If Crossfit and Obstacle Racing had a baby, you’d have Hyrox.
Hyrox racing, the newest type of functional fitness, is a novel hybrid-style race that challenges athletes with an ideal balance of endurance, speed, and strength.
As this sport continues to be relatively recent, many are intrigued by the most effective method to train for a Hyrox race. This text will lay out exactly what a correct 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 supply a race that also included events to check strength and conditioning. The hope was to draw more athletes as it could be more attractive then running a marathon. Consider that at the moment, Crossfit had been booming and obstacle racing had change into a large sport as well.
Each race is conducted indoors, generally in stadiums, making it an awesome spectator sport.
At the identical time, it’s said the concept behind the production behind a race was “to create an event that could be a 200,000-euro (about $214,000) production that appears like a 2,000,000-euro ($2,144,000) production”.
And it does.
These Hyrox races do look stunning and are very exciting to observe.
What Does A Hyrox Race Look Like?
So each race consists of alternating between running 1km and eight separate exercises or events. To be clear, a Hyrox race will appear to be this:
- 1km Run
- Event 1
- 1km Run
- Event 2
- 1km Run
- ……
- Event 8
This implies you may run a complete of 8 km along with the 8 events. We’ll get into the main points of every event later but they consist of varied conditioning exercises meant to challenge your strength and muscular endurance.
How Long Does It Take To Finish A Hyrox Race?
It is important to know that there isn’t a cut-off date for Hyrox races. This implies it may well take some people as much as 3 hours to complete!
Nonetheless, the typical finish time goes to be 90 minutes. With that said, elite athletes can finish in under an hour so you possibly can all the time run faster?
And that is the first goal of a Hyrox race, emphasis on “race”. The format never changes and the one times the weights or reps change depending on what group you take part in including:
Regardless, the race stays the identical so your only method to improve is to run faster. Compare that to Crossfit where chances are you’ll wish to lift more weight or perform more reps. This aspect could make Hyrox training more specific.
What Are The 8 Hyrox Exercises?
So, now let’s take a look at the 8 different Hyrox exercises in additional detail. Again, an athlete will perform these exercises one after the other between each 1km run. For a number of the exercises, we now have the possible weights or reps in parentheses.
1. 1km Ski (on Concept2 SkiErg)
The primary station within 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 encompasses a 50-meter Sled Push. Again, this exercise primarily works the lower body, including your entire posterior chain, core, and particularly the front thigh muscles. The sled push could be a surprise for many individuals so training this is important. We’d suggest you train this loads because it’s great for leg training let low impact on the joints meaning you possibly can put in quite a lot of volume.
3. 50m Sled Pull (78kg – 153kg)
The Hyrox sled pull involves pulling a sled back together with your legs in addition to your arms. You’ll need a robust set of glutes, back, biceps, and core during this event. You’ll need to drag it 50m before you possibly can do your next run.
4. 80m Burpee Broad Jump
We’ll be honest. We hate burpees and never in a unusual form of way. We 100% hate them and would never do them unless we absolutely needed to. Well, the 4th exercise makes you do them.
You should perform a burpee after which perform a broad jump before you do one other burpee and repeat the method. These are tough and take a ton of energy. Unfortunately, you’ll have to practice these loads if you wish to perform well in a race.
5. 1km Row (on Concept2 Rower)
Exercise five features the second ergometer on this fitness race: 1000 meters of rowing. Rowing is one other full-body exercise but that can require high levels of back conditioning. Further, your hamstrings and glutes will have to be ready as pulling the body back throughout the row is mostly the toughest part for the lower body.
6. 200m Kettlebells Farmers Carry (16kg – 32kg)
In case you’ve read SET FOR SET for some time, you’ll know we love farmer’s carry. Hopefully you’ve been training it because for exercise 6, you’ll need to finish 200m of farmers carry. This requires high levels of strength and endurance in your upper back muscles, core, and after all, grip strength.
7. 100m Sandbag Lunges (10kg – 30kg)
Sandbag lunges with 10, 20, or 30 kilograms in your back is what you’re doing for workout station seven. This station primarily targets your thigh and glute muscles and shall be an actual burner considering you’ve already ran 7km. Ouch.
8. 100 / 75 reps Wall Balls (4kg – 9kg)
The ultimate station goes to be wall balls. These suck so it’s type of a very good thing they’re last as you should use the finish line as your motivation.
How To Train For Hyrox?
One advantage of coaching for Hyrox is that you realize exactly what to coach for each single time. The distances for every event are all the time the identical for everyone, and the weights for the varied exercises are all the time the identical for every group (women, men, women pro, men pro, etc.).
It is a huge advantage in comparison with training for something like CrossFit, where the workouts and competitions change each time. Knowing exactly what you are doing will allow you to goal your goals and train with precision.
With that said, there are several alternative ways to coach for Hyrox, providing you with the liberty to decide on a training method that suits your style and goals.
a. Train Individual Events
Ultimately, it’s essential to improve your performance for all 9 specific events; the 8 exercises and run. Subsequently, the very first thing you possibly can do is train each individual event independently from each other. Do that in a way just like running a typical exercise.
When training independently, it’s best to aim to make use of a heavier load and go an additional distance.
For instance, for instance you are using 24kg kettlebells for the 200m farmer carry. Train the event independently using 32kg kettlebells. Or, use 24kg but go 250m. In case you’re really feeling it, use the 32kg for 250m then on race day, the farmer’s carry goes to feel easy.
One other essential factor is to have in mind your exercise selection in order that they mimic the events. For instance, within the sled pull, increasing back strength with rows can be an awesome addition.
b. Use Periodization (If Possible)
Periodization simply refers to adjusting your training intensity and volume during different blocks of time. Nonetheless, for sports, it may well also include training on a spectrum from general preparation to specific events.
For instance, let’s say you enroll for a race that’s in 16 weeks. Your first 4 weeks may very well be purely dedicated to running miles and following a workout program that uses traditional exercises.
For instance, chances are you’ll simply perform the seated row and chin-ups on your back strength. If you run, you’re simply increasing your mileage and never nervous about running 1km faster.
On your next 4 weeks, you proceed your training program but you begin adding within the movements into your training. For instance, on back day, you start to incorporate hand-over-hand sled pulls. On leg days, you begin pushing sleds.
Now, on your next 4 weeks, you begin making the events a bigger a part of your training. Further, you stop performing exercises that don’t have direct and specific transfer of coaching adaptations. For instance, on leg days, you stop performing leg extensions or leg curls. You may also start performing circuits with the events.
Finally, for 3 weeks, you simply practice the events. Perhaps using different loads and distances but that’s all you do. Further, you run these in order that they mimic race day. Start running the events at full distances.
You then deload for every week after which it’s race day!
Again, this is just an example of how which may look as it would look in a different way depending in your situation.
c. Increase Leg Strength And Power
Hyrox will train your full body, however it is by far a lower body-focused race. This includes every training variable:
- Endurance
- Strength
- Power
- Stamina
Subsequently, training your legs and lower body must be a high priority within the gym. If you have a look at all 8 exercises, you see that each single one includes the legs.
Now, some are more leg-centric than others, equivalent to the broad jump or lunges. Compared, some are a bit less leg-specific, equivalent to rowing, but even that also requires high endurance levels.
Of all of the exercises, perhaps the ski erg is the exercise that uses the smallest amount of lower body. At the identical time, it’s the very first exercise. Which means your legs shall be continually engaged from start to complete, and the one little break you’ll get occurs first.
Subsequently, constructing strong legs is an important asset in your Hyrox journey. Actually, this must be your primary goal.
d. Run, Run And Run
In case you do not like running, Hyrox is just not for you.
When taking a look at athletes’ total times and the way they divide it between running and exercises, running normally consumes about half of your entire race time.
This is definitely comparable to cycling in triathlons. Most triathletes will spend near half of their entire race time cycling, so are you able to guess what event most triathletes train probably the most for? Cycling!
Further, not only will it’s essential to run 8km, much of this may consist of compromised running, meaning you’ll run in a fatigued state. Many events concentrate on the lower body, meaning the exercises won’t permit you to “get well”! We mean, it’s essential to lunge with a 20kg sandbag for
100m, then go run 1km! Brutal!
Subsequently, if you wish to improve your time as a Hyrox athlete, it’s essential to spend quite a lot of effort and time improving your running performance.
The precise amount will rely on where you begin so just remember to slowly increase the whole volume with 10% being the advisable amount.
e. Use Mini Hyrox Workouts
One very useful gizmo is to run mini-races. It will not only permit you to train for the events, but it would also allow you to simulate an actual race so you possibly can change into accustomed to what it appears like to vary before exercises.
There are several ways you would do that equivalent to;
- Cut down all of the events in half
- Run circuits with groups of 4 exercises
- Run, complete an exercise, and run again
You should use a little bit of creativity in the way you set these up but the purpose is you perform different events in the same manner as you’ll in your race day.
Hyrox Training Routine
Let’s break down what an example 5-day workout plan could appear to be. The Hyrox training days shall be explained intimately 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 very good blueprint, but you might have to regulate the issue of the workouts based in your fitness level. For most people, the below is a very good baseline.
Session 1: Endurance Training
At the present time will look a bit more like a typical endurance day. Nonetheless, use the precise Hyrox events which can be more endurance-based.
The first events this may include can be:
Nonetheless, you would also include the sled and sled pull.
On this present day, you won’t necessarily be performing HIIT training. Somewhat, you would just use these exercises in succession. For instance:
- 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 shall be somewhat typical to “normal” strength training days. Nonetheless, it’s best to include some specific event training as exercises. Some that may fit here rather well are:
- Sandbag Lunges
- Sled Pull
- Farmer Carries
Your movements must be either your events or exercises which have a direct transfer to your events. An example workout could appear to be:
- Back Squat
- Farmer Carries
- Sandbag Lunges
- Barbell Thrusters
- Sled Pull
Now these movements won’t be trained in the identical manner as within the race. For instance, with the farmer carries, you would double the load and run 10 lengths of 10 meters with 30-60 second rest.
Further, include some HIIT on as of late after your training if you may have time. You need to follow utilizing your events, primarily the SkiErg and Rowing. For instance, perform a ten:00 HIIT session with a :40/:20 work/rest interval. Nonetheless, alternate between the SkiErg and Rower.
- SkiErg 40sec
- Rest 20sec
- Row 40sec
- Rest 20sec
More advanced athletes could also throw in some running. Depending in your time, this may be an awesome cardio session using the ten:00 HIIT session prescribed above. You just run 1km before and 1km after.
- Run 500m
- 10:00 HIIT session
- Run 500m
This could take 15:00-20:00.
Session 3: Long Run
Your weekly schedule should contain 1 future to easily increase and improve your running capabilities. As your race would require you to run 8km with events, your future must be at the very least 10km but can vary depending in your level.
Ideally, it would be closer to the estimated time of your finish. Do not forget that on average most individuals finish around 90 minutes or so. In case you’re just starting, you don’t need to start out with this but it’s best to work as much as it.
One option for more advanced runners can 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 throughout the Hyrox Race.
One other easy method to add some simulation is to run 1km then perform some lunges and burpees. You don’t want this to be overly complicated so follow these movements as you don’t need equipment. Further, these don’t have to be the total amount, just something to combine it up a bit of bit to further prepare you to alternate between running and exercise. An example may very well be:
- 1km Run
- 10 burpees + 10 walking lunges
- Repeat 8+ times
Session 4: Rest
Session 5: Strength Training II (Special Day)
The fifth day of coaching may very well be one other strength training session just like the primary one. When taking a look at the events you haven’t trained directly, you’re mainly left with burpee broad jumps and wall balls. Subsequently, you should definitely include these.
Further, if there’s an event you would like extra assist in, give those priority here as well.
Session 6: Simulated Hyrox Race
You need to run a simulated Hyrox race someday every week. This doesn’t mean it have to be the total race, but slightly, it would use the identical format.
There are several ways you would do that.
- Cut the whole lot in half
- Run different circuits with a couple of exercises together
- Run a shorter
Again, on this present 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 individuals unfamiliar with Crossfit or Hyrox might imagine they’re mainly the identical thing as they appear similar upon first commentary. Nonetheless, they don’t seem to be. Actually, aside from the marketing, they’re actually quite different. If anything, Hyrox can be closer to obstacle racing, equivalent to Spartan.
Listed here are the major differences between Hyrox and Crossfit:
- Hyrox uses the identical protocol for each race, whereas Crossfit is all the time 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 primary time you run Hyrox, it could make you’re thinking that it’s “varied,” as there are 9 events. Nonetheless, these are the one 9. Compare that to Crossfit, where there are dozens and dozens and dozens of exercises.
- At the top of the day, Hyrox is a race. It is a race, meaning your goal is all the time to go faster. If you perform CrossFit, you may sometimes have a race or a race aspect, but sometimes chances are you’ll have to perform probably the most reps or lift probably the most weight.
Training For Hyrox: Final Word
Hyrox is an awesome, difficult sport that may add to your training regime. Even when you don’t plan on competing seriously, including some Hyrox training may very well be an awesome option for anyone who hates running but knows they need some cardio. It requires continuous work for an prolonged period, ultimately what you would like. Nonetheless, it eliminates the monotony of running that some find off-putting and includes 8 exercises that would appeal to many. Alternatively, possibly you are training to win! Either way, this Hyrox training workout plan will get you in the appropriate direction.
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