Hey Everyone

Now we have our HYROX affiliation/HYROX-specific classes running, I wanted to try and answer a few questions “In Advance” of them being asked…some of the details in here are genuine guess-work from me (Dates and Costs) but I’m trying to base them on ‘historical’ facts where I can.

• When is the next event?
  The Perth event is scheduled for early September 2025.  So we have about 6-months to get ‘ready’.  I’m a bit hesitant to specify an exact ‘date’ right now as the upcoming Sydney event has been expanded from 1-day in 2024 to 3-days in 2024…if you target early September in terms of training, you’ll be fine.
• How much will it cost?
  First off, it seems the prices were different in every state last year…and further to that as an affiliate gym our members will receive a discount AND early access to tickets.  All of that said, you need to think $200 for individuals, $185 (each) for Doubles and $150 (each – 4-people) for relays.
  
• Singles/Doubles/Teams?  What does it all mean???
  OK.  Singles is pretty easy – you do all the activities by yourself.  So that’s easy to understand.  With the Doubles – BOTH of you need to finish the running and you need to finish each run ‘together’ otherwise you will receive a penalty.  So if you are thinking ‘DOUBLE’ or ‘Duo’ or whatever, you need to be prepared to do ALL of the running.  The difference with the Duo’s is that you SHARE the workload on the stations – so you can tag in/tag out of the burpees, rower etc.
  The ‘TEAMS’ are quite different – each of the 4x competitors does TWO (2) runs and TWO (2) of the ‘stations’.  Then they tag out and someone else takes over…so obviously the training load for a ‘TEAM’ is a LOT LOWER.
• How do I know what event to sign up to?
  Well – first off you need to work out what event you WANT to sign up for?  All of them are challenges but there is no doubt the ‘TEAM’ is a lot less training commitment that either the single or duo…HYROX do provide a test (called a PFT) that is designed to help you work out what event you are suited for at your current fitness level – As an Official Affiliate gym we will be running this test in the next couple of months.  I mean, I can hear everyone saying ‘just run it now’ but it takes a bit of prep this end and we need to engage the HYROX corporate team so sadly it isn’t a simple ‘Snap our fingers, do the test’ type event.  Anyway – the test is called the “HYROX Physical Fitness Test” PFT so look out for that and info relating to it on the socials/emails etc coming up.
  Back to the question – what event?  If you are 100% in it for fun and don’t want to do any extra training – choose a team – 3x sessions per week at Round 1 will have you ready for that with no extra work needed.  If you want to work with a partner to ‘share the load’ and have someone alongside you to support you through it – choose a Duo…finding time to run together would be an important consideration here though as you will HAVE to do that on race-day.  Outside of that – I truly believe most people would be fine to do a solo – the focus for most Round 1 regulars would be to SUPPLEMENT what you’re already doing with some running…more on this in the next section!
  
• What do I need to ‘FOCUS’ on in my training??
  For people regularly training at Round 1 – you will be pretty used to the Skis and Rowers whether you are a Boxing or Strength gym regular.  Those regularly doing Functional Fitness/Peak Performance sessions will also be well across the Weighted lunges, Wall Balls, Farmers Carries and Sled PUSHES.  Burpee Broad Jumps and Sled Pulls (using a rope) are things we don’t do often and you will need to be sure you are doing those…we built a heap of them into our SPARTA classes last year and obviously we have the HYROX specific sessions running now so those will be covered off as well…so the best prep for everyone would be to do 2x ‘normal’ sessions + jump into the HYROX specific classes each week.  THEN there is the running.
  To complete a HYROX race (Single or DUO) you need to be able to do 8x 1000m runs.  From the perspective of someone who did this last year without doing really ANY running in the lead up…well, it’s possible but it’s pretty UN-FUN.  So you need to be running.  In the next couple of weeks I will be putting together a structured HYROX running block to be completed twice each week – I’m targeting this to commence on June 1st which is heaps of time – but how I’m going to make this available I’m a little uncertain right now…I would like one of the sessions each week to be coach led so…anyway.  We’ll get there with this but understand this one thing:  50%+ of the time spent in a HYROX event will be spent running so you NEED to run.
  
• What about the transitions between stations?  How do I prepare for that??
  Wow – that’s a good question.  I joked a bit after last year’s event that the finishing stretch – 1km Run, 100m Sandbag Walking lunges, 1km Run, 100 Wall Balls – was not the best time I’ve ever had.  Honestly, the best way to prepare is to put yourself in those positions regularly and be ready to go – it’s going to sound obvious but if you do the HYROX classes at the gym – particularly the Foundations class each Saturday – you’ll be doing those sort of transitions regularly and will be ready to go!
  
• I like doing boxing classes – can I prepare for HYROX doing those?
  Yeah – of course.  Boxing can remain the ‘primary’ focus of your training week and you will be able to do HYROX if you are getting your running done.  No doubt in boxing we do sled pushes, walking lunges, burpees, wall balls, skis, rowers, farmers carries…we don’t really do sled pulls but we 100% ‘DO’ all of the ‘other’ things you will need to do in the HYROX race.  Personally for those who loving doing boxing sessions my advice would be to stick PRIMARILY to boxing, supplement with 2x running sessions each week (30-mins each time) and ADD 1-2 Peak Performance or HYROX sessions to your week…but if you just want to do boxing classes and run I think you’ll be 100% fine.  There is no doubt that the experience you will get in terms of transitions, familiarity with those things we do ‘infrequently’ in boxing (Farmers Carries, Wall Balls) would be helped by doing some of the HYROX-focussed classes, the BoxPlus (in particular) class where you’ll run/row/ski/burpee/lunge/sled push regularly will be a pretty solid prep.
  
• What about ‘GEAR’??  Do I need any equipment to participate in the HYROX classes or the race?
  The HYROX race is a lot of running – and you will be transitioning between running and ‘other stuff’ – you need a SHOE that works for relatively high-speed running AND can also be used for other stuff…so a bit of a Hybrid-style shoe.  As an example, my running Hoka’s are too wide for the foot-holds on the Concept 2 rowers.  They are not well suited for a HYROX event because I need to be able to run AND then lock my feet into a rower.  So that’s a priority – a shoe that is comfortable and supportive for running and lungeing but also fits into the rowers.  Outside of that, there is really NOTHING you need.  I prefer to squat with a knee support – on race-day you need to wear that throughout the race – you are not allowed to ‘carry’ anything and are not allowed to be passed anything during the race – so if you are like me and need/prefer a knee brace to squat in, well, you need to choose one that can be pulled down to your shin whilst you run but can be pulled up into position when required.  The same applies to wrist supports for burpees – you can use them but will need to wear them throughout so be sure to get and adjustable set that can be tensioned when required.
  Outside of that, maybe one of the unbelievable cool Round 1 HYROX shirts that I’m sure we’ll have available before raceday.
  

I think that’s kind of it off the top of my head.  If you have specific questions – please ASK.  I know everyone likes to talk about this stuff amongst themselves rather than ‘bug’ me…you’re not bugging me.  I’ve slogged through the Affiliation process and now have had to go back and grind through the fundamentals course…plus I obviously participated in the race last year.  I actually think pretty much every single person who attends Round 1 regularly could EASILY set completion of this race as a training goal for 2025 if they were prepared to spend an extra 2x 30-mins each week on top of their current training load doing some running…I know the event is expensive (what isn’t in 2025!!) but setting the costs aside, it is a fun day and – as they say, the more the merrier.  As I have already said, participating in the HYROX-specific classes WILL help – but for the boxing crew there is no heavy lifting in a HYROX race – it’s run, ski, run, sled push, run, sled pull, run, burpees, run, row, run, farmers carry, run, walking lunges, run, wall balls.  None of that should be scary for R1F regulars (boxing or strength classes)…again, if you want to have a go you 100% could do it.

See you in the gym,
Michael.