Ladies, do you ever go commando while exercising?

:wink: Certainly female. And yes, always underwear (except the exercise is in the water, then I have a swimsuit).

As far as padded bike shorts are concerned, you get more chafing with undies than without. Way more seams in the undies than in the shorts in that area. I did not know at first that you weren’t supposed to wear undies under bike shorts. Ouch.

Almost exactly what I was going to post, except I have maybe 15 undies, exactly 2 pairs of bike shorts and I do own a washer and dryer but only like to do wash on the weekends. If I had enough pairs of bike shorts to wear a fresh one each day, yeah I guess commando would be fine, but as it is the underpants are necessary. With a change of underclothes I can hang the shorts up and they’ll be fresh enough for 2-3 more rides or gym visits, otherwise not so much. And underpants are cheaper and more versatile than bike shorts, so I don’t feel the need to change my habits.

Directly to the OP’s question though, I see no reason why the opposite approach would be a problem as long as the workout pants are opaque, don’t have inconvenient seams, and are washed and dried thoroughly after each use.

ETA: I really don’t give a crap about VPL when I’m exercising - I’m not out there to impress. I respect that others may feel differently and this may influence you one way or the other.

I am not a female and I go commando in bike shorts because that is how they’re designed to be worn (chamoise wicks sweat from the groin area and the lack of underwear seams reduces chafing.) on the other hand, my partner is female and she does wear underwear. She’s not bothered by VPL, and wearing underwear with her bike shorts has never caused her problems so she hasnt had reason to change. If you go the non underwear route, go for dark coloured shorts please ;).

It’s a visual thing. What I teach is very similar to coaching gymnastics. My face could be inches away from a student’s vag when I have to spot certain moves. It’s also a “keep your girly juices off the equipment, please,” and yes, having the girly bits in extremely intimate proximity to the equipment is unavoidable. I’ve taught ladies who were going commando and were experiencing leakage and unaware of it. Bleargh. At least plug it up if you’re not going to wear something underneath.

I never wear underwear under my workout pants. I don’t wear them with my padded cycling shorts either. Never had a chafing problem.

Wait, are you suggesting they use a tampon when it’s not their period? I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to do that.

Well, I was actually suggesting they wear something underneath, but if people insist on going commando I’d rather not be exposed to their vaginal discharge.