Want to Try HYROX? Here are 5 Coach-Approved Tips For your First Time
Preparing for this intense indoor fitness competition requires not only peak strength, but mental fortitude
Feel like a fitness rockstar
With over 5,000 accredited gyms worldwide, HYROX has become a global fitness phenomenon. Over 500,000 professionals have joined official events this year alone—and this number doesn’t include enthusiasts who do HYROX and its scaled-down iterations for fun or their daily physical fix.
The indoor fitness competition is a strenuous combination of running and hybrid workouts: eight sets of one-kilometer runs punctuated with functional exercise stations: wall balls, rows, sandbag lunges, ski ergs, among others. It lives up to the two words comprising its name: ‘hybrid,’ for the diversity of workouts; and ‘rockstar,’ because you’ll definitely feel like one after successfully completing it.
If you’re itching to try HYROX, either as a simple workout or the actual competition, physical conditioning is a given—the mental aspect is just as crucial. Here are five practical tips from Coach Gene Santos, Co-Founder and Head Coach at P1oneer Athletics, a HYROX-accredited fitness studio in Manila.
Start small, think big
Don’t picture the entire race day yet. Focus on today’s session. Can you commit to two to three focused workouts this week? Consistency beats heroic and sporadic efforts. Small bricks build the fortress.
Find your ‘why’ and celebrate small wins
Ask yourself: why did this spark your interest? Hold on to that. Then celebrate everything. Nailing a station technique, adding five kilos to your sled, or finishing a run without walking.
Progress isn’t linear, so honor the tiny victories. They fuel consistency.
Focus on the process, not just the podium
Forget times and rankings right now. Fall in love with getting better. Notice how you feel stronger carrying groceries, recover faster after a run, or simply have more energy. HYROX training makes life better now, and that’s worth showing up for.
Embrace the “suck”
It’s part of the growth. Some days will feel hard, heavy, and slow. That’s normal! It’s not failure, it’s adaptation. Remember: the discomfort you feel is the signal that your body is changing. Lean into it, because that’s when resilience is built.
Take a break
All that being said, rest and recovery are just as crucial. Dialing in your nutrition, stress, and sleep are important to make these all stick together.
“Whether joining HYROX for fun, to test one’s fitness and athleticism, or the competitive nature of it, it is best to prepare adequately and appropriately,” Coach Gene adds. “I always believe in the saying that ‘we do not rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.’ This applies to everyone in order for them to enjoy HYROX.”
“The race itself is a good goal, but it’s the journey to becoming a hybrid athlete is what’s going to matter: building a strong and durable engine through strength work and running, training with intent, developing pacing strategies by focusing on stations, rehearsing through simulations at the latter part of the training, and tapering prior to the race.”
Check out more tips and highlights from VMAN Southeast Asia’s HYROX Masterclass below:
Photography Kieran Punay
Special thanks P1oneer Athletics, Fit Fuel MNL, Coach Gene Santos, and Dookie Ducay
