Remember that Hyrox Fitness Race Attitude I wrote about? Welp, looks like I’m going to race. I’m teaming up with our resident marathon runner, Meredith Dietz, to take on Hyrox NYC in the Women’s Doubles division. you can Read here About how she trains and what she sees as her strengths and weaknesses. As a weightlifter, I will explain my approach.
I honestly was able to boil the question of “how should I train” down to one word: running. Everyone tells me that running is the most important skill of the Hyrox Race, it’s the thing you’ll spend the most time on race day, and it should make up the majority of your training, especially if you’re someone like me who has good strength but lacks endurance.
I need to be prepared for that
As I have done writtenHyrox is a structured fitness race. We would run eight kilometers (about five miles), one kilometer at a time. Meredith and I have to run together, but we can share the work when we get to the stations between running sections: there’s a ski erg machine, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing machine, farmer’s carry, lunges, and wall balls.
My biggest disappointment upon researching race formats is that none of these really play to a weightlifter’s strengths. Getting stronger will certainly help, but it’s not as if the max deadlift is in the mix. I want to get better at power Endurance-100 wall balls are essentially 100 very light squats.
my powers
I’ve been checking the race rules for things I can be good at and I’m coming up short. I know from strongman competitions that I’m really good at the seated sled pull, but the sled pull at Hyrox races is done standing, and I don’t feel particularly confident about that. However, it’s possible that I’ll find some of the heavier stations easier than Meredith.
There are a few small things that work in my favor. I can easily squat “ass to grass”, meaning I won’t be one of those people who gets no-reps on wall balls (your hips have to sink under your knees every time). I have reasonably good grip strength, so the farmer’s carry doesn’t scare me. I have better upper body strength than the average woman, so I can use it anywhere, which is a bit of a bonus.
Apart from physical strength, I also have mental strength. I like to participate in competitions where I can perfect my technique and my strategy. I’ve beaten people stronger than me in strongman and odd-lift competitions, just by knowing the exercises better and making better decisions on race day. I also get a thrill from studying things that other people will be meatheading their way through. How much will this be? indeed Help me on race day? Probably not at all, but what I hope is the only source.
My weaknesses
As we have already discussed, my weakness is: running. Fortunately, I’m not starting from scratch. I already own running shoes and know the principles of running training. But I didn’t run at all this past winter, so I need to increase mileage from almost zero at the same time I need to build cardio fitness. If I’m not careful, that’s a recipe for disaster, so I need to make sure I don’t increase my mileage too soon. We don’t have a lot of time for training, so it’s a bit of a balancing act.
What do you think so far?
How do I train for Hyrox?
I identified three priorities early in training, and now that I’m trying different workouts and learning more about the sport, I’m more committed to all of them. In order:
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Get used to running.
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Build my stamina so I can keep working for the 90+ minutes the race will take.
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Learn the movements and techniques I need for the stations.
Note that my priorities have nothing about strength. I think that’s the least of my worries. That said, my training always includes strength work, so it’s in the rotation. As I explained in This Instagram videoI pay attention to my heart rate to pace myself during workouts. One or two workouts per week can be tough, like a Hirox class or a tempo run. The rest of my work consists of easy cardio like Zone 2 and 3 is running
To avoid overuse injuries, I make sure not to run Also A lot of hiking and indoor cycling are in the mix so I can continue to work on my endurance even when I feel like I’ve done as much mileage as I can safely do in a given week.
Bottom line
Meredith said it best: On paper, a runner and a weightlifter seem like they should combine to make a perfect Hyrox athlete. In fact, the race format favors endurance athletes. I expect Meredith to jog at an easy pace while I struggle to keep up. When we get to the strength stations, I may loosen up a bit, but honestly it will depend on how tired I am from the run.
A wild card is learning to work together as a team. Meredith and I live in different cities and won’t see each other in person until I get to New York for the race. If we want to practice skills like throwing sandbags, we have to do it independently with whatever gym buddies we meet at our home gym. On race day, everything will need to come together – or perhaps fall apart. I think it will be a learning experience for both of us, regardless of the outcome.
