You’ve probably never even heard of Hyrox and up until February this year neither had I. Since then its been at the forefront of my thoughts and training and in 2 days I‘ll be taking part in my very first event at the Excel in London (Eek).
So what is this ‘Hyrox’ And how did it all start?
In 2017 Christian Toetzke and his partner Maritza Furste created a fitness race that combines functional exercise and endurance. It took the world by storm……then covid hit. As with everything, Hyrox was hit hard as mass participant events were banned. After Covid Hyrox is back on track and once more taking the fitness world by storm.
So what is it?? Hyrox combines functional exercises that many gym goers are already familiar with and interlaces them with 1 km run. There are 8 exercises stations and 8 1km runs. The event starts with a run and ends with wall squats. The concept was very much based around functional fitness that anyone could train for. If you want some more info on how it all started this is a really interesting podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/4VxjcaxvoKKzG47F2omJAg
For each category the weights are set so you can train for each element using kit you find readily in most gyms. The sled push is 105kg, the pull 85kg, the farmers carry is with 2x16kg kettlebells, the lunges with a 10kg sand bag and the wall balls with a 4kg ball (easy peasy I hear you cry) https://youtu.be/HTHAs8F9Cek this shows the exercises and the general vibe of the competition.
So why Hyrox? Back in January I sprained my ankle and knew I couldn’t run on it poperly for some time. A friend on FB popped up with some live footage at an event she was at (Hyrox Manchester) and it looked intriguing. I looked into it and really liked the idea of the fitness and strength element interspersed with short runs. I felt like this would be maneagable and give me something to focus on for my training. I love lifting weights and going to the gym but I’d started to get a bit stuck in my ways. It’s always good to mix things up! Once I started to look into it I found a whole Hyrox world. There’s community groups, gyms running Hyrox classes, podcasts and training programmes, there are even Hyrox Master Trainers!
I downloaded one of the 8 week hyrox training programmes and I was off. I persuaded a friend to enter as well and we set about pushing each other each week. I found a gym in Nottingham, H3 gym were they were doing weekly Hyrox style training sessions so I joined them each week for a proper beasting.
On a Friday morning I trained with my friend at her gym. It was great having someone to train with and although the sessions were hard we got through them with much huffing, puffing and sweating.
So now here we are with just 2 days to go before our first ever hyrox event. We’ve done the training and I’m really excited (and slightly terrified). We were interviewed this week for the UKHXR podcast as newbies to the sport so it all feels very exciting. The whole event is hi energy, hi intensity and the buzz is building. I miss the buzz of competing, that nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach, the focus when youre on the start line, the buzz of the adrenaline and the pitting of athletes against each other.
So join me on Saturday when I’ll be taking on the mighty beast that is Hyrox. I’m off at 16.50 and I’ll be happy with a time anywhere between 1.20 and 1.30.
HYROX here we come!!!