clothing going away, I see it growing, but unfortunately, it may be awhile before it hits the beaches and pools around here.

I haven't seen an increase in men rocking lycra, pretty much the opposite infact. When I started mountain biking circa 2o years ago proper sexy lycra cycling shorts were the norm. Then they faded away just like Speedo's in the pool and now I see it happening with road cycling, that is "Racing bikes". Once no one with a road bike would have been seen dead in baggies now loose shorts are becoming more and more common in Britain. Hmm'n!
That's my perspective as a cyclist and a swimmer, maybe in gyms it's different: I hope so!

Norfcountryboy wrote:I haven't seen an increase in men rocking lycra, pretty much the opposite infact. When I started mountain biking circa 2o years ago proper sexy lycra cycling shorts were the norm. Then they faded away just like Speedo's in the pool and now I see it happening with road cycling, that is "Racing bikes". Once no one with a road bike would have been seen dead in baggies now loose shorts are becoming more and more common in Britain. Hmm'n!
That's my perspective as a cyclist and a swimmer, maybe in gyms it's different: I hope so!

I too am a cyclist (road and mountain), and I would agree with you about mountain bikers not wearing cycling shorts; however, I would disagree about road bikers. Perhaps it is an upswing of people of the general public choosing to ride road bikes for transportation, but in my area it is still very common to see cycling shorts on people riding for recreation. Then again I'm in the states, perhaps it's completely different across the pond.