Keep Your Training Goals In-Tote with the Year's Best Gym Bags

Despite the professional-looking silhouette, the Gym Duffel 3 is a true duffel bag in every sense of the word. Much like the AER Duffel Pack 3, which we’ll get to shortly, this bag has a pocket for everything. One of the convenient bonuses we noticed with this duffel is the added laptop sleeve, making this a great option for taking to the office. If you dropped this bag with laptop in-tote, we doubt there would be any damage thanks to the secure padding.

The DSPTCH Gym/Work Bag has the versatility of a Swiss Army knife, the dependability of a Ford pickup and styling that James Bond could get behind. The bag consists of a laptop and tablet compartment, a wet/dry pouch and a hidden security pocket on the bottom of the bag. The 1680D Ballistic Nylon construction makes this premium gym bag tough as nails, too. For such a high cost, though, we’d appreciate a wider frame — packing high-stack running shoes into the shoe compartment takes some rearranging.

Anyone who’s ever been involved in athletics has probably owned a classic Adidas Duffel. This bag is the all-purpose tote we’ve all grown to love. Ample storage and extra side packets make the Defender Duffel perfect for someone heading off to the gym — and only the gym. It doesn’t offer the bells and whistles like some of the more versatile options we tested, so you probably wouldn’t want to use this bag as an office tote.

Need your gym bag to pull double-duty as a full-fledged carry-on? Look no further than this signature duffel from Patagonia. The 100 percent recycled fabric is extremely durable, whether pushing for new PRs or boarding your next flight. We also appreciate how easy it is to access the main cavity thanks to the U-shaped zippered opening. While the backpack-style wearability could be improved, this is one tote that’s as comfortable in the gym as it is in the overhead compartment.

While the duffel style is more synonymous with gym bags, we can’t hype this backpack enough. It’s quickly become our go-to for training purposes thanks to the two bottle side pockets and gigantic main compartment. Additionally, the shoe compartment at the base has plenty of room to hold our sweaty clothes after training sessions as well as our workout sneakers. Plus, the convenient laptop sleeve allows you to keep your electronics safe during your training.

If you're the type of person that wants to go to the gym, but doesn't want to look like you're going to the gym, this bag is for you. This little number combines sleek and savvy looks with performance: it's made with neoprene, which allows it to stretch and flex, and comes in a handful of neutral colorways, giving it a polished feel. This hard-working duffle features an interior zip pocket, shoe and water bottle pockets and a removable padded laptop sleeve, as well as a removable laundry/shoe bag, but from looking at the stylish exterior, you'd never know it.

If you don’t consider the words sleek or urban as legitimate selling points, then the Legacy Gear Bag is for you. It’s built much like Carhartt’s overalls: simple, timeless, nearly indestructible. The Legacy Gear Bag comes in three sizes (20, 23 and 30 inches) and four colors (black, tan, grey and Real Tree Xtra camouflage). The 1,200-Denier canvas is built to take a beating, and a Rain Defender DWR finish makes this duffel capable of taking on your next PR or your next morning at the job site.

Our first thought about the Go-Bag from Baboon to the Moon is its size. If we were backpacking across Europe, the Go-Bag would be our go-to choice thanks to its deceptively large volume. We used this bag for a recent cycling trip around D.C. and it worked out great, providing plenty of space to even store some wine and food to enjoy as a campsite nightcap.

Continental and intercontinental treks aside, though, this colorful duffel makes for a damn fine gym bag, too. The convenient carrying handles allow you to carry this bag like a backpack or duffel, while the waterproof exterior cleans up easily, and it has a very unique style. We do wish it had more small pockets to separate smaller items, though. Some smaller items like headphones may get lost and tossed in the roomy interior.

We like to think of this stylish office-ready gym bag as a heightened version of yesteryear’s trapper keepers. This stylish, waterproof duffel boasts a sneaky shoe slot to keep stinky kicks separate from work clothes or fresh gym apparel. The built-in locker hook allows you to hang the Regimen Gym Bag up for convenient storing, as well. Once at the office, unzip a side pocket to reveal a 15-inch laptop sleeve and organizational sections lined with blue nylon twill.

The sleek and stylish Herschel Novel is perfect for the gym or for a small road trip with its handy side shoe compartment, and spacious interior cavity. The leather straps add a nice touch, too, to make it stand out from the rest of the pack. While this silhouette could benefit from some side pockets, like others featured on this list, we can’t ignore this classic profile that looks to boost any get-up — fitness-related or not.

When you become heavily invested in your fitness routine, odds are you’ll acquire a plethora of gear to boost your in-gym performance. This spacious duffel from Canada’s Mountain Equipment Company has more than enough room to house your weightlifting belts, massage guns, apparel, shoes, resistance bands and more. We really appreciated the classic, no frills silhouette of this down-to-earth tote, and while it might not be the most convenient for some athletes — 60 liters of volume is a lot — we definitely think this large duffel is more than enough to handle even the most rigorous of training regimens.

The Classic Duffel is, naturally, a classic, well-built gym/duffel bag with internal storage for holding smaller items and a handy shoulder strap for easy transport. It has a basic black on black look, which we really enjoyed, and the quality of the overall construction felt great, whether in the hands or strung across a shoulder. The Classic Duffel from Topo Designs was easy to carry thanks to a lightweight profile, making it a great solution for those that aren’t as thrilled about hitting the gym every evening. If you want a bag that looks like it’s more attuned to the weekend getaway than the multi-hour sweat session, consider this sleek profile from Topo Designs.