If the word “Hyrox” sounds familiar, it’s probably because the obviously fit person in your office or at your child’s sports day was talking about it. Featuring 8k of running split up by eight mini-workouts, it’s the hottest new must-do event for people who love the gym and the ’Gram. Launched in 2017, it’s now sponsored by Red Bull, with the sculpted superhumans who win its world championships taking home a combined prize pot of $150,000 (£118,000). Less technical than CrossFit and not as messy as Tough Mudder, it might also be harder than both: it takes most participants just over an hour and a half to finish, and very few of those minutes are what you’d call pleasant.
I know this, because I got a spot in the recent Glasgow event, trained for three weeks, then limped over the line in a sort-of-respectable 1hr 47min 35sec (the men’s pro winner, Jake Dearden, did it with slightly heavier weights, in just under an hour). Slumped in an Uber afterwards, I couldn’t imagine doing anything so horrible again – but two days later, surprisingly un-sore, I was already thinking about how to improve my time. Hyrox, you see, has a little bit of something for everyone: there’s no upper time limit on finishing, and age group categories let you choose your own level of competitiveness. You can also do it as a pair, or a relay team, to make the amount of work involved a bit less intimidating. I, obviously, am already consulting every competitor I can find to get myself under the 90-minute mark; here’s what might help us all out.
Consider doing doubles
If you’re a first-timer, having a partner will take the pressure off. You both have to do the full run distance, but you can split the workouts up however you like, making any adjustments you need on the day. So if one person wants to do most of the sled pushing, for instance, or even the vast majority of the workouts, that’s fine. “In my opinion,” adds performance nutritionist Mark Evans, who finished his first race in under an hour with a partner, “the stronger runner should finish the exercises between each of the runs. This gives the weaker runner an opportunity to get their breath back.”
Run a lot
About half of your race time is going to be running, so just making your “comfortable” 1k pace – one that won’t burn you out for the workout stations – a little bit faster could take whole minutes off your finishing time. “If running is a weak spot for you, the best thing you can do to prepare is build up to two or three sessions a week,” says Clare Rafferty, a personal trainer and official Hyrox coach. “One of those runs needs to be fast, so do intervals – shorter runs at high intensity with plenty of recovery time between efforts. Any others should be at a lower intensity – slow and steady to build up your base and running strength.”
Don’t worry too much about the ‘ergs’
“Ergs” is gym-bro shorthand for ergometer – an exercise machine that records your workload – and there are two of them in the event: the ski erg, designed to recreate the feel of cross-country skiing, and the classic rowing machine. The distance you’ll do on them (1,000m) should probably take four to five minutes, but – as I’ve discovered from endless interval sessions – going even 20 seconds faster than race pace can leave you wheezing and burnt out, without really boosting your overall time. “Until you are at a level where you need to shave a few seconds off, it’s not going to make a huge difference in your race,” says Rafferty. “Don’t totally avoid them – nail your technique so you can be efficient. But otherwise don’t prioritise them.” Warm up for gym sessions with one, cool down with the other, and you’ll be fine.
Push through the pain on the sled (just not too hard)
The second workout is a weighted sled push: it’s not too heavy, but if you’ve never done one before, or your gym has lovely low-friction artificial grass, shoving it along carpet can come as a shock. Accelerating is the hard bit, so try not to stop until you reach the end of your 12.5-metre lane – then grab a couple of breaths before you go again.
For me, the absolute nadir of the race was finishing this bit only to discover that my legs wouldn’t let me start running again. But I could have done this better, says Dearden, who is a Hyrox “master trainer”. “Remind yourself that the sensation of heavy legs is only temporary and start the run with shorter, brisk strides to slowly regain your pace. Your legs should feel less heavy, and you’ll be able to actively recover throughout the run.”
Practise your pulling
After the sled push comes the pull, an event that’s less about arm strength than you might expect. Practice in the gym if you can, as the technique is tough to nail the first time. “You’ll leverage your body weight by leaning back to facilitate moving the sled,” says Dearden. Also, did I already mention that you’ll really want grippy shoes for this event? You definitely will.
Have a plan for losing layers
There’s a strong chance you’re going to take your top off. Probably about a quarter of the male field in my event crossed the finish line shirtless, and I talked to two people who weren’t planning on disrobing but felt the need to go primal when things got nasty. (Personally, I was always planning to shed my shirt at the halfway point, but ended up needing the mental boost on lap three.) Just in case, plan ahead: either be ready to hand off to a supporter, pick a spot to chuck your top into in the warmup zone, or wear a T-shirt you don’t mind losing.
Pace the burpees
Many people’s most dreaded event is the burpee broad jump – where you’re not just doing the World’s Worst Exercise (for the uninitiated, a burpee involves dropping to a prone position with your chest on the floor then getting back to your feet) but bouncing up from it straight into a forward leap. And then doing it again, and again, until you’ve covered 80 metres.
… and the lunges
The trickiest bit to lunging with a sandbag on your back is not putting it down. Take it one step at a time, and use practice sessions to find a carrying position that isn’t too tough on your arms and back.
Don’t burn out on the farmer’s walk
This station – like carrying two very heavy shopping bags for 200 metres – was probably the most fun for me, but it can easily go horribly wrong. The trick is to push yourself, but not too hard. It can be tempting to try to go for an arbitrary distance each time, but if you let your grip fail once, it will make every subsequent walk much shorter. Take breaks when you need them, keep your head up, and save a little sprint-trot for the finish line.
Make every wall ball count
Arguably Hyrox’s most cruel invention is its last station: 100 “wall balls”, launching a heavy medicine ball out of a squat position at a target up to three metres above the ground. It’s devilishly easy to be called for a “no rep” – if your squat isn’t low enough, or the ball hits the rim of the target rather than the centre – which happened to me roughly 20 infuriating times.
And … do try to enjoy it
There’s surprisingly little pressure in Hyrox: though thousands of people compete in each event, because you start in waves it’s very tricky to tell who’s on the same bit of the course as you, so being effortlessly overtaken on the run doesn’t have the same vibe as it does in a half marathon. At the same time, you’ll find people who are older, younger, skinnier or bigger than you effortlessly outpacing you on moves you’d never expect: one guy from my wave with a textbook runner’s body shape lapped me in the race, then did the farmer’s walk at unbelievable speed. Run your own race – and practise a pose for the post-event photo.