{"id":781123,"date":"2026-05-08T03:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T03:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/781123\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T03:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T03:52:13","slug":"im-a-weightlifter-and-this-is-how-im-training-for-a-hyrox-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/781123\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m a Weightlifter, and This Is How I\u2019m Training for a Hyrox Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember that Hyrox fitness race trend<\/a> I\u2019ve written about? Welp, looks like I\u2019m going to be doing a race. I\u2019m teaming up with Meredith Dietz, our resident marathon runner, to tackle Hyrox NYC in the women\u2019s doubles division. You can read here<\/a> about how she\u2019s training and what she sees as her strengths and weaknesses. As a weightlifter, I’ll explain my approach.<\/p>\n

I could honestly distill the question of \u201chow should I train\u201d down to one word: running. Everybody tells me that running is the most important skill of a Hyrox race, it\u2019s the thing you\u2019ll spend the most time doing on race day, and it should make up most of your training, especially if you\u2019re someone like me who has a good strength base but lacks in endurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What I need to be prepared for<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve written<\/a>, Hyrox is a structured fitness race. We\u2019ll run eight kilometers (about five miles), one kilometer at a time. Meredith and I will have to do the runs together, but we can share the work when we get to the stations that fall in between the running segments: there\u2019s a ski erg machine, a sled push, a sled pull, burpee broad jumps, a rowing machine, a farmer\u2019s carry, lunges, and wall balls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My biggest disappointment, on researching the race format, is that none of this really plays to a weightlifter\u2019s strengths. Being strong will certainly help, but it\u2019s not like there\u2019s a max deadlift in the mix.\u00a0I need to get good at strength endurance\u2014the 100 wall balls are essentially 100 very light squats. <\/p>\n

My strengths<\/p>\n

I\u2019m examining the race rules for things I might be good at and I’m coming up short. I know from strongman competitions that I\u2019m really good at seated sled pulls, but the sled pull in the Hyrox race is done while standing, and I don\u2019t feel particularly confident about it. Still, it\u2019s possible that I\u2019ll find some of the heavier stations a bit easier than Meredith does.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are a few small things that work in my favor. I can easily squat \u201cass to grass,\u201d meaning I won\u2019t be one of the people who gets no-reps on the wall balls (your hips have to sink below your knees every time). I\u2019ve got reasonably good grip strength, so the farmer\u2019s carry doesn\u2019t scare me. I have better upper body strength than the average woman, so anywhere I can use it, that\u2019s a little bonus.<\/p>\n

Aside from physical strengths, I do have a mental strength. I love taking on competitions where I get to perfect my technique and my strategy. I\u2019ve beaten people who are stronger than me in strongman and odd-lift competitions by simply knowing the exercises better and making better decisions on race day. I also get a nerdy thrill by carefully studying things that other people will meathead their way through. How much will this actually help me on race day? Maybe not at all, but it\u2019s the only source of hope I\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

My weaknesses<\/p>\n

As we\u2019ve already discussed, my weakness is: running. I\u2019m not starting from scratch, fortunately. I already own running shoes and I know the principles of training for running. But I didn\u2019t run at all this past winter, so I need to build up my mileage from nearly zero at the same time I need to be building cardio fitness. If I’m not careful, that’s a recipe for disaster, so I need to make sure I don’t increase my mileage too much too soon. We don\u2019t have a lot of time to train, so this is a bit of a balancing act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What do you think so far?<\/p>\n

How I\u2019m training for the Hyrox<\/p>\n

I identified three priorities at the start of training, and now that I\u2019ve been trying different workouts and learning more about the sport, I\u2019m all the more committed to these.\u00a0In order:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Get used to running.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Build my endurance so I can keep working for the 90+ minutes the race will take.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Learn the movements and techniques I\u2019ll need for the stations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Note that there\u2019s nothing about strength in my priorities. I figure that\u2019s the least of my worries. That said, my training always includes strength work, so it\u2019s staying in the rotation.\u00a0As I explained in this Instagram video<\/a>, I\u2019m paying attention to my heart rate to pace myself in workouts. One or two workouts each week might be a hard one, like a Hyrox class or a tempo run. The rest of my work consists of easier cardio, like zone 2 and 3<\/a> runs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    To avoid overuse injuries, I\u2019m making sure not to run too much. Hiking and indoor cycling are both in the mix so that I can keep working on my endurance even when I feel I\u2019ve done as much running mileage as I safely can in a given week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    The bottom line<\/p>\n

    Meredith put it best: on paper, a runner and a weightlifter seem like they should combine to make one complete Hyrox athlete. In reality, the race format favors endurance athletes. I expect Meredith will be jogging the runs at an easy pace while I struggle to keep up. When we get to the strength stations, I might be able to pick up some slack, but honestly that will depend on how tired I am from the run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    One wild card is learning to work together as a team. Meredith and I live in different cities and we won\u2019t get to meet in person until I arrive in New York for the race. If we want to practice skills like handing off sandbags, we\u2019ll have to do those independently with whatever gym buddies we happen to meet at our home gyms. On race day, everything will need to come together\u2014or maybe fall apart. I have a feeling that it\u2019s going to be a learning experience for both of us, no matter the result.<\/p>\n