Last Friday, my fellow Lifehacker writer Beth Skwarecki (a weightlifter) and I (a runner) completed a Hyrox race with far less than the recommended amount of training. We came out the other side with a final time of 01:36:48—and a lot of opinions about which stations nearly broke us. Let’s take a look at our personal rankings of the nine different movements that Hyrox demands.
View this post on InstagramHow we're analyzing our Hyrox performance
In the doubles format, we both had to do the runs together, but could divide the work at the stations any way we liked. That means that during the stations, we each got short rest breaks while the other worked. Our average heart rate for each station includes both the working and resting time.
Meredith in purple; Beth in blue. Credit: Beth SkwareckiBeth: Max 180, average 172
What to watch out for: technique. There’s a way to use your hips and core to power the movement, rather than just yanking on the cords with your arms. This is definitely worth practicing. A cue I liked was: "Throw your chest to the floor.”
Beth and I are aligned on this one. Looking at our heart rate data, neither of us spiked dramatically, which puts the ski erg firmly in the “most survivable” category.
Sled push
I liked this one and found it pretty easy.
Meredith: Max 181, average 149
Beth: Max 193, average 179
What to watch out for: rope management. You don’t want to give yourself a pile of rope to trip over, and you get a penalty if you impede someone else, so we carefully kept the rope at the side of our lane and spilling out the back. There was no divider between us and our neighbor, though, so it was always kind of in the way. Take time to practice how you’ll manage your rope.
I’m thanking my lucky stars I had Coach Beth here. This was the most daunting station in my training, but Beth’s strategy made it dramatically easier. To fellow runners who think this looks like a crazy bicep workout: It doesn’t have to be. You just need to learn how to power the movement from your lower body instead.
Burpee broad jumps
This was the worst. If I could ban one station from all of Hyrox, it would be these damn burpees.
This one was so difficult that it became fun for me. I think that burpees are cardio-adjacent enough that I can settle into a rhythm, albeit a tough one. Burpees are widely considered one of the most dreaded Hyrox stations, and the numbers back that up for us. Plus, it’s hard to ignore the fact that this station is in the first half of the race. I felt completely gassed afterwards, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how much we had left.
Beth: Max 186, average 176
What to watch out for: smart splits. In hindsight, I should have made Meredith take most (all?) of the rowing, since it’s cardio-heavy and I could have used more of a break.
With rowing, I got cocky during my training, and I paid for it on race day. I felt like my body wouldn’t adjust any of the form cues my brain was trying to send. My numbers suggest I was either under-pulling or pacing too conservatively.
Farmers carry
My grip strength is solid, so I wanted this to be easy, but running with kettlebells is (again!) cardio. Technique-wise, it’s very simple: Keep your upper body steady and shuffle your feet as fast as they’ll go. If only my lungs could keep up!
Meredith: Max 184, average 164
Beth: Max 183, average 179
What to watch out for: transitions. We practiced having the partner in the back grab the bag by the sides and scoop their head under. It’s a simple, smooth movement, but the front partner has to make sure to stay in place until the transition is completed.
Beth and I are aligned here, although I know this movement was tougher for me than it seemed to be for her. Both of us were working hard here, and the relatively similar heart rates suggested this was one of the more equalizing stations. Looking at my footage, I can see my knees bending inward in such a way that I’ve taken this whole week off running and am solely focusing on mobility work.
Wall balls
I was happy to get to this station because the weight is light and I have no problem hitting depth on squats no matter how tired I am. I was, of course, completely gassed by this point.
Race day was the first time I attempted this movement, and, well, it showed. I look like I’m trying to shoot a free throw—another thing I have no idea how to do, actually! Thank you, Beth, for not making fun of me here. I didn’t know it was legal to have your boss watch you flail about like this.
So which Hyrox stations are actually the hardest?
Beth’s ranking, as a weightlifter, from easiest to hardest:
Rowing
Sled pull
Lunges
Running
Meredith’s ranking, as a runner, from easiest to hardest:
Farmers carry
Rowing
Sled pull
Burpee broad jump
It seems like Hyrox is specifically designed to find your weaknesses. If you're a runner, the strength stations will humble you. If you're a lifter, the 8 km of running between stations will find your limits. Luckily, Beth and I always knew that. And somehow, finishing together with a time of 1:36:48 felt like exactly the kind of thing you can only do when you've got someone next to you who's strong where you're weak.
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