The Rise of HYROX

If you think back to cardiovascular or endurance type training of the past you might picture Jane Fonda lycra, mass participation and high reps of rhythmical bodyweight movements. In the gyms you would have seen rows and rows of treadmills and bikes and a huge influx of stairmasters into the late 80s and 90s.

Fast forward to 2024 and although there is still a thriving market for choreographed group exercise, we have seen an explosion of super athletic competitive style workouts enter the scene and gyms are full of rigs, functional training zones and have a whole host of cardiovascular kit and weights machines.

There definitely seems to have been a customer expectation shift towards what they want and expect from their fitness facility, with more and more clients looking for performance based measures during training. Clients are chasing reps, watts, calories, heart rates, zones and an average gym goer is now focusing more on athletic potential and goals than ever before. As a result of this, more and more personal trainers and small group training based facilities have jumped on this training methodology and even built business models around it. Crossfit gyms and non-affiliate private functional training gyms have thrived with the competitive style workout approach – using PBs, time caps and WODs to create this athletic style approach to training with clearly defined goals and objectives. These business models have built their brand around this competitive nature of training and Crossfit competitions and games have become famous worldwide. The snag? These competitions are not open to all.

Enter HYROX.

The rise of HYROX has brought with it a world of recreational fitness like never before.

HYROX first launched in Germany in 2017 and According to the HYROX website – ‘Hyrox was created by one of the most experienced and successful mass participation race event organisers in the world, Christian Toetzke, together with x3 Olympic Medallist and World Champion, Moritz Furste’. The site goes on to state that ‘HYROX has experienced remarkable growth in Europe and the US, with some events seeing over 8,000 participants and 10,000 spectators – making this sport the world’s largest mass participation Fitness Race’ (hyrox.com, 2024). Those stats are immense. Some professional sports do not even pull in crowds that size. There were over 90,000 athletes in the 22/23 HYROX season alone.

The aspect that possibly makes it so popular is the lack of time restriction. Competing on the same field will be immensely experienced sub 60 minute finishers alongside fresh competitors that might take more like 4 hours to complete the same course. The brilliantly thought out way that the days are devised means that no one else is actually aware where they are in relation to other competitors. The events have numerous starting waves in intervals meaning that competitors are crossing the finish line with any other number of competitors of all abilities and finish times. This opens up a whole new level of accessibility for potential competitors who want to challenge themselves and work towards a goal- whilst removing the sense of failure that may arise if a set time is not achieved.

Hyrox has been highly reported across numerous fitness publications – magazines, websites and promoted and fitness events. It has become so widely known that it has even featured in the financial times, in an article highlighting HYROX as being the newest fitness choice of young chief executives who are keen to promote a clean image (Jacobs, 2024). This is likely linked to the stressful and competitive nature of such high powered work life and how this personality type lends itself naturally to the HYROX training and competing.

The competition format is a grueling challenge consisting of 8km running split into 8 phases- each followed by a fitness station and can be done solo, as a pair or in a relay format with 4 contestants. This form of training combines the requirement for cardiovascular stamina with the need for strength and power output- 2 polar opposites on the fitness spectrum. This means that it is ultimately challenging for every single contender, as naturally we tend to be physiologically better prepared for one or the other (dependent mainly on our muscle fiber ratios of type 1 and 2 – and the type of training we have predominantly done). The requirement for high performances in both is a truly tough task.

So why do people put themselves through it? In my opinion I’d say it’s because it’s addictive! It is ingrained in human nature to work better when we have goals and our goals are usually better obtained when we set a solid time frame (Latham, 2003).

The chase to bettering yourself is heavily linked to competitive psychology (Duda, 2004) and once you are in that frame of mind – you just want the next challenge and then the next. This is potentially the driver behind why people have really taken to HYROX and why they keep coming back for more. The fact that these competitions are all around the world is not only an impressive show of how far reaching the business model has reached – but it has inspired a new kind of fitness tourism only previously seen in sports such as running and triathlon type athletic events.

Keen to get involved?

In order to train and prepare for HYROX either as a gym facility or as a competitor – you are going to need access to the right kit.

The cardio kit – and a little bit of science

Ski ergs

You only have to go back about 10 years – and there were hardly any Ski Ergs in facilities and now mainstream gyms have full walls of them. Their stand up, no impact but high intensity full body activation make them a rather unique piece of cardiovascular equipment. They store nicely up against the outside walls of a gym space either on stands or secured directly onto the walls – leaving plenty of floor space for the rest of your gym kit.

Originally perhaps only favored by ski athletes for their offseason training protocols they now play a huge role in the mainstream. Their use has been found to increase power output and efficiency of anaerobic glycolysis which manifested during testing in an increase in V02 max amongst other measures (Bakhareva, 2021). Testing protocols have also been carried out to measure athlete strength and how this correlates to ability during 100-2000m performances using rowers and ski ergometers (Hatchett, 2019), again linking to the requirement for both strength and cardiovascular stamina during HYROX competition.

Your training on the ski erg would be quite straight forward. You would likely want to train some HIIT style intervals in order to push your tolerance in your highest heart rate zones in addition to the full 1000m practice for time. The quicker you can complete each of the set tasks- the better time you will complete the whole event in overall.

Rowing machines

Rowing machines are a gym floor classic and the concept 2 design has barely changed throughout the years. It may have often been used for steady state work and intervals – but HYROX takes it to a new level with the 1000m challenge. It’s a super easy piece of equipment to use, store and handle which means that it is accessible for home gym use as well as commercial.

The indoor rower has been heavily used in scientific research with many positive health and performance improvements seen within results. A study conducted by Gavala-Gonzalez et al (2024) showed improvements in muscular strength and endurance when using the rowing machine as a substitute for water rowing in adolescents. On the other end of the spectrum, the rowing machine has been highlighted as a beneficial exercise type for elderly people due to its low impact on the knee joints and the way it successfully achieves resistance and cardiorespiratory training (Asaka and Higuchi, 2015). The rowing machine therefore seems a natural permanent fixture of the HYROX style competitions therefore – as it can elicit the high intensity workload, without the requirement for high impact. Training blocks could be done to the full HYROX distance, or in shorter faster bursts to promote lactate threshold improvements.

If you want to offer the full HYROX experience, you will also need to invest in a sled, heavy kettlebells, sandbags and wall balls. You might have other gym equipment that could suffice for training purposes – maybe dumbbells rather than kettlebells? You could use a bar on your back instead of the sandbags? You might be able to fashion your own sled and practice your weighted push and pulls, but ultimately if you want the whole training and competing experience you might want to ensure you have access to all the required equipment so that you can train to your full potential.

You might be training towards a HYROX competition but want some variety in your sessions too. There might be some ways to follow the same format but to give you some slightly different approaches. The tornado bike is the perfect substitute for something like the rower or ski erg.

Tornado air bike

The tornado bike combines muscular strength with cardiovascular endurance with the use of arms and legs in a battle against air resistance. The quicker you move, the more resistance you feel and the harder the work becomes. The bike can be used in a more steady state for distance, for power output measures and it is very successful in developing health and performance measures when used in HIIT protocols (Schlegel et al, 2022a). A study by Moghaddam et al (2023) showed improvements in V02 max and

METs after using the air bike for their testing protocol. The piece concluded that the air bike is valuable because of the time efficiency of the training and the cardiovascular adaptations it elicits. Its lower cadence and strength focused usage means that it differs from running or an ordinary bike (Schlegel et al, 2022b) but as a result it makes a fantastic alternative for the high level of intensity required when prepping for HYROX.

So gyms looking to make the HYROX leap – make sure you are kitted out and ready for your members to succeed. Set yourself your HYROX goal and go get it!

References

Asaka, M. and Higuchi, M., 2015. Rowing: A favorable tool to promote elderly health which offers both aerobic and resistance exercise. Physical Activity, Exercise, Sedentary Behavior and Health, pp.307-318.

Bakhareva, A.S., Aminov, A.S., Latypova, E.F., Savinykh, E.Y. and Cherepanov, V.S., 2021. 

SKI-ERG training for enhancing anaerobic glycolysis in cross-country skiers. Journal of physical education and sport, 21(4), pp.1919-1923.

Duda, J.L., 2004. Goal setting and achievement motivation in sport. Encyclopedia of applied psychology, 2, pp.109-19.

Gavala-González, J., Porras-García, M.E., Fernández-García, J.C. and Real-Pérez, M., 2024. Effects of Specific Training Using a Rowing Ergometer on Sport Performance in Adolescents. Applied Sciences, 14(8), p.3180.

Hatchett, A., Armstrong, K., Hughes, B. and Tant, C., 2019. The Influence of Strength and Power on Rowing, Ski Ergometer Performance. Journal of Sports Research, 6(1), pp.29-32.

Hyrox (2024) The origin. Accessed from: https://hyrox.com/the-history/. Accessed on: 10/10/24

Jacobs, E., 2024. Professionals find their competitive streak in group fitness challenges. Such events are gaining popularity with young chief executives keen to craft a cleaner image.

The Financial Times, pp.18-18.

Latham, G. P. (2003). Goal setting: A five-step approach to behavior change. Organizational Dynamics, 32(3), 309-318.

Moghaddam, M., Cervantes, M., Cheshier, B. and Jacobson, B.H., 2023. Sprint Interval Training on Stationary Air Bike Elicits Cardiorespiratory Adaptations While Being Time-Efficient. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 37(9), pp.1795-1801.

Schlegel, P., Křehký, A. and Hiblbauer, J., (a) 2022. Physical fitness improvement after 8 weeks of high-intensity interval training with air bike. Sport Mont, 20(3), pp.75-80.

Schlegel, P., Křehký, A., Hiblbauer, J. and Faltys, V., (b) 2022. Air biking as a new way for stress testing. Movement & Sport Sciences, (2), pp.17-22.