Six Things I Wish I Knew Before My First Gyrox Race.
A little over a week ago, my Lifehacker colleague, Beth Skwarecki, and I competed in the women’s doubles at Hyrox New York. Our final time was 1:36:48—not bad considering the average time for women’s doubles is 1:24:20, and we had minimal preparation.
However, after watching the video of that race, I looked less like the svelte athlete I imagined and more like a clumsy balloon man trying to lure you into a car dealership. Now that we’ve had time to reflect on our experience , here’s what I wish I’d known about Hyrox racing beforehand.
Focus on proper exercise technique, not just general fitness.
Before the competition, I was most terrified of the strength and coordination exercises, and Beth was most terrified of running. During the five weeks of training, I focused primarily on building strength. What was missing in my understanding? This isn’t CrossFit! In other words, you don’t need to be professionally strong to finish.
On competition day, the weight limits weren’t as daunting as I’d feared. In the women’s doubles open division, the sled push is 102 kg (about 225 lbs), including the sled itself. The sled pull is 78 kg (about 172 lbs), including the sled. The farmer’s carry uses 2 x 16 kg (about 35.2 lbs) kettlebells for 200 meters. Sandbag lunges are performed with a 10 kg (22 lbs) bag for 100 meters. And wall ball throws are performed using a 4 kg (8.8 lbs) ball thrown at a target 2.70 m away, for 100 repetitions.
Instead, I was caught off guard by the technique and coordination. Some of these movements were completely unfamiliar to me, and performing them on tired legs made everything even more awkward. I wish I’d focused more on specific movement patterns during training so I wouldn’t have to spend so much time practicing basic mechanics during the race.
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On race day, each Hyrox station has a completely different feel.
There’s a significant difference between practicing wall ball throws during a fresh workout at the gym and performing the 75th rep after running a few miles, pushing a sled, and doing a farmer’s carry. Each station takes on its own character depending on the context.
Fortunately, this isn’t a reason to panic—it’s just another reason to train with purpose. It’s not enough to simply practice movements individually. You need to practice them while fatigued and, if possible, in sequence. That’s what the simulator is for (more on that later). When you finally hit the training floor, you want the movements to feel familiar even when you’re tired, not just when you’re energized and focused on a 45-minute workout.
Take the course specifically designed for Hyrox, but don’t stop there.
Preliminary classes at the F45 studio, dedicated to the Hyrox method, were absolutely essential . A preparatory class introduces most of the Hyrox stations and, ideally, the specific standards Hyrox uses. But one class isn’t enough; everything depends on the capabilities of your gym. For example, I really regret not being able to practice my Hyrox-specific wall ball throws before competition day.
Run a Hyrox simulation, but be aware of the potential drawbacks beforehand.
It’s highly recommended to run a full simulation using Hyrox. I didn’t. Beth did, and she learned something important: the people running your simulation may not strictly adhere to the penalty rules or may not know all the rules.
Hyrox has specific penalties for standard violations—for example, not fully hitting the wall ball target, not fully extending your lunges, or having too much distance between your hands and feet during burpees. In a simulation run by someone who isn’t an official judge, you can easily perform movements that would result in burpee penalties on competition day. Therefore, before you begin the simulation, familiarize yourself with the standards and consequences. Use it to practice your tempo and sequence of movements, and be sure to follow the real rules, even if no one else in the room is.
In doubles, transitions are a race within a race.
If you compete in doubles, you’ll quickly realize that transitions are a discipline unto themselves. In fact, Beth and I had a blast sharing Instagram videos dedicated solely to transition ideas throughout our training. Handing off the baton between partners at each station, contingency plans for distributing the load, and making split-second decisions about whether your partner needs an extra rep—all of this needs to be thought out in advance and, ideally, practiced until it’s second nature.
It’s also important to note that strategy may seem obvious when you’re full of energy, but it becomes much less so when you’re both exhausted after another kilometer and the sled is standing still, staring at you. Our advice: decide who will lead each run, what signal to give for a partner switch, and what to do if one partner is struggling.
For example, it often makes sense to have a stronger runner start and finish each stage so the other runner has more time to rest between runs. Beth and I ran a little slower than usual, at a recovery pace, and it turned out to be the right decision. This meant we arrived at each stage with more energy to spare—which is what allowed me, someone who dreaded strength training, to get through them without breaking down.
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The key takeaway here is that the more decisions you make in advance, the fewer you’ll have to make under pressure.
Develop a real strategy for racing at Hyrox, not just a training plan.
Ultimately, there’s a big difference between preparing for Hyrox and actually competing in Hyrox. Many beginners (myself included) instinctively approach it as a really tough workout. You think to yourself: I’ll push when I can, hold out when I can’t, and see what time I can get. It works, but it certainly leaves room for further improvement.
True race strategy involves knowing exactly how to use each station. Research is your best friend. Sometimes the most effective move may not match the “proper technique” you’ve practiced, or it simply won’t be intuitive to you. At least that was the case with my wall ball throws. And you know what? I hope to put all this to the test and compete in another Hyrox race, perhaps in the singles this time, to really put my words to the test. Stay tuned.