I was a Head Judge at Hyrox Perth for 18 hours straight and here are some things I noticed and you should take note for for your next Hyrox Race.
Hyrox is a fitness race that has all aspects of CrossFit with a smidge more running. We do many wods that apply to Hyrox. It is an amazing experience that can be felt remembered and accomplished in most major cities nationally and globally.
You can train to do all races anywhere in the world with a slight difference in air humidity but absolutely worth it.
I have seen numerous people in the industry I haven’t seen in years come back and be United by this race, individuals, pairs, couples and teams of workgroups and mums in the relay. All shapes, sizes, ages. You score against your age division. Do the full, half or quarter of it.
Below is what I saw firsthand as a Head Judge and 6 Tips for you to improve your next Hyrox Experience.
1) Learn to squat to depth. The amount of squats I saw at the end of the race that were lacking depth with a small weight of 6 or 9kg was sub-standard.
Yes I get it, your legs are cooked and its the last station, you might be cramping but many of you men don’t know your feet position to squat to depth properly.
The worst squatters were from the franchised “3 letter” outlets. Worst offenders.
CrossFitters smashed this section with some of the better squats. (Some were pretty sh!te too.)
2) Cramps and DNFs. A whole heap did not complete because of a cramp, both legs cramping and you having to stop your race.
It happens. But not if you have drunk enough water, had enough salts in your system and have been training regularly to have done the race at least once before showing up for race day.
There may be stations with salty salts water, in Perth there was a station with an orange drink (UThrive) that I literally said to go drink to fix those cramps to so many indi’s and teams and 1 team podiumed.
This was a life saver!
Yes. Volume matters. If your legs have not done the volume, the lunges and wallballs will crush you.
Musculo Endurance training like your 15RM or 20RM squats can prepare your legs for the type of stations you will do. Yes. Do your squats and lunges. It needs to be a staple.
3) Grip Endurance. The farmer carries is about your grip strength. The longer you can hold the bells, the further you can go.
Don’t squeeze, just hook it.
Training heavy doesn’t mean anything to how long you can hang on for. You need to hold for a long time to build that grip endurance to complete the farmer carrry section.
4) Faff. Every second counts in the race, from the transitions, to turns to getting to the next “timing gate” for your ankle timing chip.
Grab your drink and keep moving. Don’t stop.
Transitions matter, getting in and out of the rower and in and out of the work stations.
10 seconds can mean 20 spots on the ranking.
5) Run more. Your run time will peel off chunks of minutes off your race time. 1.5 to 2 mins per round means 12-16mins off your total times.
The more efficient your running, the quicker you can go and the faster your run times.
Your shoes help but if your legs from the toes to your hips and your arms are not trained properly, you will lose seconds.
Find someone to run behind to slip-stream them, never run beside someone else unless you want to run past them.
Train your feet to be strong in training shoes then switch to the runners. (Training shoes and running shoes are different).
6) Towel, Bring a towel. You will sweat like a bricklayer in baghdad. Some of the guys came through wearing only budgy smugglers because they thought they looked cool.
They were a sweaty mess. The wallball became a salivery lollipop. And they were getting mad about it slipping.
Wipe your hands before you get to the wallballs or hold on to any handles because you cannot bring chalk with you on the run.
With only a single session on Thursday dedicated to a longer session with a bias towards running, the boys did exceptionally well compared to the other licensed centres with year long programs for their members.
Well done lads. So proud of your efforts!
Want to Prepare for Your Next Hyrox Race?
CrossFit has a bunch of workouts that will prepare you for Hyrox. CrossFitters are finding out about Hyrox and coming in to dominate.
Get in contact and we can help you to prepare for your next race.
