This hybrid sport is the fastest-growing fitness competition globally, with races in 11 countries and over 30 cities.
This hybrid sport is the fastest-growing fitness competition globally, with races in 11 countries and over 30 cities.
The events are grueling and challenge different aspects of fitness. You can’t just be an aerobic monster, nor can you rely on strength alone.
Some race to compete, battling head-to-head within their category. Others race to complete, with the finish line being the goal. Regardless of ability level, the community is incredibly supportive.
From solo or neighborhood garage sessions to group workouts in state-of-the-art HYROX Training Clubs, hybrid training can be done almost anywhere, with or without the support of a community.
Here’s our take on why HYROX is the sport for EVERYBODY.
What is HYROX?
In short, HYROX is a fitness race. It is NOT CrossFit, a marathon, or a HIIT class. This hybrid sport stresses functional fitness and builds widely capable hybrid athletes.
Half the event is running, attracting people with endurance sport backgrounds. But you must also move weight. Since so much of the event is running, you can't be a huge musclehead with no aerobic capacity. HYROX is far from one-dimensional.
Every activity of HYROX is fixed: 1000 m ski erg, 50 m sled push, 50 m sled pull, 80 M burpee broad jumps, 1000 m rowing, 200 m farmer’s carry, 100 m sandbag lunges and 100 wall balls. The race starts with a 1 km run, followed by a 1 km run between each workout station.
There are plenty of competition categories; everyone has a place.
Solo, open or pro, with pros moving heavier weights
Doubles, same or mixed gender (run together, split workout stations at will)
Four-person relay (each teammate completes 2 x 1 km runs, and one workout station)
This consistent format enables you to train specifically to improve your competition results. You’re not training aimlessly; you always know what each competition requires.
All these attributes explain why HYROX is on fire, spreading from neighborhoods to HYROX Training Clubs globally.
Why You Should Care
HYROX’s heavy focus on running means you can gain an advantage if you already have an aerobic engine. The years of aerobic training may make you competitive right away.
But you must be well-rounded to excel, given the other requirements.
You can’t just be a light, fast runner; you must have enough mass and strength to move weights. However, you can’t be overly muscle-bound and unable to run competitively. HYROX is truly a sport for hybrid bodies and abilities.
Successful HYROX athletes prove this multi-dimensional aspect. And there is no faking it; you can’t hide in a draft, and your Instagram followers won’t help. If you have a weakness, it will be exposed, allowing you to fix it.
The Feed HPT Hybrid athletes epitomize the HYROX credo. Some come from strong running backgrounds, but others weigh 200 lbs but somehow run 5-minute miles. Others come from stick and ball or racket sports. But what they all have in common is that they are competent across a wide range of physical challenges.
In a few words: HYROX participants are real, renaissance athletes.
How To Fuel For a Sport That’s Everything at Once?
The variety of movements, energy systems, race format and duration (the average is 90+ minutes) of a HYROX event make fueling challenging and critical.
Unlike running, cycling or triathlon racing, HYROX racing doesn’t leave your hands free, and athletes don’t usually have pockets to stash things. And there is no natural lull; fueling must be done quickly under high exertion.
This means fueling is a logistical hurdle. The volumes, packaging, consistency, flavoring, and other properties of the products used matter.
Additionally, HYROX competitions are long enough to bonk and intense enough to cramp and can wreck your gut without a tested nutritional game plan.
Here are some tips to guide your HYROX fueling plans:
Carbohydrates and sodium are king
Preload electrolytes to reduce dehydration and muscle cramping
Mid-race nutrition needs to be easy and fast fuel (gels, chews and liquids)
Post-race nutrition should drive recovery and rebuilding, and contain protein, carbohydrates and collagen
Fueling the Two-Headed Beast: Energy Systems Explained for Hybrid Athletes
The varied nature of HYROX events stresses opposing energy systems – hybrid athletes power muscles aerobically (with oxygen) and anaerobically (without oxygen).
Aerobic Energy System
Aerobic activity, like easy to moderate running, primarily utilizes aerobic pathways to provide energy to muscles. These pathways use the oxygen you breathe and circulate to convert the fats and carbohydrates you intake into the energy needed to drive movement.
Aerobic metabolism can power relatively low-force movements for a long duration. Longer endurance sports primarily stress aerobic energy production.
Aerobic energy production doesn’t create harmful byproducts. As long as fats and carbohydrates are available, it could theoretically continue forever as long as other supporting processes and structures can do so. Think ultras or 200+ mile gravel races.
Anaerobic Metabolism
On the other end of the spectrum, anaerobic pathways take over when the intensity of the movement exceeds the ability to generate energy aerobically.
Anaerobic pathways can fuel faster running (like a 4-minute interval) and sprinting. They also power quick movements, like jumping or Olympic lifting.
Anaerobic metabolism can drive relatively powerful movements for a short period. Unlike aerobic metabolism, anaerobic metabolism produces lactic acid when converting glucose into energy.
Lactic acid accumulates, making the blood more acidic. This building acidity limits performance and the duration of the activity.
Aerobic and anaerobic metabolism don’t exist separately; both pathways run simultaneously at different rates. As the activity intensity increases, the proportion of energy produced anaerobically rises, and vice versa.
The energy demands of HYROX force the ebb and flow between the two energy systems. Your fueling strategy needs to address both. This means onboarding both fast-acting and slow-acting carbohydrates.
Electrolytes 201: You’re Not Just Sweating, You’re Leaking Performance
Sweating depletes sodium (Na+), chloride (Cl-), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+), and calcium (Ca2+) stores in the body.
These ions hold water in the body and conduct electrical impulses that catalyze all movements. They also maintain blood pH levels. All this means that electrolytes aren’t only for hydration; they play a pivotal role in overall athletic performance.
Some key ions to replace for athletic performance are sodium, magnesium and potassium. So, ensure your hydration products contain these three critical electrolytes. But sodium is the king; the more you sweat, the more you need.
The Hybrid Stack: Layering Supplements for Strength and Stamina
The nutritional demands of HYROX training and competitions are broad and encompassing. Addressing these needs is almost impossible with a single dietary supplement.
Successful hybrid athletes concoct the mix of successful supplements (stacks). Experimenting to determine the best stack can take a lot of time and money.
A few key elements to consider are carbohydrates, creatine, amino acids, beta-alanine, caffeine and hydration support, but there are many others.
Don’t Bonk or Burnout: How Carbs Power Your Hybrid Gains
Hybrid events demand a high amount of carbohydrates. HYROX competitions have the duration and intensity that demand constant carbohydrate intake to perform and recover.
Optimizing the amount of carbohydrates on board when it’s time to compete can be tricky. “Carbohydrate periodization” can help you be your best when it matters.
Carbohydrate periodization is a multi-step process that begins during training. The goal is to ensure efficient fat metabolism and sufficient carbohydrate loading at the time of competition.
It looks roughly like this:
Training with limited carbohydrate intake signals the body to increase the efficiency of fat metabolism. This delays the need for carbohydrates, sparing this limited energy store. However, the training must be low to moderate in intensity and limited in duration. Using caffeine during this time can be beneficial to mitigate potential drops in intensity due to lower carbohydrate consumption. And the athlete should maintain protein intake to prevent muscle breakdown.
As race day approaches, the athlete lowers training volume in a progressive taper while increasing carbohydrate intake.
In the days (or day) before the race, the athlete aggressively carbo-loads, eating the highest amount of carbohydrates to maximize storage.
Every step requires experimentation, and the duration of each varies with each person and by event.
The Feed HPT HYROX Athletes
The Feed HPT HYROX athlete list includes title holders like Hunter McIntyre and Lauren Weeks, both 3-time HYROX World Champions.
We also support Tia-Clair Toomey, who competed in Weightlifting at the 2016 Rio Summer Games and won gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She’s also a 7-time CrossFit World Games Champion.
The Feed proudly sponsors these and other top HYROX athletes to support the nutritional strategies required to reach the podium.
And we are always here to support your hybrid athlete journey.
