My HYROX training regime

So as I said in my last blog I recently completed Hyrox Training and talked a bout how the day was for me.

In this blog I share the training programme I went through to get ready for the event.

I want everyone to understand that not all these elements are going to be right for everyone, this is something that is a challenge, a struggle, demand and intense.

However, if this is something that doesn't scare you, then I suggest you keep reading on.

Now before I continue I would suggest that training for Hyrox is a bespoke training approach for an intense event. It’s not typical of a training programme that I recommend for my clients. Sometimes my clients that want to do 3-4 things at the same time and my suggestion to them is always to establish what the absolute priority is and focus on that only.

For example if you want to drop body fat, the absolute priority should be to achieve a calorie deficit. Strength training is a big factor for this and definitely a very, very close second, but without the calorie deficit dropping body fat is extremely unlikely.

To prepare for Hyrox, I had to make sure that I had not only the training volume, but the rest (sleep, bath, stretching), as well as the energy to train from food and hydration.

On to the training. Now I am not expecting anyone reading this to train like I did, but I will explain what I did.

Generally I trained 2 times per day, 5 days a week, and had at least 1 full day off. As I closed in on the event my training was specific to the exercise in the event.

January - Mid Feb: 

2x per day - One run, One Strength based Group PT session. 

In 2 days I did a 30 minute stretch flow.

So I would generally do 4 strength based sessions and 2 stretches along with 5 runs per week.

The volume was a lot. My body was tired a lot. Now obviously with the amount of volume I was doing, I was going to feel tired. Not only was the volume the reason, but also the type of training I was doing.

Every exercise was extremely challenging, and adding them all together just tired me out. I feel that the purpose of the exercises are generally designed specifically to tire you out.

In my opinion this type of training is good every once in a while, something to train for, a 6-8 week training cycle designed around high volume. But for the long term? I believe that a better balance needs to be created.

Now that I have completed one of these, and obviously in turn have upped my overall conditioning level and capacity, keeping on top of this is probably the most important now.

This means that for the next one, I want to put as much volume in, I'll need to make smaller changes and build on everything I have created.

This has made me think that if your goals are to become fitter, stronger or drop body fat, that initially putting in a lot of hard work to start off with can create a solid foundation.

A foundation that can be built on overtime with small changes.

If I don't train, and I don't do the movements for Hyrox, then when I get back into training again I will be starting from near enough the start again.

The same goes for a fat loss plan. If you follow it for 6-8 weeks, learn new habits, put things in place and then as soon as it finishes forget all the things you did to get results, then you will never really make the best progress that you can.

You will make progress of course, but realistically the effort levels you have to go to will result in you always having to go from 0-100.

For this, I have gone from 0-100, but I'm going to taper back over the next few weeks slightly. I am going to train 2-3 times per week for the month of March, maybe throw in a couple of 5k runs to keep the volume in my legs.

This is extremely important and definitely a good plan.

Hyrox is good, and I'm not saying that people shouldn't do it. I just personally feel that strength training, alongside some elements of conditioning, walking more and improving your nutrition will make you not only function better but more likely help you when it comes to fat loss.

As I have said before, having kids, a job and responsibilities, my goals are to maintain as much ability to be at my best both at home and at work. I don't generally have 9 hours a night that I can sleep, or to go for baths to recover.

I like that I have to try to get my training in when I can, and hopefully training will give me energy to go about my day and get the best out of it.

Hyrox is like marathon training, tough and probably only for certain types of people that want the physical challenge of extreme exercise. You can use it as a tool to get quicker and faster, but a lot of the exercises involve a lot of the same muscle groups (quads mostly), one thing people don't have problems with is quad strength, but they have have weak hamstrings and glutes which hernaly leads to back pain.

So if strengthening these muscles and becoming more mobile at performing exercise is not only more beneficial for back pain but your body in general? How much pounding can your joints take especially if you are a stone or so over weight, is Hyrox right for you?

The answer is maybe but most likely not.

But build a solid foundation of strength training, a good balance with nutrition and stick to a trusted training plan, is it doable? The answer is absolutely yes.

Book a consultation with me and I can help you with your training programme.