#60: Hyrox
The hardest workout I've ever done
Hey friends,
Welcome to the 60th edition of the “Level Up Ladder” newsletter.
This one is all about Hyrox; if you don’t know what that is, bear with me; I’ll explain in a bit.
About a year ago, some guys from the CrossFit box I go to (almost daily) were talking about a competition that involves a lot of running and some other stuff.
At that point, my running was very bad. I hadn’t started training for the half-marathon, and I would run maybe once every couple of weeks for small distances.
As I heard that this contest involved 8 km of running, I ignored it.
After a few months and one completed half-marathon, this started to sound a lot better.
So, in February, I got tickets for Valencia, due in November.
There was already that group formed at the gym with people who had already participated, and we started training specifically for this type of workout every Saturday.
Hyrox means the following (weights and repetition below are for men):
1000 m SkiErg
1 KM RUN
2×25 m Sled Push (152 kg incl. Sled)
1 KM RUN
2×25 m Sled Pull (103 kg incl. Sled)
1 KM RUN
80m Burpee Broad Jump
1 KM RUN
1000 m Rowing
1 KM RUN
200 m Kettle Bells Farmers Carry (2×24 kg)
1 KM RUN
100 m Sandbag Lunges (20 kg)
1 KM RUN
100 x Wall Balls (6 kg)
Watch the video if you want to see the movements:
Anyway, we were training and I was saying to myself, “I’ll have time to practice and get in shape until November.”
Then, another competition showed up on the site, Rimini, first weekend of June. And we started talking about it in the WhatsApp group, and in the end, some of us got tickets for this event.
So there we were, Saturday morning, June 1st, a group of 13 people, 11 of us competing either in the singles or the doubles competition.
These competitions are indoors, in large halls, and there are thousands of athletes and lots of supporters too.
The running course is outside a central area where you do all the workouts, and the people who cheer for you can move from station to station and be really close to you.
So, we got there around 11, walked a bit, did some warm-up, and I was waiting to start. My starting time was 13:50, in the same wave as 2 friends.
I was very excited but also a bit scared, as it was my first time doing the workout.
My initial calculation was that I was able to finish in 1:28 minutes. I figured out I could run each kilometer at a pace of 6 minutes and would finish each exercise in roughly 5 minutes, which meant an average of 11 minutes per couple, times 8 = 1:28.
That was not how it went.
In a nutshell, the competition was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
You start with the first run, you feel good, and you go fast.
Then I had the 1000 m on the ski; it felt like a warm-up.
After another run, I went to push that sled. Mind me, it was the first time I would push a sled that heavy. It seemed very hard at the beginning, but I managed to move it in under 3 minutes.
But then it started. I felt like I had led in my legs when I began my third running lap. And my heart rate started going up, close to 160 bpm. This is quite a lot for me.
The sled pull went fine, though it seemed very hard too.
The 4th workout was my least favorite, as it involved my nemesis: burpees. It’s an 80-meter burpee broad jump, which means a burpee followed by a long jump.
This was awful. I couldn’t get myself up from the ground. I would do a couple of them and then sit with my face close to the floor (and it was not a nice smell; athletes were sweating on that carpet for a few hours already).
I almost thought I wouldn’t make it, but 7 and a half minutes later, I was running again.
The 5th was rowing, and I am usually good at it, it went well, but, a bit slower than normal because of my fatigue.
6th was the farmer’s carry with 2x24 kg kettlebells, finished it in about 2 minutes.
By now, my heart rate was in Zone 5, which is 167+ bpm for me.
I was constantly drinking water and pouring it over my head.
My shirt was off for a while too.
I finished the 7th in a decent time too, lunges with a 20 kg bag on my shoulders.
As I was heading into my last running lap, the 1:28 goal was looking a bit stretched, but I was sure I could make it under 1:30. I had about 11 minutes to finish the run and the 100 wall balls.
At 1:25 or so, I got to the wall balls, which meant throwing a 6 kg ball to a target, doing a squat when it bounced back, and throwing it again 100 times. I do this exercise constantly at the gym, always with a 9-kg ball, so I was quite confident I would finish it in the remaining time.
In a normal training day, this would take me around 3 minutes.
I didn’t take into consideration that my legs were already f**ked and my heart rate had been in Zone 5 for a while now.
The plan was to do 5 sets of 20, maybe sets of 10 near the end.
Are you joking?
After I did around 10, I collapsed to the ground. I couldn’t feel my legs, sweat was covering my eyes, and my head was dizzy.
My friends were near me, shouting at me, “Come on, you can do it; just breathe.”.
I didn’t think I could do it.
But as the saying goes, when you think you’re done, you still have a bit in you.
Long story short, I did sets of 5, sets of 3, took breaks, and eventually finished in about 7 minutes.
1:31:30 was my time.
I was never happier to finish a workout, and it was probably the hardest thing I ever did.
My average heart rate was 162 bpm, 2 bpm more than on my last half-marathon. At this heart rate, that’s quite a lot.
I had it above 170 bpm for a lot of time.
We stayed there for the whole day to watch other friends compete.
We started drinking beer and having fun.
In the evening, we went to a restaurant, watched the Champions League final, and drank more beer. We went to the beach and had a night swim.
The next day, the girls competed, so we were there as well, a lot more relaxed than the day before.
On Monday, we visited Bologna, drank some Aperol, and wandered the streets.
Overall, it was one of the best weekends ever.
We had a lot of fun, and I pushed my limits.
Immediately after the competition, I thought I would never do it again.
Now, I know I will do it again in November, and I’m sure many more times.
It’s a great way to have a city break.
I can’t believe that in the past 9 months or so, I ran 2 half-marathons and went to a Hyrox. I did virtually no sport until 33 or so and never participated in an event.
Sports in general and these competitions taught me a lot about myself, and they’re still teaching me.
Here are the lessons I derived from this particular Hyrox (wrote about them on LinkedIn too, you can follow me there for daily insights into leadership and growth):
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲.
As the Greek philosopher Archilochus used to say:
“We don't rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training”
If you've done it well, you'll do well.
It's not about race day or the last few days, it's about months and months of preparation.
2. 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁.
I was lucky enough to race with a group of fellow athletes.
We had different starting times over the weekend so we all supported and cheered on one another.
The race was hard. Very hard. If I hadn't had the support, I would have finished later.
3. 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲.
You might think Hyrox, CrossFit, or running marathons are not for everyone.
You're wrong.
In this race, as well as in the gym, I would see people from all age groups, weights, or physical conditions.
You just need to want to do it and start doing it.
4. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲.
Near the end of the race, I thought I was done.
I was sweating and my legs were so loaded I thought I could not even stand.
And yet, I pushed through and finished the competition.
Whenever you think you can't do it anymore, you still have some fuel in the tank.
5. 𝗕𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.
No race goes exactly as planned.
Unexpected challenges can and will arise.
I was doing the exercises for the first time.
I had a plan in my mind for each of the exercises.
I wanted to finish the burpee broad jumps in 5 minutes. I did it in 8.
I had to adapt my plan and move forward.
But the best lesson of all:
𝗕𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲.
I thought I was fit. But after seeing some amazing athletes, I understood I still have a long way to go.
I hope you liked this “athletic” edition of the newsletter and I’ll see you soon.
Have a great weekend!
Leo
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