I’m Lizi Brooke, a performance coach at Supertraining in UNTIL Soho. I’ve raced the HYROX Pro category, and I coach HYROX and hybrid athletes, including cyclists and runners adding a strength event to their season.
What are the eight HYROX stations, in order?
The eight HYROX stations are the SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls. Every racer runs 1 km before each one, so a race is 8 km of running with eight stations in between. The distances and weights below come from the HYROX 26/27 singles rulebook.
| Station | Distance or reps | Open weight, women / men |
|---|---|---|
| 1. SkiErg | 1,000 m | None |
| 2. Sled push | 50 m | 102 kg / 152 kg, sled included |
| 3. Sled pull | 50 m | 78 kg / 103 kg, sled included |
| 4. Burpee broad jumps | 80 m | None |
| 5. Rowing | 1,000 m | None |
| 6. Farmers carry | 200 m | 2 x 16 kg / 2 x 24 kg |
| 7. Sandbag lunges | 100 m | 10 kg / 20 kg |
| 8. Wall balls | 100 reps | 4 kg / 6 kg |
The Pro category is heavier. Women in Pro race at the men’s Open weights, and the men’s Pro sled push weighs 202 kg.
Which station costs the most time at HYROX?
At HYROX, the burpee broad jumps are where Lizi Brooke loses the most time against the field.
The station that took me the longest was the burpees, in terms of me compared to the rest of the field. It’s something that I didn’t really realise in training until I raced.
The thing with burpees is it can range from anything like 2 minutes to 3 and a half minutes easily without you realising the difference. The others are a lot closer, which is why you can lose so much time on burpees, and it’s the same with lunges. The weighted lunges, if you’re taking a step in between each one, can cost you time, so you need to work on the momentum of just keeping going.
And the other one is the farmers carry. If you have to put it down and pick it back up, your hands get really slippery. The farmers carry isn’t a hard station if your grip holds, so grip is the key factor to work on.
I was probably a whole minute faster in the lighter weight women’s race than in the Pro race, because I didn’t lose the grip of the kettlebell.
The rowing has the least difference in time. It’s only 1,000 m, so the most a really good rower gains on an average one is about 30 seconds.
Why does the sled push make the next run so hard?
The HYROX sled push leaves you in a heavy, forward-leaning position, and you have to run straight off the back of it.
One thing that was particularly memorable was going from a sled push, where you’re in a forward position and your calves are at a stretch under 150 kilograms of load, and you’re then running off the back of it. You’re already tired from that really heavy loaded position, so it’s a bit of a shock to the system. It’s easy to cause cramp.
The challenge is that you don’t arrive at each station fresh. Being comfortable with the movement in the gym is very different from doing it with tired legs and with your breathing rate already really high, so that’s what you need to prepare for.
What do first-timers get wrong at HYROX?
A lot of first-time HYROX racers don’t practise the stations under fatigue.
They don’t go into a station in training with lactate already in their muscles. And they definitely don’t do enough fast running between, so starting the station with a heart rate high.
It’s uncomfortable, and you need to be in a competitive zone. Two things can really help:
- going to classes where there’s a bit of competition between sets
- getting someone that you’re accountable to, so they’re watching you and you’re under pressure for time
So you’re almost doing a mini mock-up of the event beforehand, which is quite good.
How do you train your weakest HYROX station?
Lizi Brooke trains a weak station by breaking it apart and putting it back together.
First you work out what the limitations are, because everyone’s different. You could be bad at one thing because of your proportions. It could be because you just build up lactate easily.
So for example, if it’s the burpees, a lot of it’s going to be how quickly you get back down to the floor again, which is in some ways the easiest part to train. But people just don’t have that reflex. It’s training the reflex.
The only way to really get better is timing yourself and working out what a good time would be for it, and trying to get closer to that time. Learning the muscle memory of just going faster means breaking down the movement into different parts:
- you’re getting better at push-ups, because you’re having to push yourself off the floor
- you’re getting better at jumping forward
- you’re improving your flexibility to be able to get down to the floor faster
Doing it against people that are good at burpees really helps build momentum too. A sprinter doesn’t train alone. They train against other runners to build momentum and muscle memory.
Another thing is the sandbag lunges. For me, I was very strong in my legs, but my issue was my hip flexor and flexibility. So I really had to work on my hip flexor flexibility and break apart that movement. I was doing Bulgarian split squats to work on loading the hip flexor in a stretch, and I found that really, really worked.
You’d go through cycles a bit, but you’d definitely highlight a weak station. Practise it fresh first, to get the quality of movement and train the muscle memory. Then, on other days, practise it under fatigue, the way you’ll meet it in the race.
How do you practise running into a station on tired legs?
Lizi Brooke uses manageable blocks of running, each followed straight away by a station.
Use manageable blocks of running followed straight away by a station. Practise getting started, controlling your breathing, finding a rhythm.
You don’t need to do a full HYROX every session, but you do need to start with a volume that you can do well and then build it up. Practise running afterwards too. Getting moving again on tired legs is a skill.
How should you prepare for your first HYROX?
Lizi Brooke’s advice for a first HYROX is to train each station on tired legs as well as fresh. Find your weakest station and break it down. Then practise it straight off a fast run, the way you’ll meet it on race day.
To see how Supertraining coaches it, read about hybrid and HYROX strength and conditioning, meet the coaches, or see where we coach.
Frequently asked questions
What order is a HYROX race in?
In order, the stations are the SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls. You run 1 km before each one, so a race is 8 km of running in total.
Where do HYROX racers lose the most time?
In Lizi Brooke's racing, the burpee broad jumps are where most time is lost. A burpee time can range from about 2 minutes to 3 and a half minutes without you realising the difference. The rowing has the smallest spread, about 30 seconds between a good rower and an average one.
How heavy is the HYROX sled push?
Under the 26/27 HYROX rulebook, the sled push weighs 102 kg for women, 152 kg for men and women in the Pro category, and 202 kg for men in the Pro category. Each weight includes the sled. You push it 50 m, in four lengths of 12.5 m.
Should you train your weakest HYROX station fresh or tired?
Lizi Brooke, a coach at Supertraining, starts a weak station fresh, so you get the quality of movement and train the muscle memory. Then she trains it under fatigue, because that is how you meet it in the race. The two go on different days.