Two German athletes created Hyrox — a combo of the words “hybrid” and “rockstar” — in 2017 as a race to test running speed and functional fitness. The racecourse is always indoors, and always has the same format: eight workout stations with a 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) run in between each.
Stations can include workouts like 1,000 meters on a skiiing machine (SkiErg), crushing burpee broad jumps (think regular burpee but with a jump forward) and 100 wall balls, which is squatting while holding a weighted ball that you throw at the wall as you stand.
Miami and New York City hosted the first U.S. races in 2019, which drew about 650 participants. Now, Hyrox holds more than 80 races each year and welcomes half a million athletes. Washington, DC, hosted its first Hyrox in March 2024.
The races’ popularity has led some gyms to adopt Hyrox training programs. Find them throughout Northern Virginia at places including The Conditioning Room and Ballston CrossFit in Arlington, F45 Training Old Town, Alexandria, Zweet Sport Total Fitness in Alexandria, and Pure Fitness Tysons Corner.
Hyrox Gains in Popularity
“The sport has grown so much,” says Immie Cross, owner of Exsurgo Strong and Fit, a Hyrox training gym in Ashburn. “In just the last couple of years, more and more people are coming into the sport.” The race has categories that make it accessible to everyone, she says. The toughest is “Pro” and then there’s “Open,” which allows for the use of lighter weights. The doubles and relay categories involve teams who take turns completing stations and runs.
“Anyone can do this,” insists Cross, who’s also a Hyrox regional manager, overseeing official training facilities in the DMV plus West Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
Hyrox recently added an adaptive athlete category, too. “I’ve seen somebody who has done it in a wheelchair, somebody that was missing an arm, blind athletes — it’s open to everyone,” says Cross, who since 2022 has competed in 19 Hyrox races and won 16 of them. “If you can’t run, just walk it. Walk your kilometer, do your station, walk the next kilometer. There’s no time cap. … You have as long as you need to finish the race.”
Participants wear a timing chip on their ankles that pings a reader as they move from the running track to the functional exercise stations in a transition area called the Roxzone.
Strength Training Data
“What that gives you is this really awesome data,” Cross says. “At the end, you can see all of your splits for every single run and every single station. You can see your cumulative runtime. You can see your time spent in the Roxzone. And so if you’re geeky like me, you make a spreadsheet, and we use that to show what are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? Where do we need to spend most time improving?”
Hyrox training focuses on running and strength training. At Exsurgo, Hyrox classes give participants hands-on practice with sled pushes and wall balls, but there are two other sessions per week that aim to build cardiovascular endurance. “Your cardiovascular fitness has to be very good, because in addition to running, you’ve got also SkiErg, rowing, burpee raw jumps, and then the wall balls,” Cross says.
Want to take a Hyrox class but feel iffy about competing? “You can just sign up to take the classes, because it’s a great workout as it is,” Cross says. “It has a great carryover into everyday life. All the training is helping you be a badass in life. To not fall down, or if you fall down, to not break anything. Just continue to live your life healthily for a long time.”
Feature image courtesy Immie Cross
