HYROX done - what’s next?
I said in my last blog that training volume and commitment to exercise for a specific goal like Hyrox is important.
Getting the volume in and working hard is a big part of the enjoyment, and as with every aspect of health and fitness, enjoyment is a huge, huge factor when it comes to getting any sort of result.
But what did I do afterwards?
The job was completed on a Sunday night, and whether a conditioning programme is strength based or fat loss, it's important that whatever you are doing health and fitness wise that you have high and low volume weeks.
For fat loss, this could look like a calorie deficit followed by a maintenance phase (I'll save that for another day).
Now for me, if Hyrox was a standalone once in a lifetime event, then I could say that's me done, trained for it, did it, and never again.
But that's not the case here, I do want to do it again.
Now as I said before, to train for this particular event I probably went from 0-100. The volume, load and work was extremely tough on both my body and my mind.
In preparation for Hyrox 2, would I want to do the same again? The answer is no.
The same goes for any other element of health and fitness, if you do a fat loss challenge, do you forget about all the aspects you implemented to achieve success?
If so, you’ll probably find yourself going from 0-100 and then back to 0 again, probably never really making long lasting progress and feeling like no matter how hard you try, true success always feels a step or so away and never achieved.
Instead, what I have focussed on is that knowing that I want to do this again, I will keep up an element of specific training in relation to Hyrox.
I will continue to run 2 times per week, as this is the element I found the hardest in the event. I will continue to do the exercises that are involved in the event. I will do it at a lower intensity though, one where I feel my body can recover, and one where I do not feel overworked. Then when it comes to the lead in 6 weeks before the event, I can ramp up my training, but again not to the previous intensity, a much more manageable intensity that allows me to hopefully be able to shave some time off my event time.
My training will involve 2 times strength based sessions as becoming stronger through my full body will allow me to progress at Hyrox exercise. Remember as previously mentioned, Hyrox training is very specific and a lot of large muscle groups for example hamstrings and glutes are in fact not prime movers (the main working muscles), they are more assistant muscles. The quads are more prime movers and used more often and at volume. That is why afterwards my quads weren’t sore, but my hamstrings and glutes were sore for days.
If I am able to build more strength in these muscles, I am more likely to be able to perform better at these exercises and thus be able to move quicker.
So the next 6-12 weeks will look like this:
2 times Strength based sessions - prioritising hamstrings & glutes
2 times 5k runs - under 6 mins (race time will be around 5:30)
2 times Stretching routine - this is something that i have particularly enjoyed and will keep up
1-2 times sessions based around Hyrox - Ski, Row, Lunges etc
This might look like I am training 7 days a week, but the stretches are gently done prior to sessions, and generally, the remaining 5 sessions will be over 10 days - 1 day on, 1 day off.
My goals over the next week are to try and maintain and recover from the first Hyrox race. I feel that alongside this I will be able to reduce my calories slightly, as I won't need as much for training.
This means that hopefully I can drop a couple of kgs, that will be an area for me to focus on.
I said previously you should always have 1 main goal, and 1 supplementary goal.
My main goal now, after a recovery phase, is to focus on dropping body fat, with the intention of ramping up my training again in the next 10-12 weeks.
Hopefully, reading this you will recognise that there are times when we want to focus on a specific goal, there will be a direct phase where that is the target, eg Hyrox specific, then there will be a phase where we maintain, and then our goals might change eg fat loss.
Understanding this, and having a structure where there is always a short term (8-12 week focus) and then a reset to go again, is my best advice for anyone looking to make long term lifestyle related changes.
If not, you can end up feeling like you are permanently on a diet and never actually making progress as there's no structure plan, goal or outcomes.
I hope this helps you if you are looking to train for a specific goal, outcome or results.
In my next blog, I am going to talk about enjoyment and how enjoyment is one of the biggest factors when it comes to exercise and getting a result.