High rocks… hyrox… what?! Yep, this is the latest fitness obsession everyone talks about - and for a good reason! It’s a fitness competition that combines running with functional fitness. Participants have to complete 8k runs broken down into 1k, and 8x functional fitness stations (ski erg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing machine, farmer’s carry, wall balls) in between every run. All of this - for time! 

Last weekend our very own Studio Lead Izzy - together with StrongHerd members Wendy, Naomi and Kate - smashed their Hyrox Malaga in the Women’s relay category.

We of course had to have a chat with her and share the highlights.

Why did you decide to sign up for Hyrox?

So I’d never really thought about doing any sporting or fitness competition before. It was only after watching all the other StrongHer coaches smashing Hyrox at the end of last year - and it was so inspiring, it looked like such a fun experience! It was only after that when I was like ‘Do you know what, maybe this is something I want to do at some point as well!.” And then - StrongHer Christmas party came round - and Max put me and Wendy together as we were both keen to do it. Originally, the two of us were going to sign up for doubles - but then these tickets were sold out - so we ended up speaking to Naomi and Kate and all of us signing up together!

How did you prepare for Hyrox? Any training tips & tricks? Do you think a beginner could do it?

To be honest with you, I didn’t prepare that well! I didn’t have a specific training plan or anything like that. So I won’t be that helpful on giving tips here (laughs). So I guess what that means is that Hyrox is fairly beginner friendly - if you already have a good level of fitness and weight training history, the relay is something that’s quite achievable. But this experience has definitely inspired me to do it again and train properly next time!!

Fave station/station you hated the most?

So we were doing the relay - which means that I only had to do 2 out of the 8 stations. Mine were sled pull and wall balls. I’d say both were pretty exhausting, but the wall balls I actually really enjoyed! It’s the very last station in the whole comp, and all of your teammates are able to be behind you supporting you. We also had an amazing support crew there as well so just smashing out the wall balls with all the supporters shouting behind me - that was just such an incredible experience!

What would you do differently if you were to do Hyrox again?

If - and hopefully when - I do Hyrox again, I’d definitely be training more strategically for it. Speaking to a coach potentially and really starting my training earlier, and being more specific with it.

Hyrox is known to be a big mental challenge. How did you prepare for that?

It definitely is a mental challenge. Especially during the week and the day leading up to the comp, I was getting quite nervous and anxious. Knowing how many people are going to be there, doing that kind of thing with lots of people watching - it’s a very different ballgame. Speaking to coaches and other people who have done it before was a really good way to get a feel of how the day was going to go. And also get their encouragement in terms of worrying too much about how you’re going to perform; it’s a lot more about going there and enjoying the experience!

Hyrox is 50% running - and you’re a strength girlie, right? How did you tackle that?

I’m definitely a strength girlie; I have run in the past but very sporadically and infrequently, so that was definitely a challenge for me. The first and most important thing I did was going to Strides on Mondays with Max; she was amazing, and she really helped give structure to my running training. Another thing that I found helpful was going out for runs and not giving myself the pressure of wanting to do it in a certain time, achieving a certain distance or maintaining a certain pace; just going for a run and seeing how it went. This was a really nice way of just getting more kilometers under the belt, more practice. I found out that running is actually something I quite enjoy so definitely going to do a lot more of it, and I'm excited to be doing it in a more enjoyable way rather than the fear of Hyrox looming over me (laughs again).

Did someone say Hyrox classes @ StrongHer ?! Keep an eye on the timetable - coming late Spring 2024.