What is HYROX? The fitness race that keeps growing
Today, let’s talk about something on my own to-do list: HYROX. If you’re into fitness, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard of it.
HYROX has become increasingly popular in recent years, and that momentum keeps building. It’s a race format that combines running with functional training. It isn’t as long as a marathon or as technically demanding as CrossFit. One of its biggest draws is that professional athletes and everyday fitness enthusiasts can take part in the same event.
What is HYROX?
HYROX started in Germany and is now held around the world. The basic idea is simple. Actually doing it? Rather less so.
If you’re thinking about entering, you’ll need to run a total of 8 kilometres. After each kilometre, you complete a functional fitness station. So you don’t run all 8 kilometres in one go.
You need solid cardiovascular endurance throughout the race, plus the strength to handle the exercises at the stations. The format stays the same across countries and venues, so entering in a different city doesn’t mean learning a completely new race. It also makes comparing your own results much easier.
How does HYROX work? Every station explained
Perhaps you’ve started asking yourself, “Should I give HYROX a go?” The next question is usually: what would I actually have to do? Which stations are waiting for me?
If you’re at the same stage as I am, here’s the sequence you’ll face in a standard HYROX race. I won’t list the weights here, because they vary by division.
- 1 km run: The race begins with your first kilometre of running.
- SkiErg — 1,000 metres: After that first kilometre, you reach a cardio machine with a pulling motion that may remind you of rowing. Here, you complete another 1,000 metres.
- 1 km run: SkiErg done, it’s time for another kilometre on foot.
- Sled Push — 50 metres: You push a weighted sled for 50 metres. Your legs have some serious work to do here. And just a reminder: you’ve already run 2 km by this point.
- 1 km run: Sled Push finished? Good. Another kilometre awaits.
- Sled Pull — 50 metres: Apparently, the organisers thought, “They’ve pushed a sled. Let’s make them pull one too.” This time, you use a rope to pull the weighted sled towards you over 50 metres. Upper-body strength, your back and your grip come into play here.
- 1 km run: After the Sled Pull, you complete your next kilometre.
- Burpee Broad Jumps — 80 metres: We’ve reached the first of the two parts I’m really not looking forward to: 80 metres of burpees with forward jumps. I feel like I could somehow get through the other stations and runs, but this one genuinely makes me nervous. We’ll see how that goes when race day comes.
- 1 km run: Because what could be nicer after all those burpees than another kilometre of running?
- Rowing — 1,000 metres: Now we move to rowing, one of the exercises I actually enjoy. Another 1,000 metres to complete here.
- 1 km run: We’re getting closer to the finish, but there’s another kilometre to run first.
- Farmers Carry — 200 metres: You walk 200 metres carrying a kettlebell in each hand. It might look straightforward, but grip strength and core endurance matter a lot at this station.
- 1 km run: Yes, another kilometre.
- Sandbag Lunges — 100 metres: And here’s my other least favourite prospect. You perform lunges for 100 metres with a sandbag across your shoulders. Personally, this and the burpees are the two stations that worry me most. Let’s see how I feel about them further down the line.
- 1 km run: Your final kilometre of running. After this, there’s just one station left.
- Wall Balls: The final station combines a squat with throwing a weighted medicine ball at a target. The target height differs for women and men. In Open, get through all 100 repetitions and you’ve made it to the finish.
For the traps first-time racers often fall into at these stations, take a look at our guide to 7 Common HYROX Mistakes.
What’s the difference between HYROX and CrossFit?
Spend a little time on YouTube or in online discussions and you’ll soon see people comparing HYROX with CrossFit.
CrossFit includes Olympic weightlifting movements, gymnastics skills and exercises that demand quite a lot of technique. Learning those skills properly matters, especially when it comes to reducing injury risk.
HYROX is more accessible in that respect. With a few months of preparation, taking part and finishing can become a realistic goal, depending on where you’re starting from. That doesn’t mean you’ll be competing for a podium place, or that HYROX is easy.
One of the main differences is that you don’t have the technical Olympic lifts found in CrossFit. With practice, the movements can feel more approachable. That’s part of what draws me to it. Still, eight separate 1-kilometre runs shouldn’t be brushed aside. You need to train for the running as well as the exercises.
Who is HYROX for?
One of the appealing things about HYROX is that it welcomes athletes at different levels. There are several options:
- Open
- Pro
- Doubles
- Relay
On the official website, you’ll also find a youth option called Youngstars, although it isn’t available at every event.
For me, Doubles is one of the best parts of HYROX. You can enter with a friend and race together. You share the work at the stations: if one of you runs out of steam during the Wall Balls, for example, the other can take over.
You both still have to run the full kilometre between every station, together. Even if you’re faster than your partner, you can’t just get started at the next station without them. That makes Doubles an attractive choice for a first race. If I can convince a friend, I’m aiming to enter the London and Birmingham events in Doubles next year.
If you exercise regularly, run or walk, working towards a HYROX race could be a goal to consider with the right preparation.
Why is HYROX so popular?
HYROX hasn’t appeared out of nowhere in the past year or two. But it has become much more popular recently. What’s behind that?
Results you can compare
For many competitors, being able to measure their progress matters. Because the format stays the same, you can compare your performance across the HYROX races you enter over the years.
Someone who raced in 2024 and returns in 2026 can see how their performance has changed. That might not be the main attraction for someone like me, who simply wants to take part. But for people chasing a better time or approaching it competitively, it’s a big advantage.
An accessible format
HYROX appeals to everyone from professional athletes to people who have built a decent fitness base around everyday life. The movements don’t take years to learn, and the technical demands are lower than in CrossFit. Even if you’re new to training, preparing specifically for HYROX over time can make participation a realistic goal. I recently read an article claiming that 99% of participants finish the race.
Strength and endurance together
HYROX isn’t a race you can prepare for through weight training alone. You need to run 8 kilometres, so your running fitness needs attention too. Online, you’ll find accounts from people who entered without doing much running beforehand. Common complaints include cramping and a slower overall finish time, even when they performed well at the stations, because the running held them back. It’s also worth keeping the role of electrolyte balance in mind when discussing cramps.
Some participants even describe their running pace as a form of active recovery: they work hard at the stations, then recover while running. That sounds slightly mad to me, but clearly they’re onto something. Either way, the running deserves our attention.
Training with a clear goal
You often hear people say they’ve lost motivation. Discipline is usually offered as the answer, but staying consistent with exercise isn’t always easy. Most of us aren’t professional athletes. At some point, we might take a break, miss sessions or stop altogether.
HYROX can help by giving that training a purpose. There’s a race date on the calendar, and you have something specific to prepare for between now and then.
How do you prepare for a HYROX race?
Looking at the stations and the experiences participants share, three main areas stand out in HYROX preparation.
Running endurance
If you’re thinking about entering, running needs to be part of your training. Two or three runs a week can help improve your pace, make the full 8 kilometres more manageable and, over time, make those running sections feel less punishing between stations.
If you’re completely new to running, my suggestion is to avoid trying to go all-out from day one. A run-walk approach can be a more manageable, sustainable way to build fitness. We explain how to develop that foundation in our base training guide.
Functional strength
We already know which movements the stations involve, so building strength for them makes sense. You can find HYROX training programmes online, with a focus on movements such as sled pushes, sled pulls, farmers carries and lunges.
You don’t have to start by doing only those exact exercises. Your training can still have variety. The useful part is putting together a programme that supports the movements you’ll face on race day.
Conditioning sessions
With eight stations and 8 km of running, practising that combination is a key part of preparation.
You might be good at every station individually, and you might be a good runner too. But doing everything back to back can produce a very different result from the one you expected. We need to experience that transition between running and station work and get used to it. For example, you could follow a 1-kilometre run with a kettlebell carry.
Is HYROX right for you?
HYROX has attracted increasing attention in recent years, and partnerships with major brands have helped it grow. By bringing running and functional training together, it tests both endurance and strength.
If you exercise regularly and want a new goal, a HYROX race could be worth considering. Or perhaps you want to start training but haven’t found something that motivates you yet. HYROX could give you a target to work towards.
I’m not new to exercise myself, but taking part in HYROX is one of my goals. It’s something I’d encourage you to consider too. Another welcome development is that official HYROX events are now held here in Türkiye as well. For more on training plans, endurance and race preparation, explore our Training category.
If you’re not sure whether HYROX suits you, our Find Your Sport quiz uses seven questions to suggest sports that match your preferences and show where you can get started in your province in Türkiye.
Once you’ve decided to try HYROX, the next question is usually “when and where?” You can follow upcoming endurance events in Türkiye through our running and race calendar.