If you’re preparing for your first Hyrox, you’ve probably already clocked the format: eight one-kilometre runs, each followed by a workout station. The running is self-explanatory. The stations are where most people have questions.
Here’s exactly what each one involves, what the weights are, and what actually makes it hard on race day.
A quick note on weights
Hyrox uses different weights depending on your category. The figures below are for the Open category, which is the standard entry level. Pro category athletes work with heavier loads, and Doubles competitors split the volume between them.
| Women (Open) | Men (Open) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sled push | 102kg | 152kg |
| Sled pull | 78kg | 103kg |
| Farmers carry | 2 x 16kg | 2 x 24kg |
| Sandbag lunges | 10kg | 20kg |
| Wall balls | 4kg / 9ft | 6kg / 10ft |
Station 1: SkiErg (1,000m)
The SkiErg is a cable machine you pull downward in a skiing motion, driving through your core and lats. You’re aiming for 1,000 metres, and you’ll have a display in front of you showing your distance and pace.
It comes straight after your first kilometre run, so your heart rate is already up. Most people go out too hard here – the machine feels manageable early and punishing by metre 600. A steady, controlled pace beats a fast start you can’t hold.
What makes it hard: sustaining rhythm when your legs are already tired from the run. It’s more of a full-body effort than it looks.
Aim for: around 4:30–5:30 per 1,000m for a first race, depending on your fitness.
Station 2: Sled push (50m)
You load a sled with weight plates and push it 50 metres down a track. The sled has no wheels – it slides on the floor – so the resistance is constant and unforgiving.
The technique is simple: low body position, drive from your legs, keep your back flat. Where people go wrong is standing too upright, which kills your leverage and leaves you grinding to a stop halfway down the lane.
What makes it hard: the sheer effort-to-distance ratio. 50 metres sounds short. Loaded at 152kg for men, it is not short.
Aim for: completing it in one continuous push if possible. Stopping and restarting costs you more than slowing down.
Station 3: Sled pull (50m)
Same sled, lighter weight, different movement. You face away from the sled and pull it toward you using a rope, hand over hand, walking backwards for 50 metres.
It’s primarily a grip and upper back exercise, and it hits differently to the push – slower, more controlled, and oddly satisfying when you find a rhythm. Keep your hips low and let your legs do some of the work rather than relying entirely on your arms.
What makes it hard: your forearms. By the time you’re at station three in a race, grip fatigue is already building. It becomes relevant later.
Station 4: Burpee broad jumps (80m)
Drop to the floor, press up, jump forward as far as you can. Repeat for 80 metres. There’s no equipment involved, just you, a line, and a growing awareness of how many metres remain.
This is a polarising station. People with a running background tend to find it brutal. People with a gymnastics or CrossFit background tend to find it manageable. Either way, it comes after three stations and three kilometres of running, so the context makes it harder than it sounds in isolation.
What makes it hard: it’s relentless. There’s no rhythm to settle into, no machine giving you feedback. Just ground to cover.
Pacing tip: shorter, consistent jumps beat long explosive jumps you can’t sustain. Keep moving.
Station 5: Rowing (1,000m)
Back on a machine – a Concept2 rowing erg. Same distance as the SkiErg: 1,000 metres.
You’re at the halfway point of the race here, which is both motivating and slightly alarming. Rowing is a full-body movement and if your technique is poor it’ll cost you significantly. Drive with your legs first, then lean back, then pull the handle to your lower chest, in that order. Most beginners do it the wrong way round and tire themselves out.
What makes it hard: arriving at a rowing machine with tired legs and expecting them to do most of the work.
Aim for: a similar split to your SkiErg time – around 4:30–5:30 per 1,000m.
Station 6: Farmers carry (200m)
Pick up two kettlebells and walk 200 metres. That’s it.
It sounds like a rest after the first five stations, and in some ways it is – your cardiovascular system gets a relative break. Your grip, shoulders, and core do not. Walk tall, keep the kettlebells slightly away from your body, and resist the urge to set them down. Putting them down and picking them back up is harder than just keeping going.
What makes it hard: 200 metres is a long way to carry 48kg combined (men’s Open). The last 50 metres tends to feel like the first 150 again.
Station 7: Sandbag lunges (100m)
Hold a sandbag (20kg for men, 10kg for women in Open) across your upper back or chest, and lunge for 100 metres. Alternating legs, continuous movement, no stopping.
This is the station most people underestimate in training and remember vividly on race day. Your legs are deep into a race by this point, your lungs are working hard, and now you’re doing a hundred metres of weighted lunges. The sandbag position matters; across the upper back tends to be more sustainable than holding it at the chest for most people.
What makes it hard: everything about where it sits in the race. Station seven out of eight, after 7km. There are no good answers, just keeping moving.
Station 8: Wall balls (100 reps)
Take a medicine ball, squat, stand, and throw it at a target on the wall. Catch it, squat, repeat. One hundred times. The target height is 9 feet for women, 10 feet for men in Open. The ball weighs 4kg and 6kg respectively.
This is the final station, and it has a reputation. Not because wall balls are technically difficult, but because 100 reps when you’re exhausted is a genuinely long time to be doing anything. The temptation is to rush through the first 30 and pay for it by rep 60. Don’t.
What makes it hard: it’s the last thing standing between you and the finish line, which messes with your pacing more than you’d expect.
Pacing tip: sets of 10–15 with short breaks beats going unbroken until you collapse. Keep the rest periods honest – five seconds, not thirty.
The thing nobody tells you
Each station is manageable on its own. You can train for any of them in isolation and feel comfortable. What Hyrox tests is how you perform on station seven having already run 7km and done six stations before it.
That’s the whole point, and it’s also why training for Hyrox specifically matters more than just being generally fit. The fitness transfer only goes so far.
If you want to know how to actually prepare for race day, our 8-week beginner training plan covers exactly that.