What is a HYROX affiliated gym?

Why it can help your preparation

HYROX is a very specific race. The biggest gains for most people come from practising the exact stations, at race load, straight after running, and learning to pace the whole thing. A gym built around that makes it much easier.

• Space for the sleds. Pushing a sled for a full length and turning is different from shuffling it a few metres back and forth.
• Coaches who know the standards. Wall ball depth, lunge knee touches and burpee broad jump rules get judged in training, not just on race day.
• Race-specific programming. Sessions structured around compromised running, station practice and pacing.
• A community of racers. People preparing for the same events, often travelling to race together.

None of this is impossible elsewhere, but it saves you having to piece it together yourself.

There is a less obvious benefit too: timing. Race-focused gyms tend to know when the major events are, which blocks of training people are in, and when to shift from building fitness to sharpening for a race. Training in that rhythm with other people makes it easier to follow a sensible plan instead of improvising one.

What to look for in any HYROX gym

Whether a gym is affiliated or not, these are the things that make it a good place to prepare for HYROX:

• A sled track or lane long enough for full lengths, with a surface you can push and pull on.
• Rowers, ski machines or other conditioning kit for engine work.
• Space and targets for wall balls, and kettlebells and sandbags at race loads.
• Squat racks, barbells and space for strength work.
• Coaches who can explain the race standards and adjust sessions to your level.
• A class timetable that fits your working week.
• Access to injury support, such as physiotherapy, if something flares up.

Questions to ask on a trial visit

A trial is the best way to judge a gym, because a timetable and a list of equipment only tell you so much. Go to a couple of HYROX-focused sessions and ask:

1. How is the HYROX training structured across the week?
2. How do you scale sessions for beginners or people coming back from injury?
3. Do you practise stations straight after running, and how often?
4. Do members race together, in Doubles, Relay or as a group trip?
5. What support is available if I pick up a niggle?

Watch how the coaches interact with people. Are they correcting technique, adjusting loads and noticing who is struggling? Or are they just starting a timer and shouting encouragement? The guide to what a HYROX class looks like explains what good coaching in these sessions usually involves.

Affiliated gym or train it yourself?

Plenty of people prepare for HYROX in a regular gym, a garage or with a running club and a kettlebell. If you are experienced, self-motivated and have access to a sled, that can work well. The guide to HYROX training in a gym vs at home compares the options.

Where a race-focused gym really helps is with the parts that are hard to do alone: honest feedback on standards, sessions structured around the race, people to push you and someone to adjust the plan when life gets in the way. For first timers especially, that support removes a lot of guesswork.

Cost and convenience matter too. The best gym for you is one you can get to consistently at times that suit your week. A brilliant set-up 40 minutes away that you visit once a fortnight will do less for your race than a good one ten minutes from home that you use three times a week.

HYROX training in Irlam

Lycan Strength in Irlam, Manchester, is an official HYROX affiliated gym with a full-length turf sled track, a long rig with squat racks and barbells, and air bikes. Its Full Body, Upper and Lower classes build strength for the stations and its Engine and Lycan Shred sessions build the conditioning, all scalable to the person, and it has on-site physiotherapy. Members race together in doubles and relays: London is done, with Milan and Manchester next. More detail is on the HYROX training page.

If you are weighing up options across Greater Manchester, the guide to choosing a gym in Manchester covers the wider picture, and the gym's 7-day free trial lets you try the classes before deciding.