The eight HYROX stations explained

Stations one to three: SkiErg, sled push, sled pull

SkiErg, 1,000 m. A standing pull on a ski machine that works lats, trunk and hips. The common mistake is going out far too hard because it is the first station and adrenaline is high. Ride it at a firm, controlled effort. The full breakdown is in our SkiErg technique guide.

Sled push, 50 m. A loaded sled pushed down a lane in several lengths. It is a leg and trunk strength test, and for many people it is the single slowest station. The biggest time loss comes from stopping, because restarting a dead sled costs far more than keeping it moving. See sled push technique for HYROX.

Sled pull, 50 m. You stand behind a line and pull the sled towards you with a rope, hand over hand, then walk to the other end and repeat. It hammers your back, arms and grip. People lose time by pulling with arms only instead of sitting back into the rope with their legs and body weight.

Stations four and five: burpee broad jumps and rowing

Burpee broad jumps, 80 m. A burpee with chest and thighs to the floor, followed by a two-footed jump forward, repeated until you cover the distance. It is relentless rather than heavy. The fastest approach for most people is a steady rhythm with moderate jumps, not huge leaps followed by long pauses.

Rowing, 1,000 m. Coming after the burpees, the rower is a chance to settle your breathing while still making progress. Push through the legs, keep the stroke long and resist the urge to sprint. Good rowers use this station to reset before the second half of the race.

Stations six to eight: carry, lunges, wall balls

Farmers carry, 200 m. Two kettlebells carried over a short course. It is a grip test first and a posture test second. Short, quick steps and as few set-downs as possible are what make it fast. The farmers carry exercise guide covers the basic pattern.

Sandbag lunges, 100 m. Walking lunges with a sandbag across your shoulders, and your back knee must touch the floor on every rep. Your quads and glutes are already tired, so this is where pacing mistakes from earlier show up. Steady, even steps with minimal pausing is the aim.

Wall balls, 100 reps. A full squat and throw to a target, repeated until you reach 100. Reps that miss the target or do not reach depth are no-repped. Most people are best served by planned sets with short, disciplined rests rather than going unbroken and falling apart at rep 40.

Where most people lose time

For the average first timer, the biggest chunks of lost time come from three places:

1. The sled push and pull, especially stopping and restarting.
2. The final two stations, where tired legs lead to long rests and no-reps.
3. The runs straight after the sleds and lunges, when legs feel like concrete.

The SkiErg, rowing and farmers carry tend to cost less, unless you blow up on them. That is useful to know when deciding where to spend your training time.

Look at your own splits after a race or a simulation. If your sleds took twice as long as your SkiErg, the next training block has an obvious priority. Guessing wastes weeks, while the numbers usually point straight at the problem.

Know the movement standards before race day

Every station has a standard that judges enforce, and no-reps are one of the most frustrating ways to lose time. The ones that catch people out most often are wall balls that miss the target or do not reach squat depth, lunges where the back knee does not touch the floor, and burpee broad jumps where the chest does not reach the ground or the jump is not taken off two feet.

Read the current official HYROX rulebook for your division, then train to that standard every time, even in a casual session. If your wall ball squats are shallow in training, they will be shallower still at rep 80 on race day. Ask a coach or training partner to judge you honestly now and then. It is far better to hear no-rep in a Tuesday session than from a judge with 30 reps to go.

Training the stations each week

You do not need to do every station every week. A sensible pattern for most people is one session that focuses on the heavy stations (sleds and lunges), one that focuses on the engine stations (SkiErg, rowing, burpee broad jumps) and a regular slot for wall balls and carries, which respond well to frequent short exposures.

Always practise some stations straight after running. The skill of racing HYROX is doing these movements on tired legs, and you only build it by rehearsing it. Lycan Strength has a full-length turf sled track for exactly this kind of work, and the Lower and Full Body classes build the strength the heavier stations demand.