Don’t wing your HYROX. Follow this Coach advice to cross the finish line strong.
There’s a new hot race on the block: HYROX. In the 2022-2023 season alone, more than 90,000 athletes participated in the fitness competition across 11 countries.
The buzz makes sense. There are no qualifications required to compete or restrictions on finishing time. Athletes are sent onto the course in 10-minute waves, so there’s no dread of crossing the finish line last. Spectators pack the room and cheer on their friends and family. It’s designed to be a welcoming environment for everybody and every body, according to the brand.
That’s not to say it’s easy. Participants alternate between a one-kilometer run and one of eight functional workout stations: the SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmer’s carry, sandbag lunges, and wall balls.
And multiple group fitness classes and lifting heavy sessions each week, while valuable, aren’t quite enough to truly conquer the competition. Here’s what Coaches-turned-HYROX athletes want you to consider when training for your event.
1. Become a jack of all trades.
A HYROX is a hybrid fitness event, meaning it involves strength, power, and endurance — both from a muscular and cardiovascular standpoint, says Kelsey Dignes, a COACH X and the senior personal training manager at Equinox West 76th Street. “You can't focus on just one and expect to make it through it successfully,” she says.
Sure, high-intensity interval training prepares you to handle short, vigorous bursts of work that send your heart rate into higher zones (experienced in the broad jump burpees, for instance). But the event requires continuous work for an hour-plus; you need to have a solid aerobic base, built through zone two cardio, to allow for recovery during the jogs in between stations and to carry you through the finish. Include a blend of all three elements in your training so you're prepared for it all.
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2. Don’t skip conditioning.
On event day, you’re pushing yourself to the max at the functional workout stations, whether it’s wall balls or sandbag lunges. The only recovery time available? During your one-kilometer run to the next station, says Jess Bieda, a COACH X, a Precision Run Coach, and the senior personal training manager at Equinox Flatiron. “If you don't have your conditioning in place to kind of handle that switch, it becomes really hard, really quickly,” she says.
In fact, Dignes, who was dealing with a back injury while training, says that her lack of consistent cardio work pre-competition “is what almost took me out, due to slow heart rate recovery as well as overall fatigue. Each station and the run on its own aren't challenging but when you put them all together, it is a whole different ball game.”
Practice running for prolonged periods, doing zone two cardio a few days a week for 30 minutes or so, then push your thresholds slowly with Precision Run classes, sprint intervals, and higher-intensity work on the SkiErg and rower. “If you go from like running nothing to then running eight kilometers, your tissues are not going to be ready for that, neither is your cardiovascular system,” Bieda adds. “I genuinely think, like, the most important thing to train for if you're going into a HYROX for the first time is the running. Because if you can nail the running, then everything else becomes much easier.”
3. Choose your shoes wisely.
When Bieda competed in a mixed doubles event in May, rainy conditions meant the seemingly simple sled push on the outdoor turf would be anything but. “We saw a lot of athletes going down because it was not only slippery to begin with, but their shoes were not equipped to kind of grip the turf and with, like, the rain and everything,” she says. “People were slipping everywhere.”
If you’re signed up for an outdoor event, Bieda suggests wearing (and training with) trail shoes that have solid treads rather than smooth-bottomed racing shoes. That extra traction could make or break your performance on the turf.
4. Go for quality workouts over quantity.
Training for any event rarely goes without setbacks. Injuries, unexpected work commitments, and travel plans can all throw a wrench in your program. That’s why Dignes suggests focusing on the quality of your workouts rather than the quantity of them. “Don't try to push through six, seven days of training because you missed out on some,” she says. That’s a surefire way to burn yourself out.
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5. Make a plan with your partner.
Strategize well ahead of your race with your partner and plan around each person’s strengths, says Bieda. Since she tends to recover a little quicker after periods of max cardiac output, Bieda says she was responsible for completing most of the SkiErg and rower distance. Her partner, who has an edge in the strength department, would polish off the first leg of the sled push and pull. She would lead the runs, setting the pace, and her partner would follow suit.
You’ll also want to do mini trials of the event, either to their full extent or with dialed-back elements. Dignes, for instance, did a workout consisting of all the stations but only two or three runs mixed in. Or, you might decrease the distance of the run or the distance on the rower or SkiErg. These test runs can give you the feel of back-to-back-to-back work, a moment to decide when and how to recover, and an idea of how you want to split up each station, says Dignes.
6. Prepare for the unexpected.
In any sport, nothing ever goes exactly as planned. In Bieda’s race, the wet turf caused the sled to repeatedly get stuck, burning out her partner early on and increasing the time spent at the station. “It took us seven minutes, and that really kind of set back the entire course from there,” she explains. “Because my partner had reached, like, his maximum threshold so early on in the race, I kind of had to drag him with me through all the other events because he wasn't able to recover after that.” Bieda found herself completing more of the sled work and burpee broad jumps than expected.
The takeaway: Get comfortable making adjustments on the fly.
“Knowing how you are going to split up the stations in advance is key, but [so is] being able to pivot mid-race if needed based on fatigue or potential injury — and not getting derailed or stressed about it not going to plan,” says Dignes, who competed in the women’s doubles event. “...Communication is the name of the game, and we did that really well. With the partner dynamic, you remind yourself to check your ego at the door, and if you are losing steam, don't be a superhero — let your partner take over.”