HYROX: WHAT IS IS? WHERE IS IT? HOW DO I TRAINING FOR IT?

Unless you’ve been living in a Tibetan monastery for the last six months, you’re bound to have at least heard whispers of ‘Hyrox’, and even then we wouldn’t be surprised if the next stop on the hurricane that has been the Hyrox gym tour was a Shaolin temple.

The Puma backed event has kicked down the front door of the functional fitness scene, and well and truly made itself at home. But beyond the flashy branding, whirlwind marketing campaign and social hype, just what is Hyrox?

Founded in Europe in the late 2010’s, HYROX was concocted as the perfect blend of obstacle racing and functional training; think ‘Spartan Race meets The Crossfit Games’. This alchemic blend is perfect for both those looking to run a Tough Mudder, sans the mud, as well as devout functional fitness disciples who are looking for a competitive outlet, without all of the technical necessities that often accompany Crossfit; leaning towards simply pushing, pulling and running rather than cleaning, snatching and handstand walks.

The competition itself also runs a strict ‘fitness racing’ format, which doesn’t vary from event to event, meaning not only do you know exactly what you’re getting yourself in for, you also know exactly what you need to train and can easily identify weaknesses to work on, from competition to competition.

At it’s core, Hyrox is an 8km foot race, punctuated every 1000m by a different feat of strength and stamina, testing your aerobic capacity, strength endurance and explosive power. But overall Hyrox is a test of your ability to shift gears quickly, and tolerate pain.

The exact layout is as follows-

1km run

1000 ski-erg

1km run

50m sled push

1km run

50m sled pull

1km run

80m burpee broad jumps

1km run

1000m row

1km run

200m farmers carry

1km run

100m sandbag lunges

1km run

100 wallballs

As you can see, this is not a race for the feint hearted, with even the fastest times the world over clocking in at over 60 minutes. But it’s the use of low skill equipment and lack of technical movements means that athletes from all backgrounds are able to throw their hat into the arena.

What truly makes Hyrox something to behold though, is the fact that all athletes compete on the same stage. With events hosting up to 3000 competitors in staged waves, you’ll see the elite of the elite, racing against stag-do’s, hen parties and 60th birthday celebrations, fostering a truly inclusive environment, allowing Hyrox to use the tagline ‘for every body’.

One of the best things about Hyrox is that the proverbial writing is on the wall— with the race itself being consistent from event to event, you know precisely what you need to be working on in the gym (or out) in order to be fully prepared. That being said, going hammer and tongs and attempting to simulate ‘race day’, each and every time you train, could be a recipe for disaster, so breaking the race down and splitting your training evenly amongst the movements is definitely a savvy plan.

First off, let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room- that’s a LOT of running, especially compared to your regular box programming so if you’re only going to make one tweak to your training to get Hyrox ready, an uptick in miles on the legs should be it. Adjusting your regular metcon’s to include more mileage is your safest bet to get Hyrox ready.

‘Fran on foot’-

21-15-9 of-

Thrusters (45/30kg)

Pull-ups (sub for explosive sled pulls for extra Hyrox points)

Before each round complete a 400m run, finish with an additional 400m run.

‘Karen and Kilometres’-

150 wallballs (9/6kg)

Each time you drop the ball/ break, perform a 500m run, row or ski.

‘Sled Murph’

1 mile run

100 explosive sled pulls

200 sled push steps

300 walking lunges

1mile run