7 HYROX Training Tips to Improve Your Time, From Elite Hybrid Athlete Ryan Kent

Whether you've signed up for your first HYROX race or your 10th, this grueling event requires a solid training plan to make it to the finish line. Because the race is comprised of strength and cardio workouts, HYROX training can seem a little daunting.

Fear not, competitors: Ryan Kent, a decorated HYROX Elite 15 athlete and hybrid racing coach, has your back. Read on for some of Kent's most valuable tips to implement into your HYROX training plan. 

What is HYROX?

ICYMI, HYROX is a hybrid fitness competition that's quite literally booming in popularity. There are a ton of HYROX races across the globe to choose from, and you can compete either solo or with a partner. The event covers a broad range of functional fitness movements in a display of hybrid athleticism.

"I think a hybrid athlete is someone who is strong and can endure long challenges," explains Kent. "They have a wide range of physical abilities, it's not just one lane of something."

HYROX, in a nutshell, combines running with eight different strength and conditioning stations (full list below). You're aiming to complete the entire race as quickly as possible, while adhering to the competition's rules and regulations. While the required weight for each component depends on the division you're competing in, the distances for each chunk of the race are the same across the board:

• 1km run
• 1000m SkiErg
• 1km run
• 2x25m sled push
• 1km run
• 2x25m sled pull
• 1km run
• 80m burpee broad jumps
• 1km run
• 1000m row
• 1km run
• 200m kettlebell farmers carry
• 1km run
• 100m sandbag lunges
• 1km run
• 100 wall balls

HYROX Weights

Before you start training for a HYROX race, it's imperative that you know how much weight you'll be working with. Check out the required weights for both individual and doubles HYROX competitors in the open division (read: non-pros), below.

HYROX Wall Ball Weight

The women's open division calls for a 4kg (9lb) ball, while the men's open and doubles mixed divisions call for a 6kg ball (13lb). As long as you have a medicine ball at your disposal, wall balls are a total body exercise that are easy to practice just about anywhere.  

HYROX Sandbag Lunge Weight

The women's open division calls for a 10kg (22lb) sandbag, while the men's open and doubles mixed divisions call for a 20kg (44lb) bag. Sandbag lunges are another move that you can practice anywhere, as long as you have a sandbag to work with. 

HYROX Kettlebell Farmers Carry Weight

For the farmers carry, the women's open division calls for two 16kg (35lb) kettlebells, while the men's open and doubles mixed divisions call for two 24kg (53lb) bells.

HYROX Sled Weights

Competitors will both push and pull a sled. The women's open division calls for a 102kg (225lb) sled push and a 78kg (172lb) sled pull, while the men's open and doubles mixes divisions call for a 152kg (335lb) push and a 103kg (227lb) pull.

7 HYROX Training Tips for Faster Race Times and Better Performance

1. Train for solo racing, even if you're competing in a doubles or relay

Kent explains that, by nature, racing as a doubles team often includes some (much appreciated) breaks. But here's the kicker: training with those breaks in mind could actually hurt your overall performance. 

"I think training to perform in an individual race is only going to help when it comes to the doubles performance," he says. "Of the two doubles races that I've done, the first one I prepped as if I was racing solo and I actually felt more prepared in that race than when I got to Worlds and I had had this 8-week, 10-week doubles prep. I feel like I lost a little bit of my stamina in certain areas because I knew I would get a break in certain areas, so I didn't train them the way that I probably should have been training them. I think you can't go wrong by training for a solo race, even if you're not doing it solo."

2. If you are competing doubles, use EMOMS in training

"In a doubles race, you obviously you have to do the runs together," says Kent. "But when you get into the stations, I would say on average, you work for about 30 seconds and then you rest, and then you work for 30 seconds, and then you rest, just like you would in a normal EMOM. So I like to program a lot of EMOM-style workouts on the eight workout stations to really prep for what it's going to feel like when you're in an actual doubles competition."

3. There's no way around it: Run!

When you look at the breakdown of a HYROX competition, running 1km a handful of times might seem like the least of your worries. But take a second to do the math: eight 1km sections equals a total of 4.97 miles. Now add exhaustion and wobbly legs. 

"There's no getting around the running at all. You have to be able to get through five miles," says Kent. That means incorporating actual running into your training plan, not just relying on the cardio from the conditioning stations to get you prepped. 

4. Work on your pacing

"If I can get one thing through to the athletes that I coach, it's understanding the effort that you're putting out and being able to adjust on the fly," Kent says. "I find that people get so excited in the beginning of the race. They go in that little HYROX Red Bull tunnel. The music's going. They've got their friends over there on the other side of the fence, cheering them on and the countdown comes on... and I think maybe some people are not used to having that much adrenaline going through their body so they just take off like a cannon."

The solution? Keep pacing top of mind in your training so you're in the right headspace on race day. "What you really need to do is harness the adrenaline that you get," explains Kent. "I like to think of it as an hourglass: flip over the hourglass and that's your energy. You don't wanna pour it all at one time, right? You want it to go slowly. Then, hopefully, you time it perfectly to where you get to the wall balls and all of a sudden the sand runs out and you're out of energy, but the race is over, too."

5. Vary your workout intensity

Kent says that if you're always pushing too hard in training, both from a physical and mental standpoint, it's going to be hard to continue to train day after day.

"It's important that you have easy days in between those harder intensity days," he says. "I think that's a mistake people make in the preparation, feeling like they always have to do these really hard workouts, or even doing HYROX simulations all the time in training. That's not going to get you there. In the short term, you might see some benefits from it, but long term, you're either gonna get injured or you're gonna have mental burnout." 

Take this as your pro-approved permission slip to bake in some lighter workouts so your body can go the distance (and always finish with a cooldown).

6. But try to be consistent

Just because you're varying your intensity doesn't mean you shouldn't show up day after day. Kent explains, "Consistency is going to be the thing that's going to allow you to to get to your best. What happens is people train a couple days in a row, then they skip a day, and then they train for a day, skip a day or two, and there's not there's not just this consistency in their in their training. If you can, just keep stacking the days. It's one of those things where the more you do it, the better the better you're going to get."

7. Learn to listen to your body

According to Kent, the best thing you can listen to during a HYROX workout is, well, you. 

"I try to tell people when they're out on runs or doing zone two workouts... I'm like, don't listen to any music, don't listen to a podcast. I want you to just be present in the moment and listen to the signs, or not listen, but feel the signs that that your body's telling you during this session," he says. "If you if you always have music on or you're always listening to a podcast, you're just distracted from what's actually happening internally. I think sometimes being in silence and just paying attention to what your body's telling you, that's just gonna help you learn yourself and learn your body a little bit more."

How long should you train for a HYROX race?

According to Kent, your HYROX training plan will definitely depend on your existing fitness level. "I think if you don't have an underlying base level of fitness, you're gonna need some time," he says. "I would say 12 to 16 weeks is going to be enough time for you to get through the race — let's just put it that way. You'll get through it. I don't mean that with any sort of ill intentions, it's just the race humbles even the fittest athletes on the planet. It is a very, very difficult race."

If you are working with a strong base, Kent says you can probably get away with six to eight weeks for a training plan. But, regardless of your fitness level, HYROX races have a lot of different components, which means you'll want to take some time to get confident with each of them, especially if you're newer to hybrid workouts.

"I think three to four months would be enough time to get familiar with the exercises and the movements within the race and maybe build up a little bit of endurance," says Kent. "Then, towards the end, work on blending the two together a little bit, because that's how I set up a lot of my training for HYROX athletes.”

Now go crush it

HYROX is much more than just a challenging workout in a bumpin', crowd-filled venue — it's a community builder, a confidence booster, and a badge of honor, no matter your finish time.

With Kent's tips in mind, you'll be ready to tackle your HYROX training plan. And, if you need help getting specific with the nitty gritty of training, check out Kent's RMR App, which features programs for hybrid athletes of all levels.

Jamey Powell, NASM-CPT, 200-Hour RYT, is a Brooklyn-based writer with eight years of experience covering a broad range of fitness and lifestyle topics. When she’s not exercising or writing, you can catch her producing indie films, crocheting, and playing video games. 

This article was reviewed by Ashley Boyer, ACE-CPT, for accuracy.