HYROX training plan: how to build up smartly towards your race

Eight times one kilometre of running, alternated with eight different HYROX exercises.

That makes HYROX ask something else of you than just being strong or being a good runner.

You have to be able to run on tired legs. Produce force while your heart rate is high. Keep moving efficiently during the different exercises. And above all: spread your effort so that you do not blow yourself up halfway through the race.

So a good HYROX training plan is not a string of heavy HYROX workouts one after the other.

You build the base first. After that you make your training more and more specific.

What do you need to train for HYROX?

HYROX asks several physical qualities to come together.

You need strength for HYROX exercises such as the sled push, sled pull, lunges and farmer’s carry. You need to master the technique of the different stations. And on top of that, running makes up a large part of the race.

That is why the aerobic base gets a lot of attention in my HYROX programming.

A well-developed aerobic system helps you hold a solid pace for longer and recover better between hard efforts. Exactly because HYROX makes you switch again and again between running and the different exercises, that matters.

But you also want to stay strong.

So in a HYROX training plan I combine strength training, running and specific preparation for the HYROX exercises, instead of trading strength in completely for conditioning.

Phase 1: build your base first

In the first weeks your training does not have to look like a HYROX race yet.

In fact: you probably do not want it to.

First you want to learn to perform the different HYROX exercises with good technique, get used to combining strength and running, and raise how much load you can handle in total.

At the same time you build your aerobic capacity with easy endurance work and controlled intervals.

The goal is simple: make sure your body is ready to train harder and more specifically later on.

In this phase the programming leans heavily on technique, consistency and keeping an eye on RPE and RIR, instead of going all out in every session.

Do you also want to build or keep muscle alongside HYROX? Then hypertrophy training stays part of this phase. The amount of running and the strength volume just have to be matched to each other properly.

Phase 2: raise the intensity

Once the base is there, the load can go up.

Strength training gets heavier and you can train closer to failure. Runs get longer or more intense, and the HYROX exercises come back more often in combinations.

This is also the moment where training around your intended HYROX race pace gets more interesting.

You do not want to find out on race day which pace you can actually hold.

On top of that you can add sessions where you learn to deal with higher intensity and fatigue. In this phase the programming therefore shifts towards heavier strength work, longer running stimuli, practising the HYROX stations more extensively and training around race intensity.

The goal is not only to get fitter.

You learn to use your capacity the way HYROX asks you to.

Phase 3: train the way you will have to perform

Only towards the race does your training get truly specific.

Now you combine longer intervals at race pace with HYROX exercises, for example, and you deliberately practise compromised running: running when your legs are already tired from a hard station.

Because being able to run one kilometre on its own is one thing.

Running that same kilometre right after lunges, wall balls or a heavy sled push is something else.

Your strength training stays in the plan, but the emphasis moves to keeping your strength and moving efficiently under fatigue.

The last training phase of the programme is therefore about race pace, HYROX exercises under fatigue and learning to dose your race intensity.

What can a HYROX training week look like?

How often you should train depends on your level, your training history and how much time you have.

An example for someone training seriously towards a HYROX is five sessions a week:

• 3 gym sessions for strength, muscle and the different HYROX exercises
• 2 running sessions for aerobic capacity, speed and eventually race pace

That does not mean every week stays the same.

Early on the emphasis is more on base strength, technique and easy endurance. As the race gets closer, a bigger part of your training moves to race-specific combinations of running and HYROX exercises.

That is also why it is smarter to work in training phases than with one fixed HYROX plan that you repeat for twelve weeks.

Do not forget your taper

Training more is not automatically better right before your HYROX.

In the last week you actually want to bring the training volume down, while keeping a bit of speed, technique and race feeling.

You are not building any new fitness in those final days.

You want to make sure the work of the previous weeks can show up when you are on the start line.

That is why the volume goes down in the taper, with the emphasis on recovery, sleep, nutrition and briefly holding on to race pace and technique.

Your last hard session should not be your best HYROX performance. You want to save that for race day.

A good HYROX training plan builds up

The mistake I would avoid is doing nothing but full HYROX workouts from week one.

Your preparation gets stronger when there is a logical build-up in it:

capacity first → then intensity → then race-specific training → and finally recovering and racing.

That way you work not only towards a faster HYROX time, but also towards a body that can handle the training load.

And do you want to get stronger or keep muscle along the way? Then HYROX training does not have to get in the way of that goal. Your strength training and your running volume just have to be matched deliberately.

Would you like a plan built around your level, your week and your race? Read how I do Hyrox training in Amsterdam.