After bonding as an over 60s relay team competing in fitness phenomenon Hyrox, four women tell us how exercise has transformed their lives.
What is Hyrox?
First launched in Germany in 2017, Hyrox is a competitive event in which participants race 8km between eight workout stations as follows:
- 1000m SkiErg: Simulated skiing using arms and core.
- 50m Sled Push: Pushing a weighted sled using full-body strength.
- 50m Sled Pull: Pulling a weighted sled, working back and grip.
- 80m Burpee Broad Jump: Burpees with forward jumps.
- 1000m Row: A full-body cardio workout using a rowing machine.
- 200m Farmers Carry: Carrying heavy weights in each hand
- 100m Sandbag Lunges: Forward lunges while carrying a sandbag on your back.
- 100 Wall Balls: Throwing a medicine ball to a target on the wall after a squat.
Karen Ince; Carol Norris; Celia Duff; Christine O’Sullivan
Christine O’Sullivan, 62, South Wales
I didn’t get fit until my late 40s. All of a sudden my teenage sons didn’t want to hang out any more, so I had time to train! I couldn’t even run for one minute when I first started doing Couch to 5k, and it took me twice as long to complete it as it’s meant to. But I got the bug and eventually was running marathons. From there I moved to power lifting and then Hyrox.
Exercise is a good physical outlet for tension. I work 12-hour shifts as an accommodation officer in a building for people with drug and alcohol issues. It can be stressful and sad – even quite frightening – but Hyrox training helps me manage that.
A great coach can help you achieve what seems impossible. My gym is like a Blue Zone [regions known for their residents’ longevity]. People with heart stents and double hip replacements are training for Hyrox. We have an amazing coach who makes individual training plans and monitors people so they can compete safely.
I love the progress you can see with Hyrox. My mobility was so bad I couldn’t even sit down cross-legged when I started, and I certainly couldn’t get deep enough for the wall balls. My coach programmed loads of exercises to help me improve, such as front squats, and it’s made a huge difference. Exercise makes you more independent too; those farmer carries mean I don’t need any help getting my shopping to the car boot when I go to IKEA!
Hyrox makes you feel relevant. As you get older, you can feel invisible. If you’re retired and your children have grown up, you feel less needed. But with Hyrox, you’ve got your whole gym rooting for you, and a sense of purpose.
My generation grew up being told you could never be too thin. Nobody told women about strength, being a healthy weight or cardiovascular fitness. We’ve discovered it along the way, and now there are fantastic women in their sixties running faster times than many of the younger women.
Karen Ince, 65, Kent
I’ve competed in Hyrox 12 times now. Initially, I watched my son do one and thought ‘I could do that’. We did doubles together [where you split the workout with a partner]. I’ve competed solo but I like doubles because you don’t overthink it and can have a bit of a chat! It was really good fun racing in the relay team too.
I might be the oldest at my gym, but I want to keep up. I don’t like to focus on age, but sometimes I will look round the gym and think ‘okay, I’m the only one with white hair, it’s a bit of a giveaway.’ I like to hold my own though. The other day someone said they’d decrease the weight on a sled so I could push it. And I said ‘No, put it back on.’
The social side of Hyrox is a big appeal. I’m at the gym five or six times a week with other people, who are all very encouraging and supportive. I don’t feel intimidated walking up to a squat rack to start loading on the weights – I’d never have done that before I joined a Hyrox gym.
Movement is key as you get older. It doesn’t have to be as full on as Hyrox; just walking in the fresh air and lifting some light dumbbells is a good start.
You need to fuel yourself for this type of training. I either drink a protein shake or add protein powder to my overnight oats. I take creatine supplements which have massively helped with my strength. And with this level of training, I certainly don’t feel bad about the odd bit of chocolate.
My proudest Hyrox moment was my first race. I came second in my age group, When I got to the end, my son was there and told me I’d qualified for the next level up. For him to be the one to tell me that meant a lot.
I am the strongest and fittest I’ve ever been. That’s an amazing thing to be able to say at 65. I’ll never give up Hyrox training, even if I race less. I love the physicality of it.
Carol Norris, 62, Cambridgeshire
I qualified as a fitness instructor aged 57. Until then I’d had a long career in agriculture, but during the pandemic I decided to retrain. I’d always been obsessed with exercise, including things like step aerobics and body pump back when they were popular. I first got involved in Hyrox two years ago – I was already doing functional fitness training, but this was a whole different level. At my first Hyrox event, I got the world record for my age group. I knocked 50 seconds off the record and got invited to the World Championships three weeks later.
We made a good relay team because we all have our own strengths. Now we keep in touch via our WhatsApp group, keeping each other up-to-date on which races we’re doing.
There’s a very close community around Hyrox. Until now, you’d go to an event and you’d see lots of familiar faces. Now it’s become very competitive to get tickets, and I think that will change the dynamic. I was in a queue of 10,000 to get tickets for the Birmingham event recently.
Lack of movement is an epidemic. I teach Pilates to older people, and I see so many people who can hardly get from the floor to standing. People have sedentary jobs, they don’t move around much and they see exercise as a chore. But it doesn’t need to be hard: walking is an underrated form of exercise.
Moving your body in every direction helps with mobility. People tend to just go forwards and backwards, but instead you should move sideways, twist, bend, roll forwards and roll upwards.
I’ve been working hard on my strength this year. So I’ll do a weights circuit at the gym, and then alternate four minutes on the ski erg and four minutes rowing, four times. I run three times a week as well, and teach Pilates.
People shouldn’t be scared to push their bodies just because they’re in their 60s or 70s. The old advice for people with arthritis for example, was just to stay still – now they’re saying the more you move, the better. If you’ve got a bad back don’t just lie on the floor, keep moving.
Celia Duff, 71, Cambridgeshire
I first got into Hyrox through my daughter I babysat her kids while she competed. I started in 2022 and after I competed in the 2023 World Championships, my image was scattered all over Instagram. I didn’t know anything about it, but I got an account and now I have 5.5k followers as @badass_gran1. I don’t take myself too seriously on there – I prefer to poke fun at myself than proffer inexpert advice!
Functional fitness and strength training are vital for longevity. To climb stairs you need flexible hips and strong hamstrings. You need strong quads to get up out of a chair. I train because I know it’s giving me the best chance of living a healthy, happy life.
You can make great new friends through a shared interest. In 2023 Carol and I put out an advert on an over-60s functional fitness forum for two people to join us in a relay team, and Karen and Christine came forward. We met for the first time in Birmingham on the day of the competition, and have since been a great sense of support for each other. All of us have got better, which is amazing, because we’re all over 60.
I love training – so I do a lot of it. I run three or four times a week, do three strength and conditioning classes a week, then do weight lifting and personal training once a week each, plus Pilates and yoga.
Keeping your mind focused on clear goals helps as you get older. Having a competition lined up helps me train with focus. Working out how to improve is an intellectual challenge as well as a physical one – that’s great for longevity.