Back in the day, training meant staying relatively still and lifting heavy weights. But now? No session looks the same. Lifting lives alongside agility drills, bodyweight moves, HIIT classes, and even (gasp) running.
Fact is, that kind of training puts real demands on what you wear. Your gear needs to breathe. It needs to move. It needs to stay dry and out of the way, from the first rep to the last.
Our Men's Training Short was built for the gym, and still is. But it wasn't made with all this movement in mind. And on the women's side, a woven training short was never part of the lineup. The Drive Short is here to solve both.
Why the NOBULL Drive Short Exists
The starting point wasn't looking at what else is in the market. It was a look inward: what was the NOBULL assortment missing?
"Our current Training Short was built with the gym in mind," says Roberto Agrait, Senior Apparel Designer at NOBULL. "It's durable, rugged, and can take a beating, which is a reflection of NOBULL's roots. But as the brand continues to grow, we recognize that our customers are asking more of their apparel."
One thing those customers were asking for: a short that could hold up across a wide array of training, without compromise. "Ventilation became a priority, as did freedom of movement and overall comfort," Roberto says. "Rather than optimizing for one specific activity, we wanted to build a short that could hold up across a broad range of workouts and support the way our community actually trains today."
In doing her research for the women's side, Abigail Curtis, Senior Apparel Designer, kept hearing one thing. When she asked women why they didn't wear shorts to train, she heard, repeatedly: "I think shorts are cute, but they're just not for me." Abby dove deeper to find two main issues: a lack of support and a lack of coverage. Women turned to leggings and bike shorts for that "locked-in" feeling; the confidence to move, without worrying about where the shorts were (or where they weren't).
How the Drive Short Was Made
For the women's version, the solution was to go 2-in-1: an outer track short layered over a built-in bike short.
It started as a mockup. Abby cut a waistband out of an existing legging, pinned it into a run short shell, and took it for a test drive. "I worked out in it and thought, wait, this is actually good," she says. From there she took it into the Maker's Lab, ran multiple rounds of samples, and eventually traveled to Vietnam to work through fittings with the factory and see the short through production.
Testing surfaced a few issues. Intense movement would lead to "riding up", so we needed to extend the inner short an inch further. Attaching the bike short to the outer shell was too restrictive for different body types, so we made it free-floating internally. And the outer waistband started off just a bit too tight; the inner was doing enough locking in, so we adjusted the outer to simply sit over it.
On the men's version, Roberto was hard at work, too. The fabric is a 4-way stretch, woven with moisture-wicking and quick-drying properties, but the front and back panels serve different functions.
"The front of the short utilizes a solid version of the fabric for coverage and durability," he says, "while the entire back panel is constructed from a fully perforated version of the same material. This allows for increased airflow and ventilation in an area where athletes tend to generate and retain heat." The effect is akin to mesh breathability, without giving up the structure of a woven build.
The Result: Drive Short Men's & Women's
The Women's Drive Short is a 3-inch 2-in-1. The outer delivers the look and mobility of a sleek, split-hem track short, while the inner brings support and coverage. A double waistband pulls both together.
The outer uses bonded elastic for a technical finish, but the inner is made from the same knit material as the Drive bras; so when you're rocking 100% NOBULL, the materials have a cohesive look head-to-toe. Plus, there's a hidden phone pocket between the two layers. "You can put your phone in here and you can't feel it, you don't even notice it, and you can't even see the pocket," Abby says. A key and card pocket, plus additional pockets in the inner liner, give you secure storage without adding any bulk.
The Men's Drive Short is a 6-inch woven short that moves naturally, breathes easily, and dries quickly. The same fabric is used throughout: the front is solid and the back is perforated. It includes zippered hand pockets and a split side hem. And the 6-inch inseam was landed after the team weighed up several options. "Out of every length we explored," Roberto says, "[6 inches] felt the most versatile and the most NOBULL."
"We often talked about Drive as the short you'd want to throw in your car or pack for a trip when you're not exactly sure what your next workout will be," he says. "You might go for a run, explore somewhere new, join a class, or end up in a hotel gym with a single machine. The Drive Short is ready to go."
If your training doesn't stay in one lane, this is the short made for all of it.
The Drive Short: Made for the Way You Train
The Drive Short isn't here to replace anything we built before. For heavy lifting where durability is key, the Training Short still thrives. Drive exists for everything else: the hybrid blocks and dynamic classes. The sessions that go from squat rack to conditioning circuit without a breather. The heavy workouts that don't let up.
One short. No slowdown. All Drive.
Author Bio:
Sean Knight is a freelance senior copywriter from Los Angeles, CA, bringing a sharp, grounded voice to leading e-commerce, tech, and lifestyle brands around the world, with published works in Forbes, Outside, and Range Magazine, among others.
