The Power Cycling Shorts by Sweaty Betty are one of their most popular styles and they come in several different lengths. Whilst these were not made with yoga in mind, I had previously heard others mention how they enjoyed wearing these to practice in. Naturally, I was intrigued so I thought I’d give these a go!

Summary

These are a versatile pair of shorts in that they can be used for a range of different activities. Due to the medium compression fabric and sculpting seam lines, they are a durable option that provide you with great support. Since these aren’t specifically designed for yoga, they won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. However, if you are fairly easy going with what you wear to yoga, you might find that these are an excellent pair of shorts that can take you from the yoga studio, to the gym, for a run etc.

Pros

• Durable, high performance fabric
• Seam lines designed to sculpt your bum 
• Fabric on legs stays in place
• Side pocket & a zipped back pocket
• Adjustable drawstring at waist
• Can be worn for a variety of physical activities
  

Cons

• Zip on the lower back not ideal for lying in supine poses 
• Waistband rolls down a bit when moving back into child’s pose
• Some might find too compressive for yoga 
  

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Material

The Power Shorts are made of Polyamide Elastane fabric. They are soft to touch, have great 4-way stretch and are supportive.

These have a slightly thicker material than the ‘second skin’ type fabric that you often find in yoga bottoms, however because they are still very stretchy this doesn’t restrict your movement in any way. 

Support/compression

I would describe these as having a medium level of compression. They provide you with some tummy control and your legs also feel very held in. If you are someone who prefers to be snuggly supported by your yoga clothing then you would likely appreciate this. To be clear, however, these are by no means high compression so don’t be scared off by this point. 

Coverage

In my experience, the mid-rise waist of these shorts cover the lower tummy area, without coming all the way up over the belly button. Of course, it depends how high you choose to pull them up but looking at other people wearing the power shorts, this seems to be where they sit on many people. 

Sweaty Betty have described these as 80-90% squat proof and as far as I’m concerned these aren’t see-through at all so you are safe to move into downward dog or a forward fold of your choice without any issues!

Breathable?

Having worn these to the gym for cardio and training sessions (as well as yoga) I can attest to the fact that these are great for sweat-wicking and breathability. Therefore if you were to wear these to a hot yoga class or when working up a sweat these will wick away moisture and keep you cool. 

Appearance

Length

These come in the following 3 inseam lengths: 10cm(4”), 15cm (6”) and 23cm (9”). Even though I’m on the slightly shorter side at 5ft 4 I personally prefer the 9” length on myself, which is what is pictured in this review. 

Colours/Patterns

The shorts that I own are in Navy. I opted to go for something classic that I would get a lot of wear out of, although I wanted a change from my usual black and I’m very pleased that I selected this colour. Sweaty Betty offers a variety of different colours/patterns in these shorts and at the time of writing this review there were 5 options available. 

Style

What I have noticed that Sweaty Betty does particularly well with both these shorts, as well as the Supersoft Yoga Leggings, is the ‘bum sculpting’ technology. They have taken two styles of clothing (bike shorts & leggings) that typically can be difficult to feel confident in and have created a flattering silhouette that a range of people will feel good wearing, both in terms of comfort but also in appearance. 

Comfort

As mentioned above, these shorts provide great support whilst still being comfy enough to practice yoga in. Whether these are the shorts for you or not, really comes down to how compressive you like your yoga wear to be. One con I’ve noticed is that I have found the waist to roll down slightly when moving back into child’s pose. This could maybe be fixed by tightening the drawstring at the waist, but something to be aware of. In my experience, the leg’s stay in place nicely and don’t shift around during practice. 

The zip on the lower back is a bit of a red flag for yoga, as there is a risk that it could dig into your back in certain floor poses. Surprisingly, I haven’t found this to be the case which I think comes down to the fact that the zip is nicely tucked into the fabric and basically invisible. Technically the tab where you pull the zip could jab into your body, however this would only be at certain angles and you could easily reposition it if this happened.

Function

The Power shorts have a slip side pocket where you can easily store your phone. Whilst this isn’t practical for practising yoga, if you were to wear these to the gym, this is a fantastic feature for easy access. Likewise, there is a zipped pocket at the back. Again, not ideal for yoga, but a really handy to feature if you were to go for a run as you can tuck things like a small key or hair tie in there. 

Quality

After washing

It is recommended that these are washed at 40°C (104°F) on reduced spin. I’ve washed these many a time now and they always seem to bounce back to the original shape without shrinking or stretching, so in my experience they are all good on this front. 

Durability

I’ve found these to be pretty durable so far. There hasn’t been any pilling or issues to date. I think the fact that these are slightly thicker, means that they are naturally a bit more durable than other more delicate fabrics. 

What type of activity are they best for?

Sweaty Betty market these as the perfect shorts for running and general workouts, so these were designed to be fairly versatile. I would agree that these are good for both of those activities. In terms of yoga, I’d rate these as good for more dynamic forms of yoga where you might expect to work up a sweat and challenge yourself physically. These might feel too compressive if you are someone who prefers a ‘relaxed fit’ in your yoga clothing. 

Sizes

The Power cycling shorts come in sizes XXS - XXL which according to their sizing chart corresponds with size 6 UK - size 20 UK. From my experience, I have found these shorts to be true to size. I am usually a 10 (UK) and wear a size S which is in line with their size conversion chart and these fit nicely.