Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Sam Coleman, Co-Founder
FACT CHECKED
If Crossfit and Obstacle Racing had a baby, you'd have Hyrox.
Hyrox racing, the latest form of functional fitness, is a unique hybrid-style race that challenges athletes with a perfect balance of endurance, speed, and strength.
As this sport is still relatively new, many are intrigued by the best way to train for a Hyrox race. This article will lay out exactly what a proper Hyrox workout consists of, guiding you to compete at your best.
What Is Hyrox?
First developed in Germany, Hyrox boomed onto the scene in 2017 with its first race hosting 650 athletes. Its original inception was to offer a race that also included events to test strength and conditioning. The hope was to attract more athletes as it may be more attractive then running a marathon. Consider that at this time, Crossfit had been booming and obstacle racing had become a massive sport as well.
Each race is conducted indoors, generally in stadiums, making it a great spectator sport.
At the same time, it’s said the idea behind the production behind a race was “to create an event that is a 200,000-euro (about $214,000) production that looks like a 2,000,000-euro ($2,144,000) production”.
And it does.
These Hyrox races do look stunning and are very exciting to watch.
What Does A Hyrox Race Look Like?
So each race consists of alternating between running 1km and 8 separate exercises or events. To be clear, a Hyrox race will look like this:
- 1km Run
- Event 1
- 1km Run
- Event 2
- 1km Run
- ……
- Event 8
This means you'll run a total of 8 km in addition to the 8 events. We’ll get into the details of each event later but they consist of various conditioning exercises meant to challenge your strength and muscular endurance.
How Long Does It Take To Finish A Hyrox Race?
It's important to understand that there is no time limit for Hyrox races. This means it can take some people up to 3 hours to finish!
However, the average finish time is going to be 90 minutes. With that said, elite athletes can finish in under an hour so you can always run faster?
And this is the primary goal of a Hyrox race, emphasis on “race”. The format never changes and the only times the weights or reps change dependent on what group you participate in including:
- Open
- Pro
- Team
Regardless, the race stays the same so your only way to improve is to run faster. Compare that to Crossfit where you may want to lift more weight or perform more reps. This aspect can make Hyrox training more specific.
What Are The 8 Hyrox Exercises?
So, now let's look at the 8 different Hyrox exercises in more detail. Again, an athlete will perform these exercises one at a time between each 1km run. For some of the exercises, we have the possible weights or reps in parentheses.
1. 1km Ski (on Concept2 SkiErg)
The first station in the HYROX workout is 1000 meters on the Ski Erg. While this machine mainly works the arms, shoulders, and core, it effectively engages the lower body muscles, making it a full-body exercise.
2. 50m Sled Push (102kg – 202kg)
The second workout station features a 50-meter Sled Push. Again, this exercise primarily works the lower body, including the entire posterior chain, core, and especially the front thigh muscles. The sled push can be a surprise for many people so training this is essential. We’d suggest you train this a lot as it's great for leg training let low impact on the joints meaning you can put in a lot of volume.
3. 50m Sled Pull (78kg – 153kg)
The Hyrox sled pull involves pulling a sled back with your legs as well as your arms. You’ll need a strong set of glutes, back, biceps, and core during this event. You’ll need to pull it 50m before you can do your next run.
4. 80m Burpee Broad Jump
We’ll be honest. We hate burpees and not in a quirky type of way. We 100% hate them and would never do them unless we absolutely had to. Well, the 4th exercise makes you do them.
You must perform a burpee and then perform a broad jump before you do another burpee and repeat the process. These are tough and take a ton of energy. Unfortunately, you’ll need to practice these a lot if you want to perform well in a race.
5. 1km Row (on Concept2 Rower)
Exercise five features the second ergometer in this fitness race: 1000 meters of rowing. Rowing is another full-body exercise but that will require high levels of back conditioning. Further, your hamstrings and glutes will need to be ready as pulling the body back during the row is generally the hardest part for the lower body.
6. 200m Kettlebells Farmers Carry (16kg – 32kg)
If you’ve read SET FOR SET for a while, you’ll know we love farmer's carry. Hopefully you’ve been training it because for exercise 6, you’ll need to complete 200m of farmers carry. This requires high levels of strength and endurance in your upper back muscles, core, and of course, grip strength.
7. 100m Sandbag Lunges (10kg – 30kg)
Sandbag lunges with 10, 20, or 30 kilograms on your back is what you’re doing for workout station seven. This station primarily targets your thigh and glute muscles and will be a real burner considering you’ve already ran 7km. Ouch.
8. 100 / 75 reps Wall Balls (4kg – 9kg)
The final station is going to be wall balls. These suck so it's kind of a good thing they’re last as you can use the finish line as your motivation.
How To Train For Hyrox?
One advantage of training for Hyrox is that you know exactly what to train for every single time. The distances for each event are always the same for everybody, and the weights for the various exercises are always the same for each group (women, men, women pro, men pro, etc.).
This is a huge advantage compared to training for something like CrossFit, where the workouts and competitions change every time. Knowing exactly what you're doing will let you target your goals and train with precision.
With that said, there are several different ways to train for Hyrox, giving you the freedom to choose a training method that suits your style and goals.
a. Train Individual Events
Ultimately, you need to improve your performance for all 9 specific events; the 8 exercises and run. Therefore, the first thing you can do is train each individual event independently from one another. Do this in a way similar to running a typical exercise.
When training independently, you should aim to use a heavier load and go a further distance.
For example, let's say you're using 24kg kettlebells for the 200m farmer carry. Train the event independently using 32kg kettlebells. Or, use 24kg but go 250m. If you’re really feeling it, use the 32kg for 250m then on race day, the farmer's carry is going to feel easy.
Another important factor is to keep in mind your exercise selection so that they mimic the events. For example, in the sled pull, increasing back strength with rows would be a great addition.
b. Use Periodization (If Possible)
Periodization simply refers to adjusting your training intensity and volume during different blocks of time. However, for sports, it can also include training on a spectrum from general preparation to specific events.
For example, let’s say you sign up for a race that’s in 16 weeks. Your first 4 weeks could be purely dedicated to running miles and following a workout program that uses traditional exercises.
For example, you may simply perform the seated row and chin-ups for your back strength. When you run, you’re simply increasing your mileage and not worried about running 1km faster.
For your next 4 weeks, you continue your training program but you start adding in the movements into your training. For example, on back day, you begin to include hand-over-hand sled pulls. On leg days, you start pushing sleds.
Now, for your next 4 weeks, you start making the events a larger part of your training. Further, you stop performing exercises that don’t have direct and specific transfer of training adaptations. For example, on leg days, you stop performing leg extensions or leg curls. You might also start performing circuits with the events.
Finally, for 3 weeks, you only practice the events. Perhaps using different loads and distances but that’s all you do. Further, you run these so they mimic race day. Start running the events at full distances.
You then deload for a week and then it’s race day!
Again, this is simply an example of how that might look as it will look differently depending on your situation.
c. Increase Leg Strength And Power
Hyrox will train your full body, but it is by far a lower body-focused race. This includes every training variable:
- Endurance
- Strength
- Power
- Stamina
Therefore, training your legs and lower body should be a high priority in the gym. When you look at all 8 exercises, you see that every single one includes the legs.
Now, some are more leg-centric than others, such as the broad jump or lunges. In comparison, some are a bit less leg-specific, such as rowing, but even that still requires high endurance levels.
Of all the exercises, perhaps the ski erg is the exercise that uses the least amount of lower body. At the same time, it’s the very first exercise. This means that your legs will be constantly engaged from start to finish, and the only little break you’ll get occurs first.
Therefore, building strong legs is a crucial asset in your Hyrox journey. In fact, this should be your primary goal.
d. Run, Run And Run
If you don't like running, Hyrox is not for you.
When looking at athletes' total times and how they divide it between running and exercises, running usually consumes about half of the entire race time.
This is actually comparable to cycling in triathlons. Most triathletes will spend close to half of their entire race time cycling, so can you guess what event most triathletes train the most for? Cycling!
Further, not only will you need to run 8km, much of this will consist of compromised running, meaning you’ll run in a fatigued state. Many events focus on the lower body, meaning the exercises will not allow you to "recover"! We mean, you need to lunge with a 20kg sandbag for
100m, then go run 1km! Brutal!
Therefore, if you want to improve your time as a Hyrox athlete, you need to spend a lot of time and effort improving your running performance.
The exact amount will depend on where you start so just remember to slowly increase the total volume with 10% being the recommended amount.
e. Use Mini Hyrox Workouts
One very useful tool is to run mini-races. This will not only allow you to train for the events, but it will also let you simulate an actual race so you can become accustomed to what it feels like to change before exercises.
There are several ways you could do this such as;
- Cut down all the events in half
- Run circuits with groups of 4 exercises
- Run, complete an exercise, and run again
You can use a bit of creativity in how you set these up but the point is you perform the different events in a similar manner as you will on your race day.
Hyrox Training Routine
Let's break down what an example 5-day workout plan could look like. The Hyrox training days will be explained in detail below, but here’s how the weekly schedule looks:
- Session 1: Endurance
- Session 2: Strength I
- Session 3: Long Run
- Session 4: Rest
- Session 5: Strength II
- Session 6: Simulated Hyrox Race
- Session 7: Rest
Note: The below is a good blueprint, but you may need to adjust the difficulty of the workouts based on your fitness level. For most individuals, the below is a good baseline.
Session 1: Endurance Training
This day will look a bit more like a typical endurance day. However, use the specific Hyrox events that are more endurance-based.
The primary events this would include would be:
- Running
- Rowing
- SkiErg
However, you could also include the sled and sled pull.
On this day, you won’t necessarily be performing HIIT training. Rather, you could just use these exercises in succession. For example:
- Sled Push 200m
- Run 1km
- SkiErg 20:00
- Row 20:00
- Run 1km
- Sled Push 200m
Session 2: Strength Training I
Your strength training day will be somewhat typical to “normal” strength training days. However, you should include some specific event training as exercises. Some that would fit here really well are:
- Sandbag Lunges
- Sled Pull
- Farmer Carries
Your movements should be either your events or exercises that have a direct transfer to your events. An example workout could look like:
- Back Squat
- Farmer Carries
- Sandbag Lunges
- Barbell Thrusters
- Sled Pull
Now these movements won’t be trained in the same manner as in the race. For example, with the farmer carries, you could double the load and run 10 lengths of 10 meters with 30-60 second rest.
Further, include some HIIT on these days after your training if you have time. You should stick to utilizing your events, primarily the SkiErg and Rowing. For example, perform a 10:00 HIIT session with a :40/:20 work/rest interval. However, alternate between the SkiErg and Rower.
- SkiErg 40sec
- Rest 20sec
- Row 40sec
- Rest 20sec
More advanced athletes could also throw in some running. Depending on your time, this would be a great cardio session using the 10:00 HIIT session prescribed above. You simply run 1km before and 1km after.
- Run 500m
- 10:00 HIIT session
- Run 500m
This should take 15:00-20:00.
Session 3: Long Run
Your weekly schedule should contain 1 long run to simply increase and improve your running capabilities. As your race will require you to run 8km with events, your long run should be at least 10km but can vary depending on your level.
Ideally, it will be closer to the estimated time of your finish. Remember that on average most people finish around 90 minutes or so. If you’re just starting, you don’t need to start with this but you should work up to it.
One option for more advanced runners would be to run 1km at your race pace then pick up the intensity for 200-500m. Repeat this process 8 times to simulate the change in intensity during the Hyrox Race.
Another simple way to add some simulation is to run 1km then perform some lunges and burpees. You don’t want this to be overly complicated so stick to these movements as you don’t need equipment. Further, these don’t need to be the full amount, just something to mix it up a little bit to further prepare you to alternate between running and exercise. An example could be:
- 1km Run
- 10 burpees + 10 walking lunges
- Repeat 8+ times
Session 4: Rest
Session 5: Strength Training II (Special Day)
The 5th day of training could be another strength training session similar to the first one. When looking at the events you haven’t trained directly, you’re basically left with burpee broad jumps and wall balls. Therefore, be sure to include these.
Further, if there is an event you need extra help in, give those priority here as well.
Session 6: Simulated Hyrox Race
You should run a simulated Hyrox race one day a week. This does not mean it must be the full race, but rather, it will use the same format.
There are several ways you could do this.
- Cut everything in half
- Run different circuits with a few exercises together
- Run a shorter
Again, on this day, all you do is simulate the race and only perform the events in a Hyrox race.
Session 7: Rest
Week 2 - Repeat
Hyrox Vs. Crossfit: 5 Differences
We'll cover this real quick. Many people unfamiliar with Crossfit or Hyrox may think they're basically the same thing as they seem similar upon first observation. However, they're not. In fact, apart from the marketing, they're actually quite different. If anything, Hyrox would be closer to obstacle racing, such as Spartan.
Here are the major differences between Hyrox and Crossfit:
- Hyrox uses the same protocol for every race, whereas Crossfit is always varied.
- While using strength and endurance, Hyrox leans more towards endurance. Crossfit relies more on strength, and while endurance is a must, it leans more toward anaerobic conditioning.
- Running. Hyrox is a running race with exercises in between. Crossfit occasionally includes running in its workouts.
- The first time you run Hyrox, it may make you think it's "varied," as there are 9 events. However, these are the only 9. Compare that to Crossfit, where there are dozens and dozens and dozens of exercises.
- At the end of the day, Hyrox is a race. It's a race, meaning your goal is always to go faster. When you perform CrossFit, you'll sometimes have a race or a race aspect, but sometimes you may need to perform the most reps or lift the most weight.
Related: Is Crossfit an Injury Risk?
Training For Hyrox: Final Word
Hyrox is an awesome, challenging sport that would add to your training regime. Even if you don't plan on competing seriously, including some Hyrox training could be a great option for anyone who hates running but knows they need some cardio. It requires continuous work for an extended period, ultimately what you need. However, it eliminates the monotony of running that some find off-putting and includes 8 exercises that could appeal to many. On the other hand, maybe you're training to win! Either way, this Hyrox training workout plan will get you in the right direction.
Learn about this popular workout next: 21-15-9 WOD
Garett Reid
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