The sport of HYROX is increasing in popularity at a rapid rate. This means more and more newcomers are coming in and experiencing their first race. It’s fantastic! But racing in HYROX can certainly be a learning experience. Mistakes are easily made. That’s why we’ve put this article together that shares useful tips for people new to the world series of fitness…
#1. Prepare for Heavy Sleds
You should prepare for the sleds to feel heavier than you likely expect. When training for my first HYROX I naively thought that the weight I put on the sled at my gym would feel the same as it did during the race. And I was wrong. The carpet / flooring at HYROX makes it much harder to move a sled on than at most gyms. It can be a real shock if you aren’t prepared for this. So, train with a heavier weight than you think you need to. For more tips on training for the sleds, check out this one for the push, and this one for the pull.
#2. Pace Yourself
It is so easy to go out too fast in a HYROX race. This is the case for everyone, but especially newbies to the sport. In fact, I’d say it’s the most common mistake that an athlete makes when competing in HYROX for the first time.
In our “How to pace your running at HYROX” article we look at a few different elements of pacing. Firstly, we show that the best performers tend to run at a reasonably consistent pace across the race. They don’t slow dramatically towards the end, which means they likely feel like they are starting out relatively slowly.
However, without having done a HYROX it’s hard to know what pace to actually be running at. Again, we discuss that more in this article, but running a HYROX simulation at your gym (if possible) beforehand can be worthwhile. As a rough guide, most athletes run slower than their 5k or 10k pace. It is much closer aligned to what they may run a half-marathon at. When I did my first race I thought I might be able to hold something similar to my 5k pace – that was a big mistake!
It’s not just the running where pacing is important. The first couple of functional exercise stations are also an area where you should pace yourself, in particular. Station 1 is the Ski Erg where slowing down your pace by just a few seconds can save you a lot of energy without costing a lot of time. Similar can be said on the sled push. I highlight this more in our “average to elite” article but it looks like many people go too fast on the sled push relative to their overall abilities and strength levels. You need to almost deliberately hold yourself back on the push because there is a long way to go after it. If you push too hard / fast, you can ruin your legs for the rest of the race.
#3. Don’t Slow in Roxzone
If you’ve not done a HYROX before, conceptualising exactly what the “Roxzone” is, isn’t easy. But it is an important part of the race. I explain a little more in our “Beginners Guide to HYROX”, as well as in this “What is the Roxzone?” video on YouTube. Essentially, the Roxzone is the large area that you need to cover when moving between the runs and the functional stations. In a large indoor arena, the running section of a HYROX event normally takes place around the perimeter. After each run you then move into the centre of the venue, and head towards the functional station. The area between leaving the run and entering the functional station is known as the Roxzone. This can be a surprisingly large area and means that you ultimately end up covering an additional 700meters in distance on the day.
Something that much of the data analysing I’ve done shows is that many competitors – those new to HYROX especially – slow down in the Roxzone quite considerably, wasting a lot of time there. The best of the best in the sport don’t do that – they maintain a solid pace throughout. But it is easy to do, even subconsciously. Hopefully, by reading this, you’ll avoid this. Want a tip to help? Play a game of ‘Roxzone Floor is Lava’ with yourself on your next race. When you enter the Roxzone, get out of there as quickly as possible before the lava burns your feet!
For more tips on improving your time in the Roxzone, check out these 7 tips.
#4. Get Shoes that Don’t Slip
One of the favourite topics of conversation in the HYROX community is what is the best footwear for HYROX. The question comes about because of the mix of activities involved.
There’s the running portion obviously, but you also need footwear that is suitable for activities like lunges and sled pushing. When it comes to the sled pushes, you need footwear that won’t slip on the flooring. Some running shoes have a very limited amount of grip on the bottom which can lead to problems in HYROX. Similarly, on some shoes, especially if not tied up properly, your heels slip out the back of the shoe when pushing the sled.
To read more on the best footwear for HYROX, see this article.
#5. Prepare to Sweat
It can get pretty warm inside the venues during a race. It doesn’t necessarily start out that way, but once you’re well into the workout, pushing hard, along with hundreds of other people, the temperature can increase. This means you’ll likely be sweating a lot. And that means that staying well hydrated, and as cool as possible, is important.
For tips on coping with the heat of HYROX, check out this article.
#6. Memorise the Order
It’s worth making sure you know, by heart, the order of the stations. It can be easy, during the excitement of the race, to forgot where you need to go to next. Is it row before burpees, or vice versa?
If you do the stations in the wrong order you will incur a penalty. Therefore, knowing the order (ski, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jump, row, farmers carry, lunges, wall balls) is important.
#7. Keep Track of your Laps
One mistake made reasonably often during a HYROX event is for a competitor to run too many (or too few) laps of the arena. It varies by venue, but typically you need to run somewhere between 2 and 4 laps of the circuit to cover 1km (you will be told for sure in the technical briefing sent to you prior to the event). However, some competitors lose count and end up running too many, or too few, laps. It’s not always easy to keep track of everything, especially during a race. But it is something to try and be conscious of. You don’t want to make your race more difficult than it needs to be (or earn yourself a time penalty)!
Checking the screen at the venue as you run can help as this tells you what lap you’re on (but isn’t always reliable or easy to focus on). You can also use your watch, and time your own laps. If you know roughly how long you expect 1km to take you / what pace you run at, you’ll know roughly when it’s time to come in.
#8. Know the Movement Standards
Whilst the exercises required in a HYROX are all simple to perform, requiring a minimum amount of skill, there are certain movement standards that need to be adhered to. You should make yourself aware of these prior to the race and practice them in advance if need be.
All of the functional stations have certain requirements, but the 2 areas that you should pay particular attention to are the Wall Balls and the Burpee Broad Jumps. On these, it is not uncommon for a judge to “no rep” someone for not performing the exercise completely correctly. Check out our “Guide to HYROX Wall Balls” for more information on the Wall Balls standards, and this on the burpee broad jumps.
#9. Avoid Last Minute Panics
This may seem obvious but I’m telling you this from experience; you want to avoid any last minute panic before your start time. Therefore, get to the venue with plenty of time to spare (I would advise at least 90mins). This will give you time to check in, familiarise yourself with the venue, warm up, go the toilet before you start, work out how to get the timing chip around your ankle (it still confuses me) and whatever else you need to do. It can turn into a panic if you let it, and that’s not great race prep!
The atmosphere and community at the events is fantastic so there’s certainly no hardship in getting there well before you’re due to start.
#10. Enjoy Yourself
I probably shouldn’t have left this one for last as it’s the most important. Make sure you enjoy yourself! I know I’m certainly guilty of worrying too much about my performance and training. But the reality is the most important thing is to have fun. Enjoy the experience. It’s a fantastic event, with a fantastic community. So, soak it up and just have fun!
I hope that has helped. If you need training tips for preparing for your first HYROX, then check out this article. And to be kept up to date with our weekly articles that tell you all you need to know about improving your HYROX time, then enter your email address below…
