To me, running and music are inseparable. The time I’ve blocked out to run is my time to zone out or catch up on all of the podcasts I’ve been missing.
It’s not just for the love of listening to music, I find my performance increases as I’m able to distract myself from my body telling me to slow down. I’m sure there are plenty of other readers who feel the same way. The only thing is, I seem to be incredibly unlucky when it comes to finding headphones that are suited for running.
Believe me, I’ve tried my fair share of headphones. For some reason, they’ve always come up short (although I have recently found a solution – more on that below.) Through all the struggle I’ve managed to narrow down a few criteria I need in a set of headphones that will make them good for running:
- Sweatproof
- Lightweight
- Wrap-around
- Durable
- Cordless
Having sweatproof headphones is important. Although I don’t find that my ears sweat very much (is that a thing?) However, I do require the headphones to have some waterproofing (at least IPX5) or else running in the rain is completely out of question.
The two most important features for me are the fit, and the ability to be cordless. How many of you have struggled to keep regular earbuds from falling out? I’ve earbuds for small ear canals, over-ear headphones, and regular earbuds. They all still seem to fall out. Then I tried to wrap around headphones and this problem was solved instantly.
I don’t recommend using over-ear headphones as they become hot and uncomfortable. Additionally, earbuds allow a measure of sound bleed from the environment. I find this is a good idea for safety reasons.
My second pet peeve is pulling my earbuds out from the cord. Being a tall man, most earbud cords are too small to fit my device in my pocket. This leads to me holding onto the phone which inevitably leads to me pulling the earbuds from my ears. The solution: wireless earbuds. Wireless earbuds are getting better and better as time goes on. There were initial battery problems but this is sorted out for the most part.
I’ve finally found a pair of headphones that I’m completely happy with. For those who are curious, they are the SENSO Bluetooth Headphones. They aren’t the most attractive headphone on the market, but they have everything I’m looking for in a set of running headphones. The best part is, they are under $50!
I hope a few of you will find this recommendation helpful. If you are still struggling with using headphones while you run I highly recommend trying them out!