As I write this, the owner of CrossFit Achieve, Rachel, and one of our coaches, Amanda, are preparing for their first Hyrox race in Washington, DC. I want to note that this is pure opinion and my perspective may be vastly different from yours. I have seen multiple people praise Hyrox for being something new for athletes to enjoy, and I have also seen people say its just the same as CrossFit with more running. I probably fall somewhere in between. So if you can relate to that, read on. 😊
This new sport of fitness racing has taken the CrossFit world by storm this last year, but here’s the thing…this sport is anything but new. It was founded in Germany in 2017, and has only recently made its way to the US where it has been immediately embraced and expanded across the country. If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the website here for a breakdown of the full event! Multiple high level CrossFit athletes began competing, and now Tia-Clair Toomey, the 7-time fittest woman, holds the world record doubles time for Hyrox. Talk about a cross-over!
Hyrox critiques
Although there has been a lot of excitement surrounding these events, there is also criticism. Here are the biggest critiques I’ve seen (mainly from other CrossFitters) and how I feel about them:
- Too much emphasis on running
- My take: As someone who really only runs in CrossFit WODs, I will agree that there is a huge emphasis on running. It is more than half the event with participants accumulating 8,000 meters. However, Hyrox has never claimed to be anything like CrossFit. If they want to run a lot, let them. It is one of the most accessible forms of exercise, making it a low-barrier to entry for someone who may want to compete in something.
- Repetitive training sessions
- This one I agree with. I’ve done some of the training sessions the last few weeks with Amanda, Rachel, and Martin (another aspiring competitor in our gym), and while I’m never bored working out with my friends…it really isn’t something I would want to train for alone. I don’t have a coach for this, but I’m not sure how many combinations of running, burpees, wall balls, sleds, etc. I could do before I just want a barbell in my hands.
- If you’re good at CrossFit, you’ll be good at Hyrox
- So maybe not a criticism, but still a statement I’ve heard thrown around a lot. This may be semi-true, but unless you are putting in extra effort running outside of class times, you are likely going to struggle. You can have a great engine, but this race still takes an hour or more, and if you aren’t used to running more than a 400 meter on wobbly legs, you can say goodbye to those prime split times.
Hyrox takeaways
As someone who has yet to compete in this style of event, I also wanted to highlight some things that I take notice of from the outside looking in:
- It is SUPER accessible.
- Like I mentioned above, most everyone can run. But even outside of that, Hyrox has age groups from 16 up to 89 in their individual events and 70+ for their doubles and relay. To me, that means that anyone that wants to compete…can. I think that’s pretty cool.
- From what I’ve seen online, the events are well run.
- The biggest complaint I’ve seen online is that heat times are crowded, which makes sense when you are on a starting line with lots of people and trying to run fast.
- I’ve seen it compared to TYR Wodapalooza in terms of energy and vibe – something any CrossFit athlete will understand!
- I like that it challenges you physically and mentally
- Ending a workout that is likely going to take you over an hour with 100 wall balls…talk about a mental mindf***. But as is standard with CrossFit athletes, we tend to enjoy something that challenges us in multiple ways. I think having to stay focused on the next task at hand while under fatigue is one of my favorite parts of this event!
My final takeaway is that if you do CrossFit and want to try Hyrox, go for it. If you don’t do CrossFit and want to try Hyrox, go for it. Challenge yourself to do hard things, that’s the key!
Good luck to Rachel and Amanda this weekend!!
