Whilst it was one of the most difficult training sessions I have endured, it also felt rewarding
Hyrox has become a popular sport around the world with thousands of people heading to Cardiff to compete in it this weekend and tickets selling out in minutes. It seems that everyone and their nan (literally) has jumped on the latest fitness trend so I thought I’d see what all the fuss it about and try out a Hyrox training session myself.
Since it was first created in 2017 by Christian Toetzke and Olympian Moritz Fürste, the sport has as many as 200,000 competitors taking part worldwide.
The event combines running and functional exercises and sees participants run 1km followed by a workout station repeated eight times, 8km in total. The workout stations include a 1000m SkiErg, a 50m sled push, a 50m sled pull, 80m burpee broad jumps, 1,000m row, 200m farmers carry and 100m sandbag lunges.
In preparation for the competition happening at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff from May 30 to June 1, gyms across Cardiff have increased the number of Hyrox training classes on offer. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here
Videos of racers training and competing in Hyrox have been plastered all over my social media with many celebrities also joining the hype.
While the sport looks difficult, I have heard so many people rave about it and the benefits it has had on their health and fitness so I thought I’d try it out myself to find out what it is actually like.
I headed down to B42 gym in Cardiff Bay who have Hyrox training sessions perfectly designed to prepare you for the race as well as to build your strength and stamina.
Lynda Harrington runs the Hyrox training sessions at B42 – as a competitor herself preparing for this weekend, she is an expert in the sport and her knowledge helps up to 20 people per session.
I visited the gym on a bank holiday so the class was much smaller with only myself and three others, which I was grateful for as a beginner so not so many people had to watch me struggle.
Usually in the gym I strength train but I tend to work out at my own pace so classes with a trainer are completely different from the way I train alone. I was nervous to join the session but I was excited to put myself through my paces and hopefully learn some new exercises.
I knew that the class was going to be difficult but I did not expect it to be as hard as it was – I did have to tap out at one point.
Each workout at B42 is 42 minutes long as the team behind the gym believe it is the “perfect slice of time to deliver a challenging, effective session without taking over your day.”
We started the session with a quick warm up before getting stuck in with the Hyrox training. Each class has a six-week training period where the level of intensity increases every week – joining at week 4 meant that it was one of the toughest classes of the series (which made me feel better that I found it so hard.)
With four of us in the class we paired up to complete the exercises in duos and did three sets of exercises all being 10 minutes in duration. While one person was doing an exercise the other would be completing a different exercise, then we’d switch – so no time to rest when the clock started.
For the first set I had to use the rowing machine to complete as much distance as possible whilst my partner completed 20-40 wall balls with a weighted medicine ball, then we had to switch.
As a beginner I chose to do 20 wall balls for my set with a 4kg medicine ball which is the same weight used by females when they compete at an event. I do use a medicine ball during my normal workouts so I thought this exercise may be one of the easier ones for me. How wrong I was.
Wall balls are an exercise designed to target the whole body and you can definitely feel it throughout your entire body. I felt as though my form was good and kept my squats relatively low to start but after completing numerous sets it was hard to keep a fast pace whilst accurately completing the exercise.
It was very tempting to not complete all 20 and just move on, but I would only be cheating myself and reminded myself that if I was in a competition a judge would make sure I completed all of them.
The second exercise of the set was the rowing machine, on which we had to row as many metres as possible whilst our partner completed their wall balls. The rowing machine was one of the easier stations of the training session and I was quite happy to be able to be sat down, honestly.
It didn’t even take the whole ten minutes for me to be sweaty, red-faced and needing water. After ten long minutes we got a quick 90 second break before moving onto the next set of exercises.
Lynda was great in explaining each exercise, giving a demonstration and making sure I was doing it right. Her constant encouragement really helped me push on and every ‘you’re doing great’ motivated me even more.
Now the next set of exercises were where it got gruelling for me, and if you know anything about fitness then you’ll know why by just one word – burpees.
The second set had me doing 200m on the SkiErg straight into 15 box jump burpees. I had never used a SkiErg before and was unsure how to use it until Lynda showed me.
The SkiErg was a fun machine to use and I was happy to be learning how to use new machines during the training session. It has really helped me feel more confident in using it on my own in my regular gym.
I have seen many people do burpees and it has always been an exercise that is labelled as difficult to complete so I was not looking forward to doing not only my first one but also completing at least 30 of them in ten minutes.
The box jump burpees were extremely difficult for me and I’m still not sure I was even doing them correctly but I don’t plan on attempting them again anytime soon anyway.
On the third rep of the second set, I had to stop. I jumped back up from my 31st burpee and couldn’t continue. I needed a breather.
After splashing my face with water and taking a couple minutes to breathe, I returned to my station and completed a final 200m on the SkiErg before starting the third and final set of exercises.
I found some relief in the fact that I could tell that everyone in the class was finding it difficult and sweat poured from not only my face but everybody else’s.
If you thought maybe the last set would be easier than the rest, you’d be wrong. Instead of completing two exercises we had to complete three – 30 weighted goblet squats, 20 sandbag lunges and 10 jump squats.
I started with the weighted goblet squats which I chose to use a 6kg kettlebell for, followed by 15kg sandbag lunges and bodyweight squat jumps.
With the goblet squats, they began to feel difficult halfway through and I felt like I could feel my legs turning to jelly as I continued.
I had never used the sandbags for walking lunges before so it was hard adjusting to the equipment and I did find these hard to complete. I completed the squat jumps with my partner which was helpful so I could match their pace and complete them together.
By the end of the 42 minutes I was relieved that it was finally over, on the other hand I had a overwhelming sense of pride in myself for completing it – even if I did have to tap out at one point, and take long drink breaks.
I knew it was difficult and I always questioned the people who do it consistently but now a part of me sees why they do. It was a real test of my strength and agility, showing me the things I need to improve on (burpees, wall balls and sandbag lunges) and the few that I was actually good at (SkiErg and rowing).
I always took my hat off to people who take part in Hyrox but now I have a newfound respect for them after putting myself through a training session, but I still could not imagine doing it once or multiple times a week.
