There seems to be this idea in HYROX that because the race is fast, everything we do in training also needs to be fast. It doesn’t. Sometimes the best thing you can do in the gym is slow everything down. If I give you 8 squats, I’m not particularly interested in how quickly you can get through them. I’m interested in whether all 8 reps actually did what we wanted them to do. That’s where tempo training comes in. You might see something like 3-1-X-1 written next to an exercise in your programme. That simply means you spend three seconds lowering the weight, pause for one second, drive back up as powerfully as you can, then take a second to reset. And yes, doing that properly will probably mean using less weight. That’s absolutely fine. Because we’re not trying to win Tuesday night’s squat session. We’re trying to get better at HYROX. Think about what happens towards the back end of a race. Your legs are tired, your heart rate is up and suddenly that sandbag feels considerably heavier than it did when you picked one up fresh in training. Having stronger quads and glutes that can control you through every lunge becomes pretty useful. When you’re halfway through a heavy sled push and every step feels like you’re trying to move a small family car, having spent months developing actual leg strength rather than just rushing through your squats becomes useful too. And when fatigue starts pulling your body into horrible positions, having strength throughout the entire range of movement gives you something to fall back on. Tempo work also gives us a way of making exercises harder without constantly adding more weight to the bar. A controlled set of split squats with moderate dumbbells can be absolutely disgusting when performed properly. You don’t necessarily need another 20kg; sometimes you just need to stop bouncing out of the bottom like you’ve stood on a drawing pin. That doesn’t mean every exercise should be painfully slow either. There are times we want speed and explosiveness.

Your first HYROX doesn’t usually go wrong because you’re not fit enough. It goes wrong because you make stupid little mistakes that become very big mistakes after 60 minutes of racing. Here are the big ones. 1. Going Out Like a Lunatic The music’s banging, everyone’s flying and suddenly your 5K pace feels “comfortable”. It isn’t. Start controlled. You can always speed up. You can’t un-fuck a blown engine. 2. Not Running Enough HYROX has 8 × 1km runs. Yet somehow people still spend 80% of their training practising sleds and wall balls. It’s a running race with some horrible P.E in between. Train accordingly. 3. Using the Runs to Recover This is one of the biggest mistakes. Destroy yourself on a station → jog the next kilometre trying to recover → repeat. Control the stations so you can actually RUN the runs. 4. Underestimating the Sleds That sled in your nice quiet gym might feel lovely. Race-day carpet may have other ideas. Get strong enough that the sled isn’t a near-death experience. 5. Ignoring Wall Balls Leaving wall balls until the final few weeks is brave. You’ve got 100 of them waiting for you at the end. Practise them. 6. Making Burpees Harder Than They Need to Be Nobody gets bonus points for beautiful burpees. Meet the movement standards, find a rhythm and keep moving. Efficient beats impressive. 7. Having Bag SkiErg Technique If your arms are doing everything, congratulations. You’ve turned 1,000m into significantly more work than necessary. Learn enough technique to stop wasting energy. 8. Obsessing Over Technique Yes, technique matters. No, you don't need a PhD in sled pushing. Once you can perform the movements efficiently and meet the standards, getting fitter will probably help you more than another 400 technique drills. 9. Wearing New Kit on Race Day New trainers. New shorts. New socks. New gels. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing new on race day. 10. Eating Like It’s Your Last Supper You don’t need to consume 4,000 calories because you're racing tomorrow.

“Be honest. Now answer this:Did your running actually improve? I’m seeing athletes who can ‘complete the race’ in training…But can’t run 5k under 20 minutes. Are sims helping — or just feeding ego? Drop: ✅ I do regular sims ❌ I rarely simulate 🤔 I’m not sure”