If your social media algorithm skews in any way towards the fitness industry, then you’ve probably been exposed to HYROX in some way over the last couple of weekends if not before.
“The sport for everybody”
If you’re unfamiliar, HYROX (a sort of portmanteau of ‘hybrid’ and ‘rockstar’) calls itself fitness racing. It combines running 1km intervals with “functional workout stations”, repeated eight times at each event, with each event repeated multiple times in something like 15 different countries all over the world. At the end of their race season, country-winners come together at the World Championship to take on the same race again.
HYROX is considered to be a descendent of CrossFit. Both combine aspects of strength and endurance, and both ask for functional movements to be performed at high intensity. But apart from that, the two are pretty different, which has (some might say inevitably) lead to a kind of rivalry between the advocates for each. Here, we take a look at why the two differ, and why it doesn’t (necessarily) have to be one or the other.
CrossFit’s quick, HYROX takes ages: Obviously “ages” depends on your level of proficiency, but HYROX is something like an hour- to an hour-and-a-half-long event. CrossFit workouts tend to (but not always) require shorter bursts of energy for a max power output.
CrossFit’s varied, HYROX is predictable: With each event looking exactly the same, HYROX athletes know exactly what will be asked of them when they sign up to race. The functional workout stations are always the same, and are always sandwiched between 1km runs. CrossFit asks athletes to prepare for the unknown and unknowable, to possibly involve lifting, gymnastics, erg work, orrr… I dunno… a banger.
CrossFit’s complex, HYROX is more accessible: The level of skill required for HYROX is lower than that of competitive CrossFit. Even Beginner CrossFit comps will likely involve gymnastic or barbell experience that the Average Joe/Jo would not be familiar with, while HYROX’s appeal is that it consists of exercises that “anyone can do”. Their website says “we specifically avoided anything that didn’t fit into that category, so you won’t see handstand walks or Olympic lifting”.
So is HYROX better than CrossFit?
Nah. And rather than pitting them against one another, it’s probably more important to highlight again that HYROX is a race people train for, and CrossFit is a training methodology of which some people compete in. So when it comes to training, despite the similarities, they really are just different rather than one being better than the other.
The most obvious difference is that because you don’t know what’s going to be thrown your way in a workout, with CrossFit you have to train everything all of the time, juggling the unavoidable interference between strength and endurance with varying intervals of power output. HYROX training however, can rely on highly structured programming incorporating a handful of movements of which you practice to become more efficient. And loads of running.
“The Sport of Fitness”
Almost everyone would benefit from improved strength and conditioning in most if not all sports. In that way, CrossFit is a valuable tool to enhance sport performance. It’s also valuable in helping prevent injury, promote efficient movement, and building mental resilience. And all of that sounds like it’d be great for getting fit for HYROX, doesn’t it? So instead of one or the other, maybe think of CrossFit as a great way to train not just for HYROX, but for anything life throws at you.