I recently cut about two and a half minutes off my HYROX time in less than eight weeks. What makes that improvement even more meaningful to me is that I did it while dealing with being sick and traveling. I went from around 1:09:30 to roughly 1:06:30 to 1:07:00, and the biggest lesson was that getting faster was not simply about training harder. I became much more intentional about how I trained my cardiovascular system, how I combined running with HYROX movements, and how I prepared my body to keep working when fatigue started to build.

In this post (and the Youtube video linked here and the podcast episode linked here), I want to share the 3 HYROX workouts helping me get faster and explain why I believe they have made such a difference. These workouts are built around a simple idea: HYROX rewards you for being able to maintain a high level of output without completely blowing yourself up. That means I need to become comfortable working in zones three and four while also developing the strength and endurance required to perform the functional movements. If you are training for HYROX, you can take these ideas and adapt them to your current fitness level rather than simply copying everything I do.

Why heart rate zones matter for HYROX

One of the biggest changes in how I approach HYROX training has been understanding the role of heart rate zones. HYROX is a hybrid fitness race, so you need both cardiovascular fitness and strength. More importantly, you need to combine those two qualities while moving at a high pace. The longer I can spend performing at a strong pace without pushing myself too far into zone five, the better I believe I can perform.

Zone one is essentially a resting or extremely easy effort. Zone two is what I think of as my all day endurance pace. This is where I spend a significant amount of time during my ultra running training because it allows me to build endurance without creating excessive fatigue. Zone three is closer to the pace I could sustain for around an hour, while zone four is a much harder effort that I can maintain for a shorter period. Zone five is the highest intensity zone and is something I do not want to spend excessive amounts of time in during HYROX training.

For HYROX, I want to become comfortable spending significant portions of the race in zones three and four. The goal is not simply to get my heart rate higher. I want to produce more energy, run faster, complete the functional movements more efficiently, and transition between exercises while keeping my effort under control. There is a huge difference between being near the top of zone four and being close to zone three while still performing at a fast pace. The more work I can accomplish at a lower relative intensity, the better positioned I am to maintain my performance throughout the race.

3 HYROX Workouts Helping Me Get Faster

The three workouts I am currently using approach HYROX performance from different angles. The first is highly specific to the race because it combines running with functional movements. The second combines cardiovascular work with strength so that I can practice producing force while already fatigued. The third is much simpler: I run more.

I do not believe there is one magical HYROX workout that suddenly makes someone faster. Instead, I think the combination of race specific practice, strength, cardiovascular conditioning, and running volume is what gives me the biggest advantage. These three workouts have helped me identify the areas where I need to improve while also teaching my body what it feels like to keep moving when I am tired.

Workout one: race pace combinations

My first workout is one of my favorites because it closely resembles the demands of HYROX. One of the biggest lessons I learned from racing duathlons was that training the individual sports separately is not always enough. You can become good at running and good at cycling, for example, but the transition between the two can still feel terrible if you never practice them together. HYROX works the same way. You can train your running, rowing, sled work, lunges, wall balls, and burpee broad jumps individually, but you also need to teach your body how those movements feel when they are performed in sequence.

I start this workout with a progressive warmup. For me, that means running somewhere between 0.3 and 0.5 miles while gradually increasing the pace. I start around a 10 minute mile pace and work toward my target race pace. This matters because I do not want to jump straight into sprinting without preparing my body. Once I am warmed up, I begin with a 1,000 meter run at race pace.

From there, I move into 40 burpee broad jumps before returning to another 1,000 meter run. I then move to an 800 meter row before another 1,000 meter run. After that, I add 40 lunges, another 1,000 meter race pace run, and finally 40 wall balls. When I first started this workout, I used 25 repetitions for some of the movements. As my training progressed, I increased the volume to 40.

The reason I love this workout is the fatigue it creates. Burpee broad jumps immediately after a 1,000 meter run feel very different from doing them fresh. The same thing is true for wall balls after running, rowing, and lunges. That is exactly what I want to practice because HYROX does not give me the luxury of performing every movement when I am fresh. I need to become comfortable executing the movements when my heart rate is already elevated.

Right now, I am working toward completing this workout twice through once a week and once through another time each week. I may eventually increase that volume, but I also recognize that this is a very demanding workout. You do not need to start by doing it twice. One round is enough to begin practicing the concept, and you can gradually increase the volume as your fitness improves.

Workout two: strength and cardiovascular intervals

My second workout takes a slightly different approach. I still want to elevate my heart rate, but I also want to prepare my muscles to produce force after cardiovascular work. This became especially important after my first solo HYROX simulation. When I reached movements such as the sled push and sled pull, I realized that I was not as prepared as I wanted to be for the combination of high cardiovascular output and strength.

For this workout, I start with a 500 meter row as my warmup. Then I move into a circuit that combines rowing, pull ups, burpee broad jumps, dips, Bulgarian split squats, and wall balls. I repeat the circuit four times while progressively increasing the work.

The first round starts with a 500 meter row, 10 pull ups, 10 burpee broad jumps, 10 dips, 20 Bulgarian split squats, and 30 wall balls. As I move through the rounds, I increase the rowing distance and gradually increase several of the other movements. Eventually, I reach a 1,100 meter row, 15 pull ups, 25 burpee broad jumps, 20 dips, more Bulgarian split squats, and 30 wall balls.

The progression is intentional. I want the row to become a place where I can recover while still maintaining a strong pace during HYROX. By training at a faster pace and for a longer distance than I expect to use during the race, I can make the actual race effort feel more manageable. At the same time, the strength movements force me to continue producing power when my cardiovascular system is already working hard.

I particularly like Bulgarian split squats because they help me develop strength that transfers to movements such as the HYROX lunges. I also keep wall balls at the end of the circuit because I want to practice them while fatigued. Wall balls are one of those movements that can become extremely difficult late in a race, so I want my body to know what it feels like to perform them when I have already done a significant amount of work.

Workout three: run more

The third workout is probably the simplest, but it may also be my favorite. I run more.

That might sound almost too obvious, but running makes up a huge portion of HYROX. You are repeatedly running 1,000 meter segments between functional fitness stations, which means your ability to run efficiently can have a massive impact on your overall time. If you want to get better at running during HYROX, you need to actually spend time running.

Right now, I am running around 30 miles per week and may increase that to approximately 35. Most of my running is in zone two, with some zone three and zone four work mixed in. My goal is not for every run to be hard. In fact, I think one of the biggest mistakes you can make is believing that every training session needs to push you to your limit.

Running more gives me a larger aerobic base and makes the race distance feel less intimidating. HYROX includes roughly 4.9 miles of running, so when I am already accustomed to running 30 miles in a week, those race segments represent a much smaller portion of my overall running volume. The more comfortable I become with running, the easier it is to focus on maintaining my pace while dealing with the functional movements.

You do not need to suddenly start running 30 miles per week. I am an ultra runner, so my training volume is different from what may make sense for you. If you currently do not run, start with a manageable amount. You might go from zero running to one day per week, or from one day per week to three. You might start with five miles per week and gradually build from there. The important thing is to find a level of running that fits your current fitness and progressively develop your capacity.

How I am using these workouts to get faster

What I like about these three HYROX workouts is that each one solves a different problem. The first teaches me how to combine running with functional movements at race pace. The second teaches me how to produce strength while my cardiovascular system is already working hard. The third builds the running capacity that supports everything else.

I also do not want to overlook the importance of recovery and progression. There is a temptation in HYROX training to constantly add more weight, more repetitions, more intensity, or more workouts. I have found that being strategic is much more useful than simply doing more. I want to know why I am adding something and what adaptation I am trying to create.

That is also why I pay attention to my heart rate zones. If I can perform the same amount of work at a lower relative effort, that is progress. If I can run faster while staying in the same zone, that is progress. If I can complete wall balls after a hard run and maintain good technique, that is progress. Those improvements may not always feel dramatic during an individual workout, but they can add up significantly on race day.

You do not have to train harder to get faster

The biggest lesson I have taken from this training block is that getting faster at HYROX is not necessarily about destroying yourself in every workout. It is about becoming more efficient.

I cut approximately two and a half minutes from my HYROX time in less than eight weeks while being sick and traveling. That experience reinforced my belief that the quality and purpose of training matter enormously. I focused on spending more time working in the zones that matter for HYROX, practicing the transitions that challenge me, building strength under fatigue, and increasing my running volume.

If you are training for HYROX, take these workouts as ideas rather than rules. Adjust the distances, repetitions, weights, and running volume to match your current ability. Start where you are, build gradually, and give your body time to adapt. You do not need to replicate my training exactly to benefit from the principles behind it.

The goal is to become the kind of athlete who can run fast, move efficiently, handle the functional stations, and still have something left when the wall balls arrive. That is what I am working toward, and these 3 HYROX workouts helping me get faster are a major part of that process.

DISCLAIMER: THIS INFORMATION IS MY OPINION AND IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER. PLEASE CONSULT A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER FOR GUIDANCE SPECIFIC TO YOUR CASE.