Unfortunately, this is a common complaint that runners encounter with earbuds. Your best bet is to pick up earbuds with over-ear hooks, such as the JBL Peak Endurance 3 or the JLab Epic Air Sport ANC. Most earbuds haven’t got designs prioritizing an absolutely secure in-ear fit, and instead prioritize other goals such as a smaller size. This means when you’re running and sweating, the jostling motion combined with increased moisture knocks the buds out.

Many people also have success using earbuds with wings that press against the anti-helix, instead of over-ear hooks, but even those cannot be guaranteed to stay put on absolutely everyone. If you have trouble finding a good fit ordinarily, stick to over-ear hooks.

Absolutely sweat can break earbuds. That’s why all of our picks have, at the very least, an IPX4 rating, but we encourage you to choose a durability level that makes the most sense for your workout activities. While it’s true that plenty of people have worn earbuds over the decades without any waterproofing and the buds have survived, there’s no guarantee if there’s no IP rating. Just like you don’t want to leave your phone in a puddle, you don’t want to drench your earbuds in sweat if there’s no IP rating. After all, moisture poses a real threat to the lithium batteries found in earbuds.

Because the JLab JBuds Mini can seal to your inner ear quite well, they can isolate a lot of outside noise, blocking out around 10dB down to 20Hz.