Back in February 2023, I saw some clients compete at Hyrox — the Fitness Race For Everyone.
Prior to this point, I’d heard stories about the atmosphere, the race itself and the training in the lead-up to it.
To be completely honest, I walked into the arena that day with no intention of wanting to do one. I wanted to focus on endurance training (ultra-marathons), not on a conditioning-style event that combined strength and running.
Plus, I didn’t have enough interest in it to want to do it either.
As I walked into the Glasgow 2023 event as a spectator, I was met by blaring tunes, hundreds (maybe thousands) of people running around the track, many of the guys topless.
“This is mental” — was my first thought.
I took a walk around the spectator section and watched all the competitors complete different sections of the race. Some were going pretty fast, others going slow and steady.
I loved the action going on. The PA announcing finishing times and encouraging people to finish, family and friends cheering on from the sides.
From all the events I’ve completed in the past whether it was a marathon to taekwondo competitions, this had a different edge.
And now I wanted some of it.
After my second ultramarathon, I had a clear line of sight with no events planned. I saw Barcelona was hosting and knew that was the one I wanted to do for reasons I’ll touch on later on.
I signed up and booked my flight.
What Is Hyrox?
For the uninitiated, Hyrox is a fitness race which defines itself as the following.
HYROX combines both running & functional workout stations, where participants run 1km, followed by 1 functional workout station, repeated eight times.
It’s held in exhibition halls across the UK, Europe and America. It’s also now holding events in South East Asia, Dubai and Australia.
It truly has gone worldwide in the last few years.
There are many divisions throughout the day or over the weekend its held:
- Mens/Womens Open
- Mens/Womens Pro (weights on some stations differ compared to open)
- Men/Womens/Mixed Doubles (there are also now Pro divisions for these)
- Mens/Womens/Mixed Relay
The beauty of Hyrox is it never changes. It’s the same race no matter where you are in the world.
The premise is simple.
You run 1km then complete 1 functional workout station. Rinse and repeat until you’ve completed all 8 runs and stations.
How I Trained For A Running And Strength Event
My training block for this started properly about 10 weeks out.
I had just completed a photo shoot and was about to go on a week-long holiday. During the photoshoot prep, I was including conditioning and running anyway. This helped with getting lean for the shoot and improving my fitness for Hyrox.
Shortly before my holiday, I ran through a full simulation of the event in the gym. For the running, I used to treadmill set at 13.3km/hour.
Doing this was beneficial because it gave me a chance to run through everything together so I knew what I would roughly be like on the day. It’s very difficult to replicate the conditions due to the differing equipment, running on a treadmill at a controlled pace and the kit being set up close together.
One recommendation I would make to anyone who’s signed up or thinking about signing up for Hyrox is not to do simulations other than at the start of a training block as they can be misleading. Plus, there’ll be areas you’re weaker at you want to focus more on during your training.
There’s not a sexy answer for how my training plan looked
I’ve been training in the hybrid style for 2 years now and training looks very similar to what it did during marathon and ultra-marathon prep:
- 3 days in the gym — Upper, lower full body.
- 3 days specific to the event — 2x conditioning sessions and a run of some kind (long zone 2 or tempo)
About 6 weeks out, comprised running was introduced into my training after leg day.
This was 5x800m sprints on the treadmill aiming for zone 5 heart rate. The purpose of this was to replicate race day conditions.
Coming off of stations like the sled push and lunges, your legs are tired and being able to run after them is tough. Including the sprints in training gives you a feel of what they’ll feel like on the day with a build-up of lactate.
The conditioning sessions were usually based on completing some parts of the race. Here are 3 examples of some of the conditioning sessions:
1)
- 1km run @ 4:00 min/km pace
- 30 unbroken wall balls @ 6kg
- 80m kettlebell farmer carry @ 60kg
- 20m walking lunges @ 30kg
90 seconds rest. Complete for 5 rounds.
2)
- 10x150m row erg > 10 push-ups
- 10x150m ski erg > 15 air squats
- Straight into a max effort 3km run to finish
And my personal favourite:
3)
- 2km bike erg
- 50 wall balls @ HYROX weight
- 1km run
- 1000m ski erg
- 1km run
- 50m sled push @ HYROX weight
- 1km run
- 100m farmer carry @ HYROX weight
- 1000m row
The Way My Body Responded Surprised Me
As previously mentioned, I was coming into this training block after a photoshoot so my body was always going to be responsive to changes in training stimulus. I felt and looked great.
But I knew I had to be able to perform.
The intensity in each session was pushed higher and higher each week. I wanted to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of achieving the target I set myself.
Nutrition is always going to the be hardest part for anyone after getting as lean as possible. So I followed the structure of increasing my calorie intake slowly over the course of a few weeks — reverse dieting.
I won’t touch too much on this however the principle applies when you diet to a lean state and come out of the dieting phase being able to eat more but also retain how lean you are.
With this in mind I was able to eat more and more until I got to the point where I wasn’t having to think about every single thing I ate. Having done this multiple times now, I’ve gained an awareness of how my body responds.
With my focus now on performance, I was pushing hard. My appetite jumped up as a result giving me slightly more band width with food on higher volume training days.
What I noticed was despite not focusing on aesthetics, I looked just as good in the build-up to Hyrox as I did before the photoshoot.
When you focus on performance, aesthetics follow.
All the high-intensity work and running made me feel the fittest I’ve ever felt while maintaining size and strength.
My Takeaways
A question I always ask myself prior to an event is:
How do I want to feel on the start line?
- Relaxed — because you’ve done the work
- Nervous — perfectly normal because there’s a fear of the unknown
- A mix of both because you’re excited af.
When I’m feeling number one, I know I’ll do what I set out to on the day.
Doing What You Value Most
I often get asked why I do things like marathons, photoshoots, Hyrox etc.
My answer is simple. I value fitness and seeing what my mind and body are capable of.
One of my other biggest values is travelling.
Which is why the Hyrox I chose to do was Barcelona 2023.
It’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time since it's the perfect mix of city and beach. Both of which I love. It’s also easy and relatively cheap to travel to.
I was travelling out there with a friend also doing Hyrox so we planned a couple of days of chilling out and sightseeing before the event.
Walking down Las Ramblas was cool and so was visiting La Boqueria. We saw La Sagrada Familia at sunset.
Fortunately for us, my friend’s sister lives in Barcelona which put our minds at ease with regard to getting about and finding good places to eat. It allowed us space in our minds to enjoy the experience of Barcelona fully without worrying about more than needed.
Getting a quick workout on the beach then dipping our toes in the sea eased my mind even more.
Despite it being November, it was 18–20 degrees Celsius and my body thanked me for seeing the sun.
A Mindset Hack I’ve Used Multiple Times
Looking after myself physically has also meant looking after myself mentally too.
Journaling in the evening has been a practice i first established in 2019 but fell away from in 2021–2022. I’ve brought it back in 2023 and it’s been beneficial for me.
Getting all my thoughts on the page before I go to bed puts my mind at ease, helping my get to sleep quicker.
The night before events, I like to write down what I’m going to do the following day.
I wrote out my goal.
I am going to do a sub 1 hour 20 minute Hyrox tomorrow.
This was the internal motivator I gave myself.
The Race Itself
We turned up at the arena about 90 minutes beforehand to register and get a feel of what was going on.
I’ll be honest, it was a lot less busy than I expected. I think that may be down to the way the event is organised.
You set off in waves depending on your division.
All the Men’s Open waves were heading out between 10:50 and 14:00.
I was in one of the final waves so a lot of the first (and quickest) Mixed Doubles were running by me at points.
There’s a warm-up area with various equipment. I headed in 10–15 before the start so I could get ready and be loose for when I started.
I walked into the start pen with about 3 minutes to go and was greeted by the iconic '90s Chicago Bulls entrance — Sirius by the Alan Parsons Project.
Something happened to me in that moment.
My eyes light up.
I pictured the scenes from The Last Dance of Michael Jordan, Scott Pipin and Dennis Rodman running out onto the court.
It was game time now.
The switch flicked.
It was on.
Ups and Downs
Because I had the 80-minute time goal in my head, I broke this down into 10 minutes for each run and station.
I came in off the first run to the ski feeling great. My heart rate was good. I finished the ski in 4 minutes. When I started the second run my watch read 8:30.
I had another moment then.
In that moment, I knew I was doing a sub 80 minute.
I felt a barrier come down. There was a freeness from then on. Like I knew if I just kept doing what I’d just done I would be okay.
Stations 2 and 3 are the sled push and pull. The carpets they’re on feel like rugs which makes the 152kg sled push feel like double that.
The sled pull I where I lost a lot of time. I struggled for grip on the rope and kept altering my technique rather than sticking with what I’d practised in training. It just felt so heavy.
The burpees were tough too. I probably spent a bit longer on them than I’d liked to have done as well.
The rower is one of my strengths so getting there and doing that in 4 minutes was bang on what I’d set out to do.
My old friend from my first ultra reared its ugly head — cramp in my quad — during the lunges. This was the biggest battle. I pushed through and made it without blowing up completely. It actually settled on the run.
Farmers carries are probably the eaiset station. You can also run with them for the 200m.
The final station is 100 wall balls with 6kg.
The judges are quite strict with your form. Knees must go below parallel and you have to hit the 10ft target. I got no repped quite a few times so I was a bit frustrated.
I looked at my watch and see the time was 1:18 so I told myself to empty the tank and give everything I had left in me.
I crossed the line with a time of 1:19:32.
This Made Me Smile
When you’re deep in the pain cave everything hurts.
The mind begins to play tricks on you.
Stop. Just stop.
It wants to give in easily but you know you can do it. The best thing I’ve found to do at these points is smile.
It makes you instantly more positive.
You’re getting to do these events.
It also reminds me of how grateful I am to be doing it, the people who have sacrificed to help get you there and stop you from quitting.
One of my favourite parts about any event is the support. Whether it's from the people there with you or complete strangers. It creates a community aspect to what can often feel lonely inside your own head.
Seeing people cheer you on brings on into what’s around you, spurring you on.
What’s Next?
I loved doing Hyrox.
Yes, it was very f*cking hard.
But it was worth the pain to cross the line to achieve what I set out to.
I loved the training process because it got me to the fittest I’ve ever been.
Being able to be there with friends too made it even more special. We got to celebrate each other's achievements.
Luckily for me, I’ll be going back to where this Hyrox journey all began.
Glasgow.
In March 2024, I’m doing Mens Doubles.
I cannot wait for this challenge and to see where we can go.
I Knew This Would Happen
Not blowing out my arse after 3 runs or getting humbled by the sleds.
Or struggling with cramp on the lunges.
The post-event comedown.
Barcelona was a great weekend on many fronts:
- Visiting a new city
- Relaxing on the beach
- Achieving my goal at Hyrox
- Going on a great night out afterwards
It feels like it all went by so fast.
Being so excited for it all has definitely contributed to the way I’m feeling now.
My body feels tired and is still recovering.
I know in a few days it’ll pass though.
Time to pick myself up and go again.
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Speak soon!