Hyrox and How to Avoid Injuries
Hyrox is a demanding competition that combines running with eight different functional workout stations, testing strength, endurance, speed, and mental resilience. With so many high-intensity movements and repeated runs, proper training is essential not only to perform your best but also to stay injury-free.
This guide will cover key tips on improving running, strength, mobility, and recovery, while avoiding common training mistakes to keep you healthy and competitive.
Getting The Best Out of Your Hyrox Training
Hyrox merges eight functional workouts with running, combining the intensity of strength and endurance training while testing speed, power, agility, and—perhaps most importantly—mental resilience.
With 8 different workouts, plus the amount of running to each station, training for Hyrox is critical – for not only competing, but when done correctly, it helps you stay injury free. Focusing on proper technique, gradual progression, and recovery ensures you can perform at your best while minimizing the risk of injury.
How to Avoid Hyrox-Related Injuries
Want to prepare for your upcoming Hyrox competition and remain injury-free while doing it? Here are a few tips on how to approach your training.
Improve Your Running Economy
Follow a Solid Strength Training Program
Improve Your Mobility
Avoid Training Errors
Listen to Your Body
Prioritize Recovery
Let’s dive into each tip!
1. Improve Your Running Economy
Running plays a major role in Hyrox, so your training should reflect the amount of running between each station. Improving your running economy will help you maintain speed and efficiency between stations, conserving energy for the strength challenges ahead.
2. Follow a Strength Training Program
Hyrox training demands a well-rounded approach, but building strength should be a priority. Many Hyrox events feature heavy, high-impact movements like sled pushes, sled pulls, and farmer’s carries, making targeted strength work essential.
Focusing on exercises such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, rows, and core work will improve power, endurance, and stability for race day. Incorporating a consistent strength program ensures you’re ready to handle the demanding weight-bearing challenges Hyrox throws your way.
A few strength training exercises to incorporate:
Back Squats – Builds overall lower body strength, improving power for sled pushes, wall balls, and running.
Front Squat – Emphasizes quads and core stability, helping maintain posture during functional movements and carries.
Sled Pulls – Directly trains the sled movement used in races, boosting leg drive and total-body power.
Rows – Develops upper back and pulling strength, supporting exercises like sled pulls and rowing stations.
Bent Over Rows – Improves back and shoulder stability, aiding in carrying and pulling exercises efficiently.
Walking Lunges – Builds unilateral leg strength and balance, necessary for running efficiency and functional lifts.
Split Squat – Targets quads, glutes, and hip stability, enhancing strength for lunges, carries, and explosive movements.
3. Improve Your Mobility
In addition to strength, Hyrox requires exceptional joint mobility to perform efficiently across all events. Improving movement efficiency through dynamic stretching, foam rolling, and targeted mobility exercises enhances race-specific movement patterns. These exercises also help reduce tightness, prevent injuries, and keep you limber throughout training.
Here are a few mobility exercises are important for Hyrox:
Deep Squat Hold with Hip Opener – Improves squat depth and hip mobility for movements like wall balls and sled pushes.
Cat-Cow Stretch – Increases spinal flexibility and helps with posture under load.
Hip Flexor Stretch (Half-Kneeling) – Loosens tight hips from running and lunging.
Shoulder Dislocates with Band – Improves shoulder mobility for overhead movements and carries.
Calf smash - Releases tension in the calf muscles, supporting better ankle mobility and lowering strain on the Achilles and lower leg.
Ankle mobilization - Improves ankle range of motion, enhancing performance in dynamic movements and reducing the risk of sprains during Hyrox training.
Couch stretch - Increases hip extension, improving running mechanics and reducing stress on the lower back and hips during Hyrox exercises.
4. Avoid Training Errors
One training error to avoid for Hyrox is jumping into intense workouts too quickly. I highly recommend starting with easy exercises and drills, gradually increasing intensity and volume over time. Rushing your training can lead to injury, fatigue, and poor technique during key movements.
Building a strong foundation ensures your strength, endurance, and mobility develop safely and effectively. Consistency and gradual progression are far more beneficial than pushing too hard too soon.
5. Listen to Your Body
This is crucial for any training, especially for the grueling demands of Hyrox. Pushing through fatigue increases the risk of injury and can hinder progress. Prioritizing rest and recovery ensures you train smarter and perform better on race day.
6. Prioritize Recovery
Along the same lines as listening to your body, proper recovery is essential to stay injury-free and perform at your best in Hyrox. Incorporating rest days,and active recovery techniques helps your muscles repair and adapt. In addition getting quality sleep is important for staying injury free – consider avoiding blue screen lights before bed, and dim the lights an hour before bed. Consistently prioritizing recovery ensures long-term progress and peak performance on race day.
Final Thoughts: Hyrox and Staying Injury-Free
It is a gruelling and rigorous test of overall fitness and mental resilience. To stay injury-free in Hyrox, you need to do the little things like recovery, and avoiding training errors that will keep you injury free. By following these strategies, you can safely build strength, endurance, and mobility safely while maximizing your race-day performance.
At Alpha Project Phyzio, we’re your performance partner, helping HYROX athletes of all levels build strength, improve mobility, and prevent injuries, both in person or virtually. With three locations in Frederick, Columbia, and Gaitherburg, we provide assessments and training to help you train harder, race stronger, and stay pain-free.
