The sled push, at HYROX, is one of the functional stations that can catch many competitors out – especially if they haven’t experienced a HYROX event before.
It’s very easy to exhaust your legs on this station – which is relatively early on in the race – and find yourself struggling for the remainder of the event. In this article, we’ll share all the info you need to help you tackle this tricky station.
Sled Push Troubles
There are a few reasons that the sled push causes problems for HYROX competitors:
– The flooring (i.e., carpet) on which you need to push the sled was presumably manufactured in a factory in Hell. It is especially difficult to push (or pull) a sled on. It is much less smooth than the flooring found in most gyms, and makes the sled feel MUCH heavier than it actually is. Speaking from personal experience, when training at my gym I need to add an additional 25kg to the sled for it to feel reasonably similar to HYROX race weight (but that will change from gym to gym).
– In some cases, the carpet can bunch up a little whilst you are pushing it, thus adding even more resistance.
– The competitor hasn’t trained compromised sled pushing. Pushing a heavy sled for 50 meters is one thing. Pushing a heavy sled for 50 meters, having already run a total of 2km, and skied for 1km, is quite another. You are transitioning from what has, up to that point, been a largely aerobic event, into something that requires a lot more strength. This can feel very strange if you haven’t sufficiently trained for it.
– The competitor pushes themselves too hard on the sled push and ruins their legs for the rest of the race. If you push it quickly, but then collapse on the floor for 5 minutes, that won’t help your finishing time!
The sled push seems to be one of the more important stations to get right at HYROX. This is because there is a large variability in the range of times we see athletes achieve on the exercise. The times on some other stations – such as the Ski Erg, for example – are relatively concentrated in comparison. This wide variability suggests that, if you get it right, there is time to be made up here relative to the other competitors.
Weights
The sled push weights, by category, in HYROX, are as follows:
Women: 102kg incl. sled
Women Pro: 152kg incl. sled
Men: 152kg incl. sled
Men Pro: 202kg incl. sled
Mixed Doubles: 152kg incl. sled
Women Doubles: 102kg incl. sled
Men Doubles: 152kg incl. sled
Relay: 102kg / 152kg (F/M) incl. sled
HYROX Sled Push Standards
At HYROX, you must cover 50 meters in total with the sled push. This is split up as 4 lengths of 12.5 meters.
It is the second functional station in a HYROX race. By the time you reach it you will have run 1km, then completed 1km on the Ski Erg, then run another 1km (plus any time in the “Roxzone”).
When you enter the sled push zone, you’ll likely be directed to a lane by one of the volunteers (or end up picking one yourself). Both the sled and participant must be completely behind the line prior to beginning. You then push the sled the length of your lane, past the line, walk around the sled, and push it back again. This process is then repeated so you cover 50m in total. You can rest at any time during this process if you wish.
Here is a HYROX video covering the sled push standards:
Sled Push Technique
The first thing to consider regarding your sled push technique is where to position your hands and arms. Do you find it most comfortable holding the sled with your arms tucked in, out straight, or pressed against the poles? Ideally, this is something to find out in training, or in the warmup area at Hyrox, prior to the start of your race. Personally, I find the arms down the poles works best for me, but I know people who disagree and prefer arms tucked in. Many do use straight arms, but I’m not convinced it’s the best method personally. You may find, over the course of 50 meters, that a variety of techniques is best, to reduce fatigue in one particular area.
You should also consider your stride length and speed (and train with a variety). For example, you could do some sets with a longer, slower stride, and some sets with a shorter, choppier, stride. If you do this in training, you can find what works best for you.
Sled Push Training Tips
Get the Weight Right
When training for the HYROX sled push, you want to ensure you have an appropriate amount of weight on the sled. As already mentioned, for an equivalent feel to that which you’ll experience at HYROX then you should consider the flooring that you are training on. If it’s anything smoother than ridiculously sticky carpet, you’ll likely want to add weight over and above your race day weight.
My opinion is that the majority of your sled push training should be at a weight that is equal to, or heavier than, what you will be experiencing on race day.
Sled Push Training
When training the sled push in isolation, there are obviously a variety of options in terms of sets, length of push, and weight used. An example session might be to pick a heavier weight than what you’ll be competing with and completing 6 lengths of 20 meters, with one length every 2 minutes. Periodisation and progression in your training is important though so you’ll want to adjust this week by week, perhaps by progressing sets completed, weight pushed, length of each set, or the time taken.
You’ll also want to be doing some compromised sled pushes. This is where you can practice pushing the sled under fatigue. A simplistic example of what this might look like could be a 500-meter run at slighter faster than your approximate race pace, followed by a 30-meter sled push (at race weight). And repeating this for 4 rounds, with no rest between rounds. For more on compromised training, click the link.
As mentioned already, there are numerous options in terms of what a training session might look like but using heavier weights, fine tuning your technique, and practicing compromised sled pushes are all important considerations.
Single Leg Training
Aside from pure sled push work you may also benefit from single leg training. When you think about it, the sled push is a series of single leg pushes. Therefore, consider incorporating walking lunges, reverse lunges, reverse zercher lunges, step ups, and (dare I say) Bulgarian split squats to help build your leg strength. These will likely carry over more favourably to the sled push than a normal back squat might, for example.
Sled Push Training Without a Sled
If you don’t have a sled to train with, then, in addition to the single leg training mentioned above, there are a few options worth considering:
Treadmill
With the treadmill switched off, place your hands on the console in front of you and drive your legs so that the treadmill belt starts to turn over. Because the treadmill is not switched on, the belt provides resistance and helps to replicate the feeling of a sled push. Place the treadmill on an incline first to further increase resistance, if desired.
Plate / Kettlebell Push
If you have a floor with enough space and resistance, you can place one hand on each side of either a weighted plate or kettlebell on the floor, in a bent forwards position, and drive your legs to move the weight.
This can be a great alternative to a normal sled push, though adding (or reducing) resistance week by week can be difficult.
Car Push
Perhaps a little unconventional this one, but if you have access to a car, you could place it in neutral and push it like you would with a sled push. Having a friend inside the car to steer, or brake, if necessary, will help here. Hopefully this goes without saying but be super careful if you decide to do this. You certainly don’t want to push it up a slope, somehow slip, and have the car roll back on to you, or end up pushing the car into something or someone. Do this at your own risk!
Mountain Climbers
The positioning of your body with mountain climbers is very similar to that in a sled push, making it a useful alternative that you can perform pretty much anywhere. They certainly help to raise your heart rate whilst also engaging your core. That said they don’t put much resistance on your legs, so aren’t a perfect alternative but may be something to incorporate into your training as needed.
Uphill Sprints / Parachute Sprints
Sprinting uphill requires greater amounts of force than normal running, so will have some carry over benefit for a sled push. If training for HYROX, the sprints can also act as part of your overall running training.
The same can be said with parachute sprints. The parachutes can be bought relatively inexpensively (here’s a good example ) and can be done pretty much anywhere (you don’t even need to find a hill like with the hill sprints!)
Broad Jumps
Broad jumps hit many of the same muscles as a sled push (quads, calves, glutes), and really help to develop your explosive power. Again, they can be done pretty much anywhere, and will obviously have a very nice carry over benefit to your burpee broad jumps performance in HYROX as well.
Footwear
The correct footwear is very important for HYROX. If you get this area wrong it can drastically increase your time. Inappropriate footwear for the sled push is a particularly common problem. The main issue is that people wear footwear that causes their feet to slip when pushing the heavy sled. This ‘slipping’ could be either the bottom of the footwear slipping on the carpet, or the footwear not being tight enough around the ankle, causing the foot itself to slip out of the trainer. This latter example is something I’ve personally experienced (fortunately only in training). Heel lock lacing is something that can sometimes help to resolve this issue.
Be sure to test out your footwear on the sled push in a training session, prior to actually competing in a HYROX event, if possible. Read this article for more information on the best footwear for HYROX.
Extra Race Day Tips
Leg Strides
I mentioned above about training the sled push with different stride lengths and speeds. You may have decided by race day that you have a definite preference (in which case you should probably go with that) but if not, using a variety may make sense on race day. For example, you may do the first length with longer strides, the second length with shorter strides, the third length with longer strides again and then finish with shorter strides. This can help to reduce fatigue in the legs as you hit slightly different muscles with the different stride types.
It’s possible that you may also find, by finishing on the shorter strides, the transition into the run slightly easier / more natural (though don’t get me wrong, it can still feel pretty rough!). This will come down to personal preference and is something to test in training if you get a chance.
Pacing
Finally, it’s important to remember that the sled push is just the second station in an eight-station event. By the time you reach it you’ll likely be only 20% (ish) into your total race time. If you ruin yourself on the sled push, there is a LONG way still to go.
Bearing this in mind you likely don’t want to get the 50 meters done as quickly as you possibly can. Of course, you don’t want to go too slow, but pushing to your max, and leaving yourself struggling to walk immediately afterwards is not a good tactic. There are no prizes for being the quickest over the sled push! Basically, if you need to have a short rest then do so.
Sled Push Importance
We’ve already mentioned that the sled push is an important station in a HYROX event, and it’s easy to ruin your race here. One trend that we noticed following the elite races at the 2022 HYROX World Championships indicated just how important the sled push seems to be. The below charts show the finishing positions, and sled push positions, for each of the elite racers. The trend lines for each being so closely matched seem to indicate just how closely tied someone’s finishing position correlates with their sled push performance. There are, of course, outliers, but the overall trend is clear, and is greater than for any other area of the race, including total run time.
For more information on the HYROX sled push, check out this article where we look at how the feel of the sled can change from venue to venue (and why that might be).
To find out more about our coaching programmes to help you smash your next HYROX, visit this page or check out our 12 week training plans (for individuals or doubles).
Photo image credit to sportograf.com
