Essential Hyrox Training Plan for Beginners

A Hyrox race is 8 km of running split into eight 1 km runs, with a functional workout station after each one. For a first race, the goal is to finish every station to standard without the runs falling apart. This beginner Hyrox training plan works toward that over 12 weeks, with running at its center and strength and station practice around it.

If you already combine running and lifting, the principles in combining running and weight training effectively apply here too, and this guide covers what is specific to Hyrox.

What is in a Hyrox race?

Every Hyrox race uses the same order: run 1 km, complete a station, and repeat eight times. The stations are the SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls. The running distance is the same in every division. Only the weights change, plus the wall ball target, which is lower for women. Racers must be at least 16 on race day.

Singles racers choose Open or the heavier Pro division, and this plan prepares you for Open. The weights below come from the official singles rulebook for the 2026/27 season, and sled weights include the sled itself.

Women Pro lifts the Men Open weights, and Men Pro is heavier again. Doubles has five divisions. Doubles Women races at the Women Open weights. Doubles Men, Doubles Mixed and Doubles Women Pro race at the Men Open weights, and Doubles Men Pro at the Men Pro weights.

In Doubles, partners run every 1 km together and take turns at each station, splitting the work however they like, while the resting partner stays on their feet. You still run the full 8 km, so this plan suits a first Doubles race too. Teams of four can also race the Team Relay, which has its own rulebook.

Where does race time go?

Running is the biggest single part of a Hyrox race. In the top 100 Pro finishes each season it takes about half of finish time, and the Roxzone, the area you cross between the run course and each station, adds about another 6 to 7 percent.

In a simulated Open race, recreational Hyrox athletes finished in about 86 minutes: about 51 running and about 33 at the stations, with heart rate above 90 percent of maximum most of the way. They raced alone, ran on a treadmill and used a gym sled, so a real race will split differently. Faster finishers had a higher VO2max and did more endurance training each week. Grip strength and weekly lifting hours showed no clear link with finish time in this small, already fit group.

So run at least as often as you lift. When endurance is the goal, the usual advice is one strength session for every one or two endurance sessions. This plan pairs one strength session with two runs, and the hybrid session trains both.

Strength still counts: weak strength stations cost slower racers more time than faster ones. If you cannot yet push the sled or carry the kettlebells at race weight, add a second strength session each week in the base and build phases until you can. Past that point, extra strength pays off less.

The 12 week Hyrox training plan

The plan below is an example built from those principles, not a tested program. It assumes you can already jog for 30 minutes without stopping. If you cannot, spend four to six weeks building to that before starting week 1.

Weeks 1 to 4, base: Each week has two runs, one full body strength session and one station technique session. The easy run lasts 25 to 35 minutes at a pace where you can talk in full sentences. The interval session is something like 6 × 400 m at a hard but even effort, with 90 seconds of walking between. Keep the station work light, and learn the movements and the standards before adding load.

Weeks 5 to 8, build: Lengthen the easy run to 40 to 50 minutes. Change the intervals to 4 to 6 × 1 km at the pace you hope to hold in the race, with 2 minutes of rest. Replace the technique session with a hybrid session that joins runs to stations, and bring the station loads up to race weight over these four weeks.

Weeks 9 to 11, race specific: Keep the same four sessions and build the hybrid session to five or six rounds. In week 9 or 10, run a half simulation: four runs of 1 km, each followed by one full station at race weight. It shows your pacing and which stations slow you most, so the last weeks can target them.

Week 12, race week: Cut the volume of each session roughly in half and keep a little speed, such as three 1 km repeats at race pace early in the week. Take the last two days before the race easy or off.

Keep at least one day between the three key sessions. If a week goes badly, drop the optional Sunday run first and keep the Thursday intervals and the Saturday hybrid session.

The sessions in detail

Runs

Easy runs add endurance volume, which went with faster finishes in the simulated race. Keep them easy enough to talk through. Intervals at race pace teach you what 1 km at that effort feels like. On race day, every run starts with tired legs, which is the reason for the hybrid session below.

Strength

One session a week covers the station muscles: a squat or leg press, a deadlift or other hip hinge, a push such as a press or push up, a pull such as a row, and loaded carries. Three sets of 6 to 10 reps with one or two reps left in reserve is enough for a beginner. Leg strength carries into the sled push, sled pull and lunges, and carries train the grip and posture for the farmers carry.

Hybrid session: running after a station

This session practices what the race tests: running with legs and lungs already tired by a station. A build phase round looks like this:

1. Run 1 km at race pace.
2. Complete one station at reduced volume, such as 25 wall balls, 25 m of sandbag lunges, 500 m on the rower or 100 m of farmers carry.
3. Move straight into the next run without resting.

Start with three or four rounds and rotate the stations each week so all eight get practice across the plan. The race clock keeps running in the Roxzone, so practice going straight from one to the other.

How to practice each station

Train each station to the rulebook standard so that no rep is rejected on race day. Where your gym lacks the equipment, a substitute builds the fitness, but try the real movement at least a few times before the race.

• SkiErg, 1,000 m: Pull with the hips and trunk, not only the arms, and settle into a pace you could hold for the whole distance. Your feet may leave the platform if you jump, but they must land back on it. The damper starts at 6, which you may change. Without a SkiErg, row or ride intervals for the engine and train the pulling muscles with straight arm pulldowns.
• Sled push and sled pull, 50 m each: Push with a low, braced torso and short, fast steps, and pull the rope hand over hand while standing inside the marked box at the end of the lane. Sled friction depends on the floor, so a gym sled at race weight can feel lighter or heavier than the race sled. Without a sled, build the legs with squats and walking lunges and practice heavy rope pulls on a cable machine.
• Burpee broad jumps, 80 m: Your chest touches the ground on every burpee, and both feet take off and land together, within 5 cm of each other, with no extra steps. Short, steady jumps save more energy than long ones.
• Rowing, 1,000 m: Push with the legs first, then swing the body, then pull with the arms. The damper starts at 6 here too, and an even pace over the whole distance beats a fast start.
• Farmers carry, 200 m: Keep your arms straight by your sides and your shoulders set, and take quick steps. You may put the kettlebells down to rest, but they must not move forward when you do.
• Sandbag lunges, 100 m: The trailing knee must touch the ground on every rep, legs alternate, and you stand fully upright between reps. The sandbag must stay supported on both shoulders for the whole station, so practice carrying it there.
• Wall balls, 100 reps: Squat until your hips drop below your knees, then hit the target on every throw: 2.70 m for women and 3.00 m for men. Plan your sets before race day, for example 10 sets of 10 with short breaks, instead of going to failure early.

How to pace race day

Start the first run slower than feels necessary. Heart rate stays high throughout the race, and an early surge costs time on the later runs and at the wall balls. Plan for your later runs to be slower than your first instead of chasing your first split, and use your hybrid sessions to learn by how much. Treat each station as the pace you rehearsed in training, not a sprint.

How to stay healthy through 12 weeks

Twelve weeks of four sessions, or five while you build strength for the sled, is a real workload for a beginner. Protect the rest days, sleep consistently, and eat enough carbohydrate and protein to recover from the key sessions.

Most injuries in Hyrox athletes come from overuse, and the knee and lower leg are hit hardest. Add running time gradually, one run at a time. When your legs need a break from running, swap one run for the same effort on a rower or SkiErg. If a joint ache lasts more than a session or two, reduce the load on the movement that aggravates it, and see a physiotherapist if it persists.