The Best Women’s Gym Bags

They’re essential for carrying your gym clobber, and—whether you favor a backpack, tote, handbag-style or duffel—the best gym bags are both practical and stylish. 

From water bottles and gym wear to protein shakes, sweat towels and toiletries, your gym bag may need to hold a fair bit of kit. Even if you’re a more minimalist gym-goer and need only a small bag, it’s still vital to choose the right one so you can bring the things you need.

At any rate the bag you choose needs to be comfortable to carry, because back and shoulder pain is never fun. Plus, extra features are always welcome, including dedicated pockets for damp kit or smelly trainers, laptop compartments for tech and nifty interior pockets for smaller items such as keys, coins and gels.

There’s a vast range of women’s gym bags on the market—it can be a bit of a minefield, but luckily we’ve done the hard work for you. Here are all our current favorite gym bags, from heavy-duty backpacks to smaller, more discreet bags.

If you’re sprucing up your gym kit, check out our round ups of the best gym shorts or gym leggings and our pick of gym tops for women.

The Best Women's Gym Bags

A jack of all trades, this bag can be used as a regular duffel bag or worn as a backpack if carrying heavier loads, to save your back and shoulders. This bag is great on the go—the fabric is water repellent and the bag has the capacity to hold a fair bit of stuff. A laptop compartment keeps tech protected, whilst smaller pockets hold essentials, and inside there are mesh pockets too. 

The backpack straps can be a little annoying if you’re using this as a duffel bag as they can flap around, although you can tuck them into one of the back pockets, which does help. The price is pretty steep, but it’s a versatile bag that even has a trolley-compatible sleeve—perfect to slip on your suitcase for a trip.

Although this is a tote-style bag, it does hold more than you might think, although it’s still far smaller than your standard gym bag. But I like to have a smaller option for those days where I just want to carry the essentials—if, say, I’m not showering at the gym, I don’t need a change of outfit and a bunch of toiletries. 

While it is expensive for a tote bag, it’s made with good-quality, thick fabric. Although the light color means it shows the dirt, it’s easy to throw in the washing machine. 

I like the inner back zip pocket, which is handy for essentials—no more rummaging in the depths of a tote bag for your keys.

Although this bag is good for general gym use, it’s also ideal for water sports thanks to the waterproof PVC tarpaulin fabric and Velcro rolltop closure (you’ll need to roll the opening three times if you want a watertight seal). The seams are welded rather than stitched, so there’s no chance of water creeping in elsewhere. 

The eye-catching yellow stands out from the crowd so you won’t need to worry about losing your bag among all the boring black ones. This duffel folds flat, making it easy to store, but when open it holds at least 10L of stuff. If you don’t need it to be watertight, the Velcro closure means you can fill it to the brim—unlike zippered bags, when filling the bag can risk breaking the zip. 

I like how the bag opens so wide that I can throw anything into it and its option of either short handle straps or a longer shoulder strap. There are no inner pockets, though, making organization a little tricker. Need more space? Gill also does this bag in a 30L size, so you can pack even more in.

If you’re looking for a great all-rounder that ticks all the boxes and won’t leave you penniless, this MP bag is the one. It’s comfortable to carry thanks to padding on the long strap as well as the two shorter straps, and it has plenty of pockets for storage and to help keep things organized. The side zip pockets have been designed to hold shoes, and there’s also a front zip pocket and inside zip pocket. 

I would have liked even more pockets—perhaps a laptop compartment. However, for under $60/£50 this is a pretty good find and does the job well. I also like the smooth base of this bag, making it easy to wipe clean should you put it down on any dirty surfaces.

If you want to carry all your fitness essentials (and the kitchen sink), then this beast of a bag fits the bill. This is a seriously tough, good-quality backpack, and you can tell it’s going to last a lifetime. It’s been tested to carry 15kg loads, and has plenty of supportive straps, including sternum and waist straps, for extra stability so you can walk or run with your bag safely secured. According to the brand, the fabric is water-resistant and rip-proof.

The two side bottle holders are each capable of holding a 1L bottle (allowing you to pack your protein shaker and water bottle). The main compartment opens out 180° so you can pack and unpack tidily. I managed to cram a lot of things in here during testing including a pair of trainers, work shoes, laptop (in the inner mesh pocket), an outfit for the office, my lunch, and a make-up bag and toiletries. And there was still space for more! 

Oh, and if you’re a fan of collecting patches—y’know, from comps and events—then this is the perfect bag to display them on the hook and loop fastening upper pocket. I liked the clean look of the white camo colourway, but there are plenty of other options to choose from. 

PE Nation has created a sporty looking mini-handbag that’s just for carrying your essentials—ideal for gym sessions when you don’t plan on hanging around to shower or change. It’s stylish and sleek and takes up very little space, though the fabric can be wiped clean so it does still have a gym-bag vibe to it. I used it as I would a handbag. The bag has an internal zip pocket for small items and two external pockets which I used for my lip balm and keys. As well as the webbing handles, there is a cross-body strap for a more hands-free approach. I like the strap that sits around the bag: It can be tightened to keep things compact or loosened to allow the bag to expand a little.