This is the final cycle of the race prep program for Hyrox athletes. You now have access to all 8 weeks of the program, which will help you run your fastest race ever. This final portion of the plan is designed to increase your sport specific fitness, with functional exercises, strength training, and plenty of aerobic endurance work. Keep reading for all the details.
It goes without saying that you should start this 8 week program with part one, which you can find here. Otherwise, you run the risk of over training. This final portion of the race prep program for Hyrox athletes is a continuation of the first cycle.
The overall schedule is the same, with 5 workouts per week. Moreover, you’ll find that many of the same muscle groups are worked on the same days, utilizing different functional fitness exercises to avoid stagnation.
The biggest difference is the overall functional training volume. Like many of my other programs, this one builds in intensity and volume. It peaks in week 7, and then deloads in week 8, just prior to your race. Check out this graphic below as a quick reminder of the full Hyrox race format.
Before we go any further it’s important to point out that this is not an official Hyrox program. I have no affiliation with them, and they haven’t endorsed this race prep plan in any way. This is how I would train a Hyrox athlete who wanted to compete in their first Hyrox race.
In the next section I’m going to quickly review some of the physiological demands of a Hyrox fitness competition. This is important because it demonstrates why this program is written the way it is. Before we do that, don’t forget to join the email list below. You’ll get the latest articles sent directly to you as soon as they’re published.
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The Science Behind a Hyrox Race
As I mentioned in the first portion of this program, a Hyrox race is normally a 90 min race, for most athletes. From an energy demand perspective, the vast majority of this event will be powered by your aerobic energy system. Of course, your anaerobic energy system will assist, but this is a long endurance event.
The mini workouts are certainly more anaerobic, and they do require a lot of lower body strength and endurance. You can see this in movements like sled pushes, wall balls, and sled pulls.
This means that you need to build strength and muscular endurance in your lower body. It also means you need to work on your Zone 2 endurance training, with long easy sessions. The best way to do this is to focus on training that improves the activities you do the most in a Hyrox competition, the 1 km run, and lower body strength.
This cycle does differentiate itself from the previous one in that it has more high intensity work. I’ve also taken the time to build WODs that have a closer feel to the race. This allows you to understand how your body reacts at race pace.
Now that we’ve covered a bit of the overall programming requirements, let’s get to the fifth week of the 8 Week Race Prep Program for Hyrox Athletes.
If you want a great hybrid training program that will help you build true long term strength and fitness, then you should check out my most popular plan below.
8 Week Race Prep Program for Hyrox Athletes
This program is a 5 day split, with two planned rest days per week. You should expect that each of these gym sessions will take around 60-80 minutes, depending on how long your warm up and rest periods are.
It’s important to note that I’ve written the program to challenge a seasoned athlete. If you find that some of the weights, or workouts are too much, you should scale it. You can check this article out on how to modify workouts correctly.
I also encourage you to take an extra rest day if you need to. Don’t do this all the time, but if you’re still sore from a previous workout, and can’t even warm up, then it makes sense to take an extra rest day. With that out of the way, let’s talk about Week 5.
Week 5: Race Prep Program for Hyrox Athletes
For Week 5 you can see that we are still working on the same muscle groups for Monday. You will work on your seated dumbbell press at reasonably heavy weights. You’ll then perform one drop set with lighter weight.
The Hyrox workout for Monday is 7 rounds of dumbbell snatch and regular burpees (not burpee broad jumps), followed by a 400m run. It’s very important that you rest for 2 minutes between rounds. This will allow you to push harder than your normal race pace. Research shows that this type of interval training is key to pushing your race performance.
For Tuesday we have our standard Zone 2 long run. Make sure that you’re checking your pacing with nasal breathing. You’ll find that you’re likely increasing in fitness, so you your old Zone 2 pace might actually be too slow. Now let’s talk about Week 6.
Week 6: Race Prep Program for Hyrox Athletes
In Week 6 we can see that Wednesday has different movements using the same muscle groups. Weighted dips are one of my favorite exercises for any functional fitness athlete. They really work the pecs, shoulders, and they hammer the triceps. These are the primary muscle groups that are used for wall balls, sled pushing, and to a lesser extent the ski erg.
The WOD is really a Tabata sandwich. You should have a good idea of the belt speed you can set from the previous cycle. I recommend going one or two tenths slower than those workouts as you have more work for this functional fitness WOD.
Alternatively, if you have access to an Air Assault Runner, or similar, you should go with that. As they allow you to naturally increase and decrease your speed like a Hyrox Race. Now let’s talk about Week 7.
Week 7: Race Prep Program for Hyrox Athletes
I’m not going to lie, you probably won’t like this week. It’s hard! This week is the highest volume in terms of lifting, and also running. Remember, you absolutely need a week like this to push your body to change. You’ll have a nice recovery in week 8.
If we look at Friday, we can see that you’ll be back squatting, with drop sets. These workouts are designed to increase your strength and muscular endurance.
We’ve also moved towards push press instead of strict press, for our strength training sessions. This movement is closer to the demands of an actual race, and will really challenging your full body.
In Week 7, you’ll see that we’ve incorporated Hyrox-specific workouts. This type of training is designed to help you understand your race pace. Do your best to set this up as close to race conditions as you can manage. This will build your confidence in your training, and help you perform well on race day. Let’s get to the last week of this race prep program for Hyrox athletes.
Week 8: Race Prep Program for Hyrox Athletes
Week 8 is your deload week. If you look at the plan, you’ll see that the movements are the same, but the overall volume is cut by a third or more. This reduction in volume allows your body to recover from the hammering its taken so far. This is a great way to peak your performance, just prior to your race.
You’ll also notice that I’ve cut the functional workouts as well. The only goal for this week is to keep your body moving with moderately challenging workouts.
If you find that your race is coming up, then you should take your final rest days, and then kick ass in your race. If you have enough time, you can repeat the aerobic capacity test from week 1, to see just how much progress you’ve made.
In the next section I’m going to cover some tips that will help you perform well for your Hyrox Race. If you’ve got more time before your next race then I would recommend trying this hybrid fitness plan to build muscle mass and endurance.
Race Advice
My first recommendation to perform well for race day is to eat a high carb diet the day prior to your race. Research shows that you can gain up to a 10% boost in performance from this.
Secondly, I would recommend showing up plenty early so you aren’t stressing about parking and getting checked in. You want plenty of time to warm up prior to your group starting. Ideally you should do some easy Zone 2 work to warm up, as well as a few of the common movement patterns. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, just enough to get sweating.
Make sure you have a hyrdation plan worked out so you’re not drinking too much, or too little throughout the race. Ideally you can work out some of those details in the half race days, in week 7 of this program. Now let’s finish this program up.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to keep in mind that this is only an 8 Week Race Prep Program for Hyrox Athletes. This length of program can build some decent fitness, and prepare you for a specific event. However, it isn’t long enough to build the type of fitness you need to really excel in the long term.
To do that you need to build a good aerobic and strength base. That will take many month to a few years, depending on your current fitness level. I recommend checking out this 36 week hybrid training program series. It will allow you to build real fitness over the long term.
If you have any comments or questions, put them below, and I’ll get you an answer. Now get out there and get training. Don’t forget to join the email list below.
We are not affiliated with any other company or entity including Hyrox . Each workout plan is entirely owned by Tier Three Tactical and we recommend that you exercise under the supervision of a professional coach. It’s also recommended that you seek medical clearance from a licensed medical doctor before starting any fitness program.
