A few years ago, if you knew somebody who was into being strong and fast, who called themselves a “hybrid” athlete, or if they spent a lot of time on the rower and doing wall balls, they were probably into Crossfit, or one of the Crossfit-adjacent functional fitness gyms. But these days they’re more likely to be into Hyrox. Hyrox is a new sport—not just a workout style—that has taken off in a big way.
Perhaps your gym (or workout app, like Peloton) has started offering Hyrox classes, or you noticed that the new Amazfit fitness tracker was first teased through a Hyrox partnership. To help you understand the trend, here’s an explainer of what exactly Hyrox involves, why people like it, and where you can learn more if you’re intrigued.
Hyrox’s origins
Hyrox is a young sport, and was started by a company that holds a trademark for the name. (In that way it’s a bit like Crossfit, which is also a company, not just a term for a style of working out.)
It’s been said that Hyrox is short for “hybrid rockstar,” since “hybrid” is a term that athletes often use when they feel they’re neither endurance athletes nor strength athletes, but something in between.
The company hasn’t confirmed this theory. According to reporting from Hybrid Fitness Media, the company’s founders originally wanted the name “CuRox,” from the Latin verb currere, which refers to running. Even in those days they were referring to athletes as “roxstars,” so the theory is at least half true. The company adopted the name Hyrox after a trademark dispute with another company, and held its first race at a trade fair in Leipzig, Germany in 2018.
Hyrox has structured competitions
Unlike Crossfit competitions, which may include just about anything in any format, Hyrox’s competitions always follow the same predictable format. Much like running a marathon, you can compare your time in a Hyrox race to what others have done. The race includes eight 1-kilometer runs (adding up to about 5 miles) with stations in between. Here’s the order:
-
1 km run, then 1000 meters on a ski erg (a machine where you pull two cords downward toward the ground, in a motion slightly reminiscent of using ski poles)
-
1 km run, then 50 meter sled push
-
1 km run, then 50 meter sled pull
-
1 km run, then 80 meters of burpee broad jumps
-
1 km run, then 1000 meters on a rowing machine
-
1 km run, then a 200 meter farmer’s carry (walking while carrying kettlebells in both hands)
-
1 km run, then 100 meters of lunges while carrying a sandbag on your back
-
1 km run, then 100 wall balls (where you squat and then throw a ball upward toward a target on a wall)
Elite Hyrox athletes can do all of that in about an hour. The average experienced competitor takes around 90 minutes, and beginners are obviously a bit slower. The weights of the kettlebells, sandbags, and wall balls depend on which division you’re competing in (men’s or women’s, pro or open). There are also doubles and relay formats.
Hyrox’s workouts are easy to start doing
Hyrox events are hard work, but they aren’t too difficult skill-wise. You won’t see barbell snatches like in Olympic weightlifting, or handstand walks like in the Crossfit games. For this reason, it’s relatively beginner-friendly.
The events also give competitors a mix of strength and endurance work, skewed toward endurance. Running is obviously an endurance sport, and while the eight stations use more strength and power, you still have to do a lot of reps in a row, so pacing yourself is important.
Hyrox classes and communities are popping up everywhere
Part of the fun of Hyrox is training for it alongside others, or so I’ve heard. While you can train for a marathon on your own, training for a Hyrox race means you need access to a rowing machine, a ski erg, and a wall with an appropriate wall ball target—most of which are hard to find outside of a gym oriented toward those events. (That said, most Crossfit gyms and many commercial gyms can provide these things.)
To find a Hyrox club near you, Hyrox has a locator on its website. Also consider checking with gyms and fitness clubs to see if they may have started offering Hyrox classes or training groups.
