February 9, 2026
The relatively new functional fitness discipline has taken the world by storm in a short amount of time. From its humble beginnings in Hamburg in 2017, it has evolved into a global competitive sport, for beginners and elite athletes alike. It is here to stay, and with that, several questions emerge: How do you train for Hyrox? What are the key physiological determinants? What separates beginners from elites? Who have the prerequisites required to excel in Hyrox?
The scientific literature on Hyrox is limited at this point, however, this landscape will likely change over the next few years. While we cannot refer to concrete scientific evidence on athlete profiling, the “optimal” training for Hyrox, and how to periodize a season, we do know a lot about the core physiological principles that underpin Hyrox as a sport. It is, in fact, largely an endurance sport. After breaking down former world records for the men’s and women’s pro divisions, held by Hunter McIntyre and Lauren Weeks, it turns out that about 70% of total race durations is endurance-based – that is, running, skierg, or rowing (Seiler-Viken, Fast Talk Labs, 2025). Running alone accounts for more than 50% of the total race duration. What does this mean? First and foremost, you need to be a pretty descent runner to perform well in Hyrox!
The second key determinant of the sport is strength, both maximum and relative strength. To execute the stations with ease, your strength and muscle mass foundations have to be developed. In contrast to pure endurance sports like long-distance running and road cycling, Hyrox athletes carry more muscle mass, particularly in the upper body. In simple terms, an elite Hyrox athlete is a merge of a triathlete or long distance runner and a CrossFit athlete: You have to be strong and enduring – but in Hyrox, endurance outperforms max strength every time.
A short while ago, I wrote a piece for Fast Talk Laboratories called “Performance Determinants of Hyrox Competition”. Check out this article if you want a physiological breakdown of Hyrox. In this blog post, I will focus more on the training side of Hyrox: How do you structure a Hyrox training week? From my perspective as an athlete, coach, and scientist, it is easier than you think.
What are the basic ingredients of Hyrox? Aerobic capacity, high relative strength, and local muscular endurance.
There are few technical and tactical components in Hyrox, as opposed to CrossFit, for example, where the exercises and loads themselves are limiting. Hyrox was created as a sport for everyone, which means that your 80-year-old grandpa and 20-year-old sister can complete it (given they are healthy and in good shape). The difference between the beginner and elite is completion time. The simplest way to do get faster at Hyrox is to run faster. How do you make this happen? You need to improve three things: Your maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max), second lactate/ventilatory threshold (LT2/VT2 – often called the “anaerobic threshold”), and your fractional utilization of VO₂max (the percentage of VO₂max you can sustain throughout the race).
Adding more running to your training – and thereby increasing your “threshold” (the pace you can sustain for about 60 minutes, or roughly half-marathon pace) – will take you far. At the same time, you also have to be strong. This is where individualization comes in. If you come from a strength/power background, you may not need to do as much strength work as someone coming from an endurance background. When structuring your Hyrox training plan, know where you come from and build from there. Focus on your weaknesses (max strength and muscle mass if you are a runner; run endurance if you are a strength/power athlete) and maintain your strengths.
What you do not have to do is start with a bunch of Hyrox-specific workouts every week. Chances are, you will turn every session into a high-intensity, high-stress session, leaving you fatigued and under-recovered by the end of the week. From there, it spirals downward, and you end up with stagnation, burn-out, and non-functional overreaching/overtraining. The smartest thing a coach can do is avoid putting an athlete in this state of strain. Your main goals – as both coach and athlete – is to keep the athlete’s head above water. If you can manage that week in and week out, you will progress.
Ultimately, Hyrox training is no hocus-pocus. It is simply a blend of strength and endurance.
Build foundational strength through low-rep, high load compound exercises (squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull-ups, chins, etc.) and build cardiovascular endurance through running, supplemented with other endurance modalities (row-erg, ski-erg, cycling). Doing only this, before adding any Hyrox-specific work, will shave several minutes off your Hyrox time.
After weeks or months of base building (depending on where you come from), start adding Hyrox-specific workouts that simulate the exercises and transitions. You can also include CrossFit inspired sessions like AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) or EMOM (each minute on the minute) workouts, emphasizing lactate clearance and anaerobic capacity. And to all long-distance runners out there: these workouts will kick your ass (talking from personal experience).
Endurance and high relative strength -> anaerobic capacity and local muscular endurance (lactate clearance/tolerance) -> Hyrox.
The key factor in any endurance-training process is INTENSITY DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT. Hyrox workouts can very quickly turn into hard sessions. Like in any endurance sport, most of your training needs to stay at low intensity (below LT1, or up to ~75% of maximum heart rate; HRmax). Moderate- and high-intensity sessions are added sparingly and deliberately, resulting in a ~70-30 or ~80-20 distribution, when counting the number of sessions below and above LT1 (here I am including both moderate and high intensity in the 20-30%). A simple way to apply this principle is to alternate hard and easy days.
Monday:
AM: 50-60 min low-intensity run (zones 1-2, ~60-70% of HRmax, RPE=3-4)
PM: 40 min (20 + 20 min) low-intensity row + ski (zones 1-2, ~60-75% of HRmax, RPE=4)
Tuesday:
AM: 60-90 min foundational strength (3-4 sets, 6-10 rep range, RPE=7-9)
PM: 60 min easy bike (zone 1, ~60-70% of HRmax, RPE=3)
Wednesday:
AM: Threshold intervals (3x12 min with 3 min easy run recovery, zone 3-4, ~85-90% of HRmax, RPE=6-7)
Thursday:
AM: 50-60 min low-intensity run (zones 1-2, ~60-70% of HRmax, RPE=3-4)
PM: 40 min (20 + 20 min) low-intensity row + ski (zones 1-2, ~60-75% of HRmax, RPE=4)
Friday:
AM: 60-90 min foundational strength (3-4 sets, 6-10 rep range, RPE=7-9)
PM: 60 min easy bike (zones 1-2, ~60-70% of HRmax, RPE=3)
Saturday:
80-90 min low-intensity long run (with progression in intensity alternating weeks) OR a threshold intensity Hyrox-specific workout (simulation, AMRAP, EMOM etc.)
Sunday:
Full rest day
For a deep-dive into training zones, see Seiler-Viken et al. (2025).
A Hyrox athlete is, at the core, simply a more muscular and stronger long‑distance runner. You do not need to TRAIN HYROX to BECOME GOOD at HYROX.
To exemplify, I am currently training a world-champs-qualified male Hyrox athlete. His strength base is solid, his anaerobic capacity great, but his running can still level up. So, his training is heavily endurance‑focused. To move from a 1:03 to a sub-60 min men’s pro time, his second lactate threshold (LT2) or critical speed likely needs to shift from ~15.5 km/h to around 16-16.5 km/h. To take the next step, to play with the Elite 15, his LT2 likely needs to increase to ~17 km/h (roughly 3:30 min/km). The top guys are running each 1 km split at around 3:20 min/km. You see, the running is central. If you want to hold 3:20 pace (18 km/h), you need to be a darn good runner before anything else. Improve your running, then start worrying about your wall-ball technique.
The same training principles and philosophy apply to both men and women. Men simply run a bit faster and lift slightly heavier by nature of physiology – but the roadmap is the same.
Hyrox rewards athletes with a great engine, well-developed muscle mass and strength, and patience in the training process. Build basic strength and endurance, and I can guarantee your next Hyrox will be a whole different experience. You are no longer surviving the stations and recovering on the runs – you’re attacking the stations and racing the runs.
References:
Seiler‑Viken, S. A. (2025). Performance determinants of HYROX competition. Fast Talk Labs. https://www.fasttalklabs.com/training/performance-determinants-of-hyrox-competition/
Seiler‑Viken, S. A., Mentzoni, F., Seiler, S., et al. (2025). Contextualizing the Norwegian standardized intensity zone framework in an international sample of endurance practitioners. Scientific Reports, 15, 34367. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-17023-z
