I reckon there's nothing that exposes bad training underwear faster than a serious training session. You find out within the first 10 minutes whether what you're wearing is going to keep up or make your life difficult. In my opinion, training underwear is a completely different performance brief from everyday underwear — it needs to handle sweat, constant movement, friction, and physical intensity without shifting, chafing, riding up, or making you feel like you're fighting your own gear. The bloke who's mid-set trying to deal with training underwear that's bunched up or sliding around is the bloke whose training suffers for it. Getting the right training underwear is as legitimate a performance decision as getting the right shoes.

I think the clearest example of training underwear making or breaking a session came from a mate who does triathlons. He'd spent years trying to find training underwear that handled the cycling leg without chafing, the running leg without riding up, and the transition without feeling like a damp disaster. He tried 7 different pairs across 3 years before finding a quality moisture-wicking trunk cut that stayed in place through all 3 disciplines. In my thought, 3 years is a long time to tolerate bad training underwear — but it also shows how much the right pair matters once you find it. Training underwear that handles a triathlon handles everything.

In my opinion, the right training underwear has 4 non-negotiable qualities. First, moisture management — it needs to pull sweat away from the skin and dry quickly rather than staying damp and heavy. Wet training underwear against skin during prolonged activity causes chafing that builds from mild to genuinely painful. Second, a stay-put construction — training underwear that rides up during a run or shifts during a set is a distraction and an irritation. Flat seams and proper leg band tension are essential. Third, support without restriction — training underwear needs to hold everything in place firmly without compressing to the point of discomfort. Fourth, durability under frequent washing — training underwear gets washed constantly, often on hot cycles, and it needs to hold its shape and function without degrading quickly. I feel like cheap training underwear fails on at least 2 of these.

To me, training underwear is gear — the same way your shoes, your shorts, and your training top are gear — and it deserves the same level of consideration. I genuinely believe blokes who invest in proper training underwear perform better and recover more comfortably than blokes wearing everyday pairs to the gym and hoping for the best. The way I see it, every rep, every run, and every ride is slightly better when your training underwear isn't working against you. Barramundies makes training underwear for Australian blokes who take their training seriously — moisture-managing fabric, proper construction, built to keep up with whatever you're putting yourself through.