Needs Analysis

When considering the strength requirements for Hyrox, we need to look at which exercises within the race require high levels of contractile strength in order for them to be performed fast. These exercises are Sled Push, Sled Pull, Lunges, and the Farmers Carry.

Sled Push

The sled push will require strength in the lower body, most notably the glutes and hamstrings. This will be developed through squatting and hinging on a regular basis. The sled push will be made easier through having a strong core musculature and some upper body muscle mass. This will mean that squatting and hinging strength development will make up a key part of a Hyrox athlete’s base training.

Sled Pull

The sled pull is completely based on the strength of the posterior chain, most notably the hinge and the horizontal pull. This will mean that the deadlift and horizontal pulling will play a crucial role in getting strong for Hyrox.

Lunges

The lunge in the Hyrox is not very heavy (32kg) but will require a good base of strength in the squat and the lunge movement. In order to be able to perform the lunges under high levels of fatigue, we want the lunge to feel light when not fatigued. This will mean that Hyrox strength programmes will require single-leg squatting strength movements and specifically the lunge.

Farmers Carry

Farmers carry strength is easy to develop through performing a variety of exercises including farmers carries, deadlifts, horizontal pulls, and other grip and pulling exercises. Having enough muscle mass in the upper back will be important to perform the farmers carry — this isn’t just a grip strength exercise.

Strength Training for Hyrox

Strength training for Hyrox needs to be split into different stages of your year. Breaking the year into in-season and off-season will allow you to give yourself blocks where you can aggressively improve your strength while maintaining your running and Hyrox-specific ability. The off-season will be anytime throughout the year when you are not in a Hyrox Preparation Phase or a Running Specific Phase.

Strength Training In The Off-Season

Strength training in the off-season for Hyrox performance will be based around improving the four key lifts, which are: Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, and Military Press.

Training Volume

If you have plenty of training time available, then I suggest strength training 3–4 times a week. This will enable you to make dramatic shifts in your strength, especially if you do not have the habit of performing a lot of strength training. Running capability needs to be maintained throughout this training block, as do the Hyrox-specific exercises, but they require less intensity and less volume than when performing a Hyrox preparation block. This also depends a great deal on your previous running experience.

Weekly Volume Landmarks

Remember, these are guidelines which will be heavily influenced by a number of different factors like your training age, training economy, running ability, strengths and weaknesses in the gym, etc.

For most individuals training for a Hyrox, this will be easily enough training volume to make significant progress on their strength during a 3–6 month strength block. For beginners, this will be too much volume and will create a risk of injury.

Designing a Weekly Outline

Once we have outlined how much volume we want to perform in a given week, we can start to design a weekly outline.

Session 1 – Upper Body Session

A) Horizontal Press

B) Vertical Press

C1) Vertical Pull

C2) Horizontal Pull

D) Grip Strength

Session 2 – Lower Body Session

A) Hinge

B) Squat

C1) Hinge

C2) Vertical Pull

D) Rotation

Session 3 – Full Body Session

A) Horizontal Press

B) Vertical Press

B2) Horizontal Pull

C) Tertiary Exercise / Core

Session 4 – Lower Body Squat

A) Squat

B1) Hinge

B2) Squat

C) Tertiary Exercise / Core

From here, you will be able to go through and fill in each movement category with a specific movement. Remember, strength training is much more about the movement pattern rather than the specific exercise.

Remember, getting strong and building muscle is about creating high levels of fatigue either through lifting heavy weights (to get stronger) or lifting weights for a high volume of repetitions (for hypertrophy). If you follow the plan above for 3–6 months, pushing hard on each working set, you will easily be able to make significant progress on your strength metrics.

Detailed Plan

Below is a detailed plan for a strength training phase for a Hyrox that is for a relatively advanced individual. Performing four sessions in any given week on strength training will be easily enough to create significant progress, so if you only have time for three, then that is great too. If you’re looking to follow this as an actual plan rather than just seeing it as an example showing you how a Hyrox strength programme might be structured, then make sure you are not making too large jumps in training volume. This means that you are used to performing the amount of work prescribed within the week. If you only perform one strength session per week, jumping to four may be a little too intense — consider starting with three.

Session 1 – Upper Body Session

A) Bench Press

B) Half Kneeling DB Press

C1) Weighted Pull-Up

C2) Tripod Stance Row

D) Plate Pinch

Session 2 – Lower Body Session

A) Deadlift

B) Bulgarian Split Squat

C1) DB Straight-Leg Deadlift

C2) Chin-Ups

D) Half Kneeling Cross Chop

Session 3 – Full Body Session

A) DB Bench Press

B) Strict Press

B2) Feet-Elevated Ring Row

C) Side Plank w/ Reach Through

Session 4 – Lower Body Squat

A) Back Squat

B1) Chinese Plank

B2) Reverse Nordic Curls

C1) Hanging Knee Raises

C2) Bicep Curls

Strength Training In-Season

Strength training while in a specific Hyrox preparation phase will be all about maintaining strength rather than gaining in strength. During this block, we are typically looking to be extremely fit with the strength we have currently. This will mean a dramatic drop in intensity and volume. Most of your output will be going to performing specific Hyrox workouts rather than actually getting strong.

This level of volume is called  maintenance volume . It requires you to perform far fewer working sets on each movement pattern on a weekly basis than when attempting to make progress through increasing strength or muscle mass. Maintenance volume is a little different for everybody and does fluctuate between different exercises. That being said, it is typically 4–6 working sets per movement pattern, which can easily be done in two sessions a week, or split across three hybrid sessions where half the session is strength followed by a HIIT workout.

Breaking your year into specific seasons will be crucial if you want to be successful at progressing your Hyrox time. Dedicating specific time to getting strong will allow for genuine progression, the same can be said for running and specific hyrox phases. Try and get better at one thing at a time, while maintaining your other physical characteristics.