What is Hyrox? The race, the divisions and who it is for

Hyrox is a fitness race: you run one kilometre eight times, each followed by a station. First SkiErg, sled push, sled pull and burpee broad jumps. Then rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls.

Every race has the same format, in the same order, with the same weights. That is why your time in Amsterdam is comparable to one in Berlin.

That fixed format is the reason it is growing so fast.

This piece explains what you actually do and which divisions exist. And what the first scientific measurements say about how hard it is.

What do you do at Hyrox?

You run a kilometre and do a station. Then another kilometre and the next station, and so on eight times. In total you run eight kilometres on a loop inside an event hall.

The eight stations sit in the middle. Between the running track and the stations lies the Roxzone. You run there too, but it does not count as a kilometre.

There is no single starting gun for everyone. You start in waves, and your time runs from your own start to your last wall ball.

The eight stations in order, with the distance per station, are worked out in Hyrox stations.

What does a Hyrox race look like?

For most participants a race takes somewhere between 75 minutes and two hours. The first scientific measurement of a Hyrox followed eleven recreational athletes (PMID 40230601). They had 18 months of experience.

Their median finish time was 86.5 minutes. Of that, 51 minutes went on the runs and 33 minutes on the stations.

That is the number that surprises most people. A Hyrox is sixty percent a running race.

What a good time is for your level sits in Hyrox times.

Which divisions does Hyrox have?

You choose a division when you register. It sets the weights on four of the eight stations. The running distance and the order are the same for everyone. These are the weights per division as the organiser publishes them.

Sled weights include the sled itself. In Doubles and Relay the women's or men's weight applies. In mixed teams it switches per person.

The full table, and what those weights mean for your training, sits in Hyrox weights.

Why is Hyrox so popular?

Because everyone races the same course, and because you get a number. An analysis of 145 races over five seasons counted 278,063 participants in 22 countries (PMID 41380137). Every division grew in every season, except the pandemic season.

That comparable number is the engine. Your marathon time says little about your strength and your squat max says nothing about your lungs. A Hyrox time says something about both.

And the field is getting faster. In the Pro and Elite divisions the top 100 got much faster in four seasons (PMID 42524284). Roughly thirteen minutes in men, seventeen in women. The Elite median went from 1:06:24 to 0:57:17 in men.

What is the difference between Hyrox and CrossFit?

Hyrox is the same every time, CrossFit is different every time. At Hyrox you know a year in advance exactly what you will do and in which order. At CrossFit competitions the workouts are often announced only shortly beforehand. They contain technical elements such as Olympic weightlifting and gymnastics.

That makes Hyrox the more accessible of the two. There is not a single exercise in it you cannot learn in a week.

The first study called it a form of functional training with an emphasis on endurance (PMID 40230601). The demands on maximum strength, coordination and mobility are moderate to low, compared with other forms. Translated: you do not need to be a gymnast or a weightlifter. You need to be able to run when you are tired.

Is Hyrox hard?

Yes, and in a specific way: it is long and it stays hard. Participants spent almost eighty percent of the simulation in the very hard heart rate zone (PMID 40230601). Heart rate, lactate and perceived exertion all peaked at the last station, the wall balls.

That is hard in a different way from a marathon, which is mostly long. And different from a powerlifting meet, which is mostly short and maximal.

A useful rule of thumb if you are considering it. If you can run for an hour without stopping, you can finish a Hyrox. Getting fast is another story, and that story sits in Hyrox training.

Who is Hyrox for?

For anyone who already moves and wants a goal beyond the scales. The Open division is designed for a first race. Doubles lets you share the stations with a partner.

The Dutch Health Council (Gezondheidsraad) sets 150 minutes of moderate activity a week in its exercise guidelines. A Hyrox preparation sits well above that. If you doubt your body can take it, talk to your GP first.

What strikes me as a training partner: the weakest do not struggle most, the strongest do. Lifters who never run hit a hole after the third kilometre that no strength can close.

Take two colleagues of 35 who both finish in 1:32. One runs ten kilometres in 48 minutes and squats 80 kilos. The other squats 140 kilos and never ran further than five kilometres before the race. Same time, two completely different races.

That is where your blood plays a role you will not read on any Hyrox page. Your running ceiling depends among other things on how much oxygen your blood carries. That sits in your haemoglobin and in your iron store, your ferritin.

Training seriously? Those two can be measured as a baseline in 360 health. A low value is not a diagnosis, but it is a ceiling that training does not fix.

Sign up for a race at least twelve weeks away. Start this week with an easy hour of running. That is the only test that counts.

Every blood test result includes a professional assessment from a BIG-registered doctor. For treatment decisions, discuss your results with your GP.

References

• Brandt T, et al. Acute physiological responses and performance determinants in Hyrox. Frontiers in Physiology, 2025. PMID 40230601.
• Fernández-Navarrete I, et al. Hyrox: a descriptive analysis of participation trends among over 275,000 athletes. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 2026. PMID 41380137.
• Rappelt L, et al. Longitudinal performance development in PRO and ELITE HYROX competitions across the first seven competitive seasons. Frontiers in Physiology, 2026. PMID 42524284.
• Villarroel López P, Juárez Santos-García D. High intensity functional training in hybrid competitions: a scoping review. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 2025. PMID 41133555.
• HYROX. The Fitness Race: race format and weights per division. hyrox.com/the-fitness-race.
• Gezondheidsraad. Beweegrichtlijnen 2017.