August 10, 2020

Lululemon Fast and Free 6″ Shorts Review

Here’s a Lululemon joke for you….These shorts should be called “Ride up in all the Wrong places shorts.”

If you’ve been following along I’ve been looking for the best compression shorts that don’t ride up. I’ve been trying a ton of shorts and below is a list of criteria I’ve been using to compare/rate the shorts.

My criteria includes:

They don’t ride up
Fabric is comfortable
Squatproof
Sweat wicking
High-waisted
Pockets are a plus

I should make note that this review is for the Lululemon Fast and Free 6″ shorts inseam length. I also purchased these shorts in the 8″ and 10″ lengths, but didn’t keep them. I personally just don’t like the length of 10″ shorts on my legs, and I simply didn’t need to pair of these shorts without knowing if I really liked them or not, so I returned the 8″ inseam and kept the 6″ inseam shorts.

Did they ride up? Well…if you got my joke, then you know that on the “they don’t ride up criteria” these shorts FAIL miserably. I wore them outside on a bike ride, and they didn’t ride up too terribly while I was biking (although I imagine with the intensity of an indoor spin class, they’d ride up like it’s their job). I will say that they rode up every time I took a step, or did a “fake” squat as a test. In this category they really just fail. Ironically they are designed for running, I would be so miserable running in these, because I’d have to pull them down every 2 seconds. If you want shorts that don’t ride up, just stop reading now and do not buy these. If that’s not your number one criteria in judging shorts, keep reading.

You might say “but Stacy, if you had kept the longer shorts they wouldn’t ride up so much, right?” I mention this in another review, but what I’ve learned through this is it’s not so much the length of the shorts. The shorts become uncomfortable when they have a front seam. Regardless of length, the front seam of the shorts will ride up. One of the reasons why all of the shorts that I will be recommending do not have a front seam.

As far as fabric goes, lulu typically knows what they are doing in this category. These shorts utilize the Nulux fabric (84% Nylon, 16% Lycra elastane), which is a sleek, smooth, thin, but very nice fabric.

Are they squatproof? If you buy the correct size I see no reason why these wouldn’t be. I’ve had no issues in that category.

How do they handle sweat? Honestly I don’t remember thinking too much about it. The fabric is really lightweight, which is nice, and dries quickly. However, I got these in the color “Larkspur” which is kind of a brighter dark blue, if you sweat a ton, it’s going to show. I personally don’t really care about my shorts showing sweat, if you do, stick with black or navy blue.

These shorts are high-waisted and have a drawstring (I personally don’t see value in drawstring compression shorts) and they very comfortable in that regard. Because these shorts are designed for running they have a ridiculous amount of pockets around the exterior of the waistband. I wouldn’t want to run in these, period, but if you do, you’d have plenty of room for a key, goop, and whatever else you take on runs. They also have side pockets for your phone or other larger items. In terms of pockets these shorts are the best I’ve tried. Period.

Although these shorts are cute, and have some really nice features, I can’t recommend these shorts if you’re looking for something that doesn’t ride up. For that reason I have to give them a 6/10.