Gymshark Review: Fitness Clothing Stores

Gym Shark got its start in 2012 from Ben Francis' garage in Birmingham, UK. Known as one of the first fitness clothing lines to really utilize influencer marketing, Gym Shark's success is a true inspiration. The company started with hand-sewn athletic wear and today it has a following of over 10 million users online and sells its unique clothing in most countries around the world. Whether you spotted Gym Shark in your favorite influencer's reel or you just like the snazzy shark logo for your next pump cover, Gym Shark is a fan favorite (literally) on YouTube and TikTok alike.

Clean and body-positive site

Gym Shark has a clean website with just black and white for the background design. Pops of color appear in the high-res photos and videos displaying Gym Shark's fitness clothing. One of our favorite features of Gym Shark is that they choose real athletes to use in their campaigns. And, there's no retouching. So, the photos and videos feel more authentic than at many other sites. The landing page offers the most popular items and new releases for you to browse, so if you want what the fitness influencers are wearing these days, make sure you take a look at the "Popular Right Now" section.

Go right to what you want

If you know what you want, you can easily navigate to women's or men's fitness clothing from the top menu. Gym Shark doesn't separate its clothing by sport, just general fitness. Its filters offer activities like Rest Day, Conditioning, Lifting, and Hybrid. We do love the at-a-glance details while browsing, though. When you mouse over a listing, you'll see back and front views of the clothing, and, if you drag your mouse to the bottom of the listing, you can see what sizes are available in that item without needing to click on it. Any sizes that are out of stock will appear gray.

Almost 3,000 items to choose from

Don't let the home-grown background at Gym Shark fool you; there are plenty of fitness clothing items to choose from. The women's section offers 1,736 different products while the men's section includes 1,261. To further break down the items for you, we found 145 pairs of women's leggings, 235 sports bras, 84 pairs of men's joggers, and 163 hoodies and jackets across both genders. You can also expect to find over 300 accessories like socks, lifting straps, backpacks, water bottles, and more.

Prices from $6 to $170

For an influencer-based brand, Gym Shark is surprisingly affordable. While some of the items reflect the high-quality fabric and unique designs in the price, you can find plenty of gear at Gym Shark that won't break the bank. Women's clothing starts at $6 for a Seamless Thong and goes up to $170 for a Lever Lifting Belt. On the men's side, you can find a Vital T-Shirt for $6. The most expensive men's item is also the Lever Lifting Belt for $170. In terms of more clothing-like items than a lifting belt, the most expensive wearable in women's is the Everywhere Light Cropped Jacket for $90. For men, it's the GS X David Laid Cargo Pants for $110. So you can get a better picture of all pricing, here are some fitness clothing favorites:

• Leggings: $15.20 to $70
• Sports Bras: $13.20 to $56
• Jackets/Hoodies (all genders): $10.80 to $90
• Sweatpants (all genders): $12 to $110

30-day return policy

Gym Shark offers a 30-day return policy for any online purchases. You need to return items in their original packaging and condition. Certain items, like underwear or items on sale at 60% off or more are considered final sale, so you won't be able to return those. While the policy states that items need to be unworn and unused to return, you can try items on before making a decision. We've made returns to Gym Shark before, and the process was incredibly smooth and customer-friendly.

Mixed reviews but praise for high-quality

Sadly, despite having tons of fans on social media, Gym Shark isn't a favorite with the Better Business Bureau. According to the BBB, Gym Shark holds an "F" rating. This is due to 41 customer complaints registered on the BBB, and many of them remain unanswered. The news is a little better on other third-party review sites. Trustpilot shows that Gym Shark has a near 4-star average rating where 75% of customers gave Gym Shark 5 stars. In general, customers praise the high quality of the clothing. The fabric is thick and luxurious and doesn't often have problems with wear. However, there are some complaints about items being out of stock; since Gym Shark is a "small business" compared to major manufacturers, they do have to work harder to keep up with demand.

Worth a look, but needs better ratings

At the end of the day, Gym Shark has a lot to recommend it. As a newer brand, it's highly popular with influencers. Customers who loved their purchases praised the quality of fabric. But with no sport-specific wear, it might be a little bit of a letdown for some customers looking for baseball or basketball clothing. Further, the "F" rating keeps Gym Shark from being one of our top-rated fitness clothing companies. However, we still highly recommend you check it out. The designs are cute and the fabric really is to die for, but until Gym Shark works on its customer rep with the BBB, it only gets a respectable rating from us.

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On the Gymshark website