What to Wear Best picks
The Best Yoga Shorts
Shorts fail in exactly two ways. They ride up, or they go sheer. Both are solved by the same two specifications.
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Quick picks
The short answer
1 · Best yoga shorts overall
BALEAF High Waisted Biker ShortsThick, opaque and long enough in the leg that they stay where you put them. Warmer than a light short.
Maker lists length: Sold in several inseams
2 · Best for a heated room
CRZ YOGA Naked Feeling Biker ShortsLight, smooth and quick-drying. Thinner, which is the point and also the thing to check.
Maker lists fabric: Smooth, sweat-wicking knit
3 · If shorts keep riding up
CRZ YOGA Naked Feeling LeggingsThe legging version of the same fabric. Nothing to ride up, and a mat will not stick to bare thighs.
Maker lists fabric: Smooth, sweat-wicking knit
#ad · Prices are set by Amazon and change often, so we do not print them. Figures here are the manufacturer's own. The ranking is editorial, made against the criteria on our How We Pick page, not from lab work. Photos are stock. Tap a pick for the full write-up.
The short answer
Buy a high-waisted biker short with an inseam of at least five inches. Longer legs do not ride up, high waistbands do not roll, and those two properties solve almost everything that goes wrong with shorts in a yoga class.
The riding-up problem
Short shorts ride up because there is not enough fabric below the widest part of your thigh to anchor them. Every wide-legged pose pushes them higher, and you spend the class adjusting.
The fix is inseam length, and it is almost entirely a fix. A five to eight inch inseam sits below the point where the leg widens, so the fabric has something to grip and stays put. Silicone grippers at the hem help a little and are far less reliable than simply having enough leg.
| Inseam | Behavior in wide poses | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 in | Rides up constantly | Running, not yoga |
| 5 in | Mostly stays put | The sensible default |
| 8 in | Does not move | Anyone who has been annoyed by shorter ones |
| 10 in+ | Effectively a short legging | Heated rooms where thighs stick |
The sheer problem
Shorts are under more stretch than leggings in the same movement, because a smaller piece of fabric is covering the widest part of you. That means a fabric that is perfectly opaque as a legging can be marginal as a short.
The test is the same and worth doing twice: stretch the fabric across your palm and look for skin tone, then bend fully forward in front of a mirror in daylight. The full method is in the squat test, and it applies to shorts more than anything else in this hub.
The other thing shorts change is your relationship with the mat. Bare thighs grip a mat better than fabric, which helps in standing poses, and they stick to it in seated ones, which is unpleasant on a warm day. A grippier mat surface makes the first better and the second worse.
In detail
Every pick, in full
1
Stock photoBest yoga shorts overall
BALEAF High Waisted Biker Shorts
As the manufacturer lists it
What it gets right
- Long enough not to ride up in wide-legged poses
- Thick enough to be genuinely opaque
- Pockets on most versions
What it does not
- Warmer than a lightweight short
- Thick waistband can roll when seated
- Sizing varies between colorways, buyers report
Skip it if
you want the lightest possible short for a heated room.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Affiliate disclosure for the link to BALEAF High Waisted Biker Shorts
2
Stock photoBest for a heated room
CRZ YOGA Naked Feeling Biker Shorts
As the manufacturer lists it
What it gets right
- Light and quick-drying
- Smooth fabric does not chafe at the inner thigh
- Several inseams available
What it does not
- Thin — do the squat test
- Less structure than a compressive short
- Shows sweat
Skip it if
you want opacity above everything else.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Affiliate disclosure for the link to CRZ YOGA Naked Feeling Biker Shorts
3
Stock photoIf shorts keep riding up
CRZ YOGA Naked Feeling Leggings
As the manufacturer lists it
What it gets right
- Cool and quick-drying in a heated room
- Smooth surface does not collect lint
- Wide waistband stays put
What it does not
- Thinner fabric — squat-test them before you rely on them
- Shows sweat more visibly
- Less flattering compression than the Butterluxe
Skip it if
you want maximum coverage and compression — the Butterluxe is thicker.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Affiliate disclosure for the link to CRZ YOGA Naked Feeling Leggings
What to look for
- Inseam at least 5 in. The single most important specification here.
- A high, wide waistband in the same knit, not a separate elastic strip.
- Flatlock inner-thigh seams, which is where chafing happens in shorts specifically.
- Thicker fabric than you would accept in a legging, because of the extra stretch.
- Side pockets only if you need them. A loaded pocket on a short leg swings.
If shorts still ride up after all that, the honest answer is that shorts are not for your body shape, and a light legging will annoy you less — the light legging options are here.
How we picked
Chosen on published criteria, and we say so
Most gear sites open by telling you how many hours they spent with the products. We have not used most of these, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. Every pick here is chosen against criteria we publish — grip, cushioning, size options, what buyers report after a year of use, and whether the thing is still actually sold — and every manufacturer figure on the page is labeled as the maker's claim.
Nobody pays for a place on this page, no product was supplied free in exchange for coverage, and a specification the maker does not publish is never guessed at. See the full criteria and weighting.
FAQ
Questions people ask
What length yoga shorts should I buy?
Are biker shorts good for yoga?
Do yoga shorts go see-through?
Related
Keep reading
Update log
What changed
- First published.
Receipts
Sources
- 1.OutdoorGearLab — The Best Yoga Pants
- 2.NBC Select — The best yoga props and apparel
- 3.That Fit Friend — CRZ YOGA Butterluxe legging review
- 4.Healthline — The Best Workout Mats
We have not used every product on this page, and we do not pretend otherwise. Thicknesses, materials, sizes and warranty terms are the manufacturer's published figures, shown as their claims. Anything about materials, skin or injury is linked to a source. Prices are set by Amazon and change constantly, so we never print one. Read the full method.