What Is Hyrox and Why Is It Exploding in Popularity?

It’s not as focused on weightlifting as Crossfit — but it involves functional movements. It’s not as long and repetitive as a triathlon — but it does require endurance. It’s not an obstacle course like a Tough Mudder — but it is competitive and social. It’s called HYROX, and it’s a fitness event taking North America by storm after exploding in popularity in Europe. RELATED: What Is the 75 Hard Challenge? What Is HYROX? HYROX is a global fitness race. It combines running and functional training in a vast indoor space, such as a convention center. Whether you participate in a HYROX race in London, Dallas or Brisbane, the format is always the same: You run 1km, complete a workout station, and repeat the process eight times. The moves are simple and target different aspects of fitness, such as strength, power and endurance. Here are the stations, in order: 1000m on the Ski Erg, a type of rower that mimics the motion of cross-country skiing. 50m Sled Push, which involves pushing a weighted sled for a serious lower-body burn. 50m Sled Pull, which is the same movement in reverse and targets your glutes, back, biceps and core. 80m Burpee Broad Jump, which requires jumping as far as you can before doing a burpee, then doing it again. 1000m Row, which is completed on a classic rowing machine.200m Farmers Carry, a move you may be familiar with for its ability to challenge both your core muscles and grip strength. 100m Sandbag Lunges, which will have your legs screaming as you carry a sandbag on your back. 75 or 100 Wall Balls, which entail explosive squats that give you enough power to throw a weighted ball at a high target on a wall or rig, catch it and repeat without stopping. How Does the Competition Aspect of HYROX Work? Thanks to this standardized structure and the fact that the events are always indoors, HYROX races remain consistent across the world, which enables the use of global rankings. You can track your performance and see how it compares to other fitness enthusiasts across the world. There are also World Championships at the end of each racing season, So, do you need to be a pro athlete to partake? No — you just need to enjoy fitness. HYROX is challenging but accessible enough to be adapted to your desired level of challenge. There are four divisions. If you want to experience the event solo, you can register for the standard Open challenge, or a Pro version with heavier weights. You can also take on HYROX as a pair with Doubles, which has you running with a partner but splitting each workout station. Finally, you can form a relay team of four, with each person completing 2x 1 km of running followed by a single workout station. On average, it takes about an hour and a half to complete a HYROX race. But there is no time limit. Some people take three hours to go through the experience, while world record holders do it in an hour or less. Unpacking the Mass Appeal of HYROX Thousands of people participate in HYROX races, and spectators are welcome in droves too. Events have been known to sell out. The concept originally launched in Germany and the U.S. right before the pandemic, with little success. Lockdowns and social distancing measures forced a pause. Then, it relaunched in the UK and took off fast. It’s now available in 20 countries and continues to grow. But why is HYROX getting so popular? First, it gives the average gym-goer a chance to participate in a competition without being involved in a specific sport. If you enjoy staying fit in a well-rounded way, you’re not necessarily going to be signing up for something as targeted as a bodybuilding competition or a marathon. HYROX gives you a chance to train with purpose and challenge yourself. “Working out at the gym is the only sport with no gamification. No one plays tennis just to burn calories – they play tennis because they want to play against another person, otherwise they might as well hit a ball against the wall,” Christian Tötzke, founder of HYROX, told Health Club Management. “Providing a competition gives gym-goers the drive and motivation to train for something,” “It tests well-rounded fitness in a way that hasn’t previously been done. The predictability of the workout, the straightforward nature of the exercises, and the inclusivity of the competition make it appealing to a wide range of fitness enthusiasts,” adds James Cunningham, senior fitness coach at Total Shape. Plus, there’s a community aspect to it. You’re surrounded by thousands of people who share a passion for movement. Your friends and family — and complete strangers — cheer you on. It feels like a special occasion, which is probably why some people travel to attend HYROX races with their friends. As Chris Pruitt, certified personal trainer and CEO at WorkoutHealthy, puts it, it’s a competitive yet inclusive environment. You get to see how you measure up to other fitness enthusiasts, but you’re also competing against yourself. Since the race is always the same, you can set benchmarks and aim to beat them the next time you participate. Hyrox vs Crossfit: What’s the Difference? It’s easy to make parallels between the emergence of HYROX and the CrossFit craze of the 2010s. Both concepts are rooted in the idea of fitness as a sport. They both involve some elements of community and competition. And they’re all about functional training. However, there are key differences between the two. The first one is the format. HYROX is meant to keep the same structure. “Unlike CrossFit, which focuses on varied functional movements at high intensity with constantly changing workouts, HYROX has a standardized format with set exercises and distances, making it more predictable and measurable,” says Pruitt. According to Cunningham, HRYOX also puts less emphasis on Olympic lifting and powerlifting than CrossFit. This is intentional. Tötzke said that HYROX workout moves were selected because they train every part of the body, are inclusive and don’t require a lot of technical skill. Finally, CrossFit workouts tend to be shorter and more intense. Should You Try HYROX? If you’re looking for a new challenge that targets multiple components of fitness, you should give a HRYOX race a try. It’s a great way to shake up your fitness routine and give yourself a goal. It’s also something you can do with a friend, a romantic partner or even a group of coworkers. Keep in mind that even though it’s meant to be accessible, a HRYOX race isn’t something that you can just show up for unprepared. If you’re an advanced exerciser and regularly lift weights, run, and train for power and mobility, you could probably just wing it. Otherwise, it’s best to train intentionally to get your body ready for the challenge and avoid injuries (plus, that’s sort of the whole point). You may just want to do it again after your first experience. You Might Also Dig: How to Set Realistic Weight Loss GoalsHow to Do a Deck of Cards WorkoutYour Game Plan for Getting Ripped in 2024