Why You Might Wanna Give Hyrox a Shot...

My pregnant wife and I competed in our second HYROX competition in Houston last weekend and this is why I believe everyone should make it a goal to at least train for one. HYROX (which, allegedly, stands for "Hybrid Rockstar" - please don't roll your eyes) is a fitness competition that combines both running & functional workout stations, where participants run 1km, followed by 1 functional workout station, repeated eight times.

If you've seen Hyrox popping up in your feed and wondered whether it's worth the hype, the science is starting to catch up — and the data is compelling.

Hyrox just released its first-ever Sports Science Report¹ through its newly formed Science Advisory Council, pulling from peer-reviewed studies across five universities including Liverpool John Moores, the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, and Universidad de Zaragoza. Here's what matters for the working professional trying to optimize their Physical Health KPI.

A Briefing of the Competition:

Eight 1km runs alternating with eight functional workout stations. Total time for a recreational athlete: around 86 minutes. Of that, roughly 51 minutes is running and 33 minutes is work. The race is performed at 70–100% of maximum heart rate for nearly the entire duration. This isn't a casual workout. It's a measurable, standardized fitness test you can improve against week over week — which is exactly the KPI principle applied to your body.

The Physical Benefits — Now Backed by Data

The research is clear on what Hyrox-style concurrent training does to your body. A meta-analysis from Liverpool John Moores University found that properly balanced concurrent training — the kind that mixes running with functional strength work — improves VO2 max by 8–15% and maximal strength by 10–20% simultaneously. That means you're not choosing between cardio and strength. You're building both at the same time. The same research found that middle-aged and older adults saw the strongest cardiovascular improvements of any age group — meaning the older you are, the more you have to gain.

A separate study out of Brazil found that workout duration is itself a training variable. Short sessions under 8 minutes spike anaerobic demand. Moderate sessions around 15 minutes maximize oxygen uptake. Longer sessions build endurance metabolism. The implication for your weekly routine is that varying your session length — not just intensity — is a smarter way to train.

The Mental Aspect:

Beyond the physical, the Spanish university review of 39 studies found that top hybrid performers had something beyond cardiovascular fitness — they had superior recovery profiles, greater tolerance to blood-lactate accumulation, and sharper cognitive control under fatigue. That's a mental KPI as much as a physical one. The discipline of training for something measurable, with a structured program of at least six weeks, was shown to push people to new limits both physically and psychologically.

The Data Science:

A PhD data scientist analyzed more than 14,000 race performances and found that mid-race running segments — runs 5 through 8 — are the strongest predictors of total finish time. Wall balls, burpee broad jumps, and sandbag lunges showed the highest variability and the strongest correlation with overall performance. Translation: the back half of the race is where races are won or lost, and those are the exact moments that separate disciplined training from casual preparation.

The Bottom Line

What makes Hyrox relevant to the KPIs of Life isn't just the fitness benefits — it's the framework. It's a standardized, measurable, repeatable format that gives you a clear metric to improve. Your VO2 max goes up. Your finish time goes down. Your consistency in training translates directly to a number on a leaderboard. That's not fitness culture — that's performance management applied to your body. And that's a KPI worth tracking. More fundamentally, though, HYROX requires high cardio endurance and muscle strength -- both of which require not only consistent working out but a healthy diet. My wife and I, who go to the gym regularly 4-5 days per week on average, trained specifically for Hyrox for 4 weeks and recorded a time of 1:33:29. And one of us was 5 months pregnant. Beyond the working out, we also committed to a whole food diet where we only ate whole foods and absolutely no processed foods. At the end of my 4 weeks I lost 10 lbs and took my body fat from 17% to 12%. That's the Physical Health side of things.

On the financial health side, there weren't any strong benefits as buying running shoes, shopping for food, and paying for the actual competition did cost money that I otherwise wouldn't have spent. That being said, I did spend money on things that bought me better health and that is priceless!

On the mental & emotional health side, devoting time day in and day out to this pursuit honestly made me mentally sharper during my work week. Getting to the gym each day boosted my mental and emotional state in ways that are hard to articulate and even harder to quantify, but trust me when I tell you - you FEEL a real difference when you knock out a challenging work out.

Relationship-wise, HYROX is a game changer! If you're around people who turn their nose up at the sight of people galvanizing around a healthy pursuit like HYROX (or if you're said person), plain and simple you're a loser. The way I see it, people can be doing a lot worse with their time so anyone commiting to and finding excitement about doing HYROX is something I find incredible! Training for HYROX directly brought me a greater community. You'd be suprised how great of a relationship can form from someone seeing you stay consistent or the common "what are you training for" question that came up every week when someone saw us doing burpee broad jumps on the outdoor turf at our gym. When people heard us say "HYROX", we always got follow up questions and ended up exchanging contacts. During race day, it was like a little reunion seeing people from all over run into one another and cheer each other on in the competitions. The bonds that form are just incredible. And even specific to my wife and I, we grew even closer.

Training my wife while she's pregnant was both challenging and fulfilling. We had days that just sucked and we had days where we were on a high seeing one another persevere. We formed a kind of intimacy that doesn't come from ordinary romance, but from going through something hard and not quitting on one another. The lessons learned have translated into our marriage in profound ways and confirmed that I couldn't have picked a better partner to not only do HYROX with, but life.

Lastly, for the Esteem Health, HYROX is big ego boost! What better way to give your self-esteem a healthy boost thatn getting your body in a nice looking shape and competing at a high level physically? Even without a trophy, I promise you HYROX will make you feel better about yourself.

Bonus - A Proven HYROX Workout Routine

Here's the training regimine I undertook for HYROX. Do it for at least 4 weeks and you'll see a real difference in your performance from start to finish.

Day 1 – Lower Body Strength (Heavy)

Back Squat – 4x5

Romanian Deadlift – 4x6

Walking Lunges – 3x10 each leg

Leg Curl – 3x12

Core: Hanging Leg Raises – 3x12–15

Finish:

Sled Push – 4 x 20m heavy

Day 2 – Upper Body Push + Conditioning

Bench Press – 4x5

Incline DB Press – 3x8

Overhead Press – 3x6

Dips – 3xAMRAP

Conditioning Circuit (3 rounds):

500m row

15 wall balls

10 burpee broad jumps

Day 3 – Engine + HYROX Simulation

3 Rounds:

1km run

50m sled push

50m sled pull

20 walking lunges

500m ski erg

Moderate pace. Build durability.

Day 4 – Lower Body Hypertrophy

Front Squat – 4x8

Bulgarian Split Squat – 3x10 each

Hip Thrust – 3x10

Leg Extension – 3x15

Calves – 4x12

Core: Cable Crunch – 3x15

Day 5 – Upper Pull + Carries

Weighted Pull-ups – 4x6

Barbell Row – 4x8

Lat Pulldown – 3x12

Rear Delt Fly – 3x15

Farmer Carry – 4 x 40m heavy

Finisher:

Assault Bike – 8 x 20 sec hard / 40 sec easy

Day 6 – Long Aerobic Base

45–60 min Zone 2 cardio

(steady conversational pace)

Day 7 – Rest

Walk 8–10k steps.

Will Everett is a Finance Consulant and the author of The KPIs of Life. Follow along at thekpisoflife.com and on socials @thekpisoflife.

Source:

1: https://hyrox.com/the-science-of-hyrox/