If you took out your phone right now and opened Instagram, how long would it take to scroll past a post from one of your Lululemon clad friends (or a fitness influencer) competing in a Hyrox?
The fitness challenge has become a social media sensation since its inception eight years ago, with more than 650,000 athletes now taking part in 84 competitions across 25 countries. Tickets are harder to nab than those for Glastonbury and events sell out months in advance. So why is everyone hooked?
Hyrox is an indoor fitness discipline that sees participants alternate between eight one-kilometre runs and eight functional workout stations: 1000m of SkiErg, 50m of sled push, 50m of sled pull, 80m of burpee broad jumps, 1000m of rowing, 200m of farmer’s carry, 100m of sandbag lunges and 100 wall balls.
Hyrox combines both running and functional workout stations
There are four different ‘divisions’ to choose from. You can either go at it solo in the Open or Pro category; pair up in the Doubles category to run together and split each workout station; or split the challenge four ways in the Team Relay category, with each teammate completing two rounds of runs and workout stations.
While it’s technically a sport for ‘everybody’ and ‘every body’, drawing in both professional athletes and everyday fitness enthusiasts, Hyrox is still a mental and physical endurance test and showing up without any preparation and training would be ill-advised.
Meggan Grubb, personal trainer and founder of fitness app Beyond, is competing in her first Hyrox in London this May. She says that while strength training is the foundation of the fitness competition, the running element shouldn’t be ignored.
‘It might not look like a running race, as it involves eight rounds of weighted exercises too, but going straight into a one-kilometre run after you’ve just done 100 lunges whilst carrying a 10, 20 or 30-kilogram sandbag across your shoulders is what will fatigue you.’
Fitness expert Meggan Grubb is competing in her first Hyrox in May
With just eight weeks to go until her first Hyrox, Grubb is in full training mode. Below, she has shared her go-to weightlifting exercises that mimic the now-infamous workout stations of the race, which she recommends alternating with runs on the treadmill.
SkiErg
This is a full body workout that engages your upper and lower body as well as your core muscles, when done efficiently. It’s quite unique and therefore hard to replicate in the gym. That said, it’s a cardio-based exercise, so Grubb suggests running and spinning to prepare yourself.
Sled push
If the floor of your gym allows it, practice this station by pushing a weight plate on the floor. A lot of the sled push targets the lower body muscles, so a bear crawl with a dumbbell, which sees you move the dumbbell forward, bear crawl forward, then move the dumbbell forward again and again, is another good exercise.
Sled pull
A sled pull is another difficult movement to replicate. According to Grubb, the only exercise that’s relatively similar is pulling a rope on a cable machine, one arm at a time. As it predominantly uses your back muscles and biceps, she also recommends practising your upper body movements, particularly your pull movements, with bent over rows.
Burpee broad jump
If you have the space in your gym to practice your burpees while jumping forward, just do it. If you don’t and you want to practice the jumping element of the exercise, Grubb suggests burpees with a box jump in between, or a jump onto a plate.
While a Hyrox requires strength training, the running element shouldn’t be ignored
Row
Most gyms have rowing machines, so practising this section should be pretty straightforward. While rows are predominantly a cardio exercise, Grubb notes that you will also be using some upper body strength, so she suggests working exercises like push-ups into your training schedule.
Farmer’s carry
This station targets your upper back muscles, core and grip strength. A good way to practice that feeling, especially the grip, of a farmer’s carry is with a dead hang, which involves hanging on a bar like you’re going to do a pull-up, but you don’t pull up.
Sandbag lunge
Targeting your thigh and glute muscles, sandbag lunges can easily be replicated at the gym with dumbbells or a barbell. Grubb suggests practising with heavier weights than you’ll be using during the competition as you’ll likely be fatigued at this point in the competition. She also recommends doing exercises like squats, deadlifts and step ups to practise single leg movement and balance.
Wall ball
The functional, full-body movement of a wall ball, which involves launching a medicine ball from a full squat against a wall and catching it as it rebounds, can be replicated in the gym with a squat thrust, which combines a front squat with an overhead press.
