Pain, persistence and teamwork: What I learnt from my first Hyrox race

My quadriceps are still tender and forearms sore enough to make typing this story out quite an effort. But that — and a black rectangular patch — is what I get for completing (without much training) the Hyrox race that finally made its India debut in Mumbai last Saturday. 

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Hyrox, the fastest growing fitness trend in the post-pandemic world, combines the two foundational pillars of exercise — cardio and strength training — and makes a rather compelling participative sport that is as much a race as it is a test of your strength, endurance and capacity for suffering. Hyrox was conceptualised by three-time Olympic medal-winning German hockey player Moritz Furste and co-founder and race organiser Christian Toetzke, in Germany in 2017. Today there are hundreds of Hyrox races held across the globe, including one that took place this April inside Paris’ historic Grand Palais on the banks of River Seine. 

WHAT IS THE HYROX RACE FORMAT?

For the uninitiated, Hyrox, which describes itself as the World Series of Fitness Racing, involves eight 1km runs and eight workouts and people of all ages and abilities compete to finish it in the quickest time possible; people can participate as individuals, in teams of two, including mixed doubles, and in relay as a 4-member team. 

The race format remains consistent across the globe. Every individual and team does the same exercises, performs the same number of reps and covers the same distance. You start with a 1km run. Then cover 1,000m on the ergonomic ski machine. Run again and then 50m sled push. Run again and then 50m sled pull. The fourth kilometre is followed by 80m of burpee broad jumps. The next run ends with rowing 1,000m. After another kilometre of running, do 200m of farmer’s carry. 100m sandbag lunges after another kilometre. The eighth and final kilometre of the race leads to 100 wall ball shots. 

Just like Crossfit Games, the weight one has to carry depends on one’s gender and is in no way determined by the athlete’s own body weight as it happens in most Olympic sports. Also, like Crossfit Hyrox already has a whole range of apparel and special shoes designed for the race by their global partner Puma. Additionally, they are also creating a fair bit of content with a new series, called Beyond the Rox, being developed by Red Bull.

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HYROX' DEBUT IN INDIA

Unlike running events, Hyrox didn’t unleash an all-encompassing marketing campaign, choosing instead to focus only on those highly invested in fitness, especially the ones who choose strenuous and high intensity activities. So, all boot camp-style gyms, functional fitness centres, calisthenics groups, runners who go beyond mere running, Crossfit boxes, fitness influencers and celebrity trainers across India were tapped resulting in a turnout of 1,650 participants for the event in Mumbai. 

While a decent number of Hyrox’s international pro athletes traveled to Mumbai for the race, the more impressive statistic was the number of people who traveled from all parts of India for the race. I ran into trainers and exercise buddies from New Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru whom I have worked out with on numerous occasions. The race venue – Nescoe Centre in Goregaon – was buzzing with loud music and extremely fit men and women, who started in waves 10am onwards — about an hour late from the scheduled start time — all the way till the last relay participants finished around 7.30 pm. Among them were some Bengaluru FC footballers, including their goalie Gurpreet Singh, who participated in the men's relay.

AN UNFORGIVING RELAY RACE

Running a kilometre followed by an exercise sounds rather simple and doable. But in reality, the race is unforgiving. My friends had participated in the individual and doubles categories while I, given my lack of training, chose the relay. From the stands and sidelines I could see how hard all of them, surrounded by very fit men and women, were working and the pain was plainly apparent on their faces. In the doubles event, both teammates have to run together while they can split the exercise load at each station as they like. Both have to cross the finish line together for the clock to stop.

In the relay, which is what I did, each of the four people in the team has to run 2 km and perform two exercises in whatever order the team chooses. Only one person works at a time and they need to tag in the next team member in the changeover zone after finishing their run and exercise. I started for my team and managed to finish the run bit in good time but fatigue started setting in on the ski machine after about 600 metres. Luckily, my teammates saved the day and made good time in the other six rounds before tagging me in to go for the last lap and finish with 100 wall ball shots. As with the first station, I started well but as I tired I could just about throw the 6kg ball high enough to hit the target. When I thought I had finished the 100 and dashed off towards the finish line, a judge hollered at me informing me that I was one short. My teammate handed me the ball, I squatted, and threw the ball with as much force as I could gather on my way up, saw it hit the target and together we dashed off towards the finish line. 

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While obstacle races such as Devil’s Circuit and running events have grown in popularity in India in the last decade, the country lacked a world-class fitness event before Hyrox came calling. Crossfit, the once popular workout regimen now on the wane, has never once had a proper Crossfit Games event in India. This, perhaps, explains minor slip-ups when it comes to counting repetitions, which volunteers and judges do physically. There was also a small issue with the timing chip as the board showed one finish time for my team and the final time on the website was different. 

However, overall, it was a slickly organised race with plenty of equipment and treadmills in a dedicated warm-up zone for participants, a proper stand for family, friends and audience members to see all the action from up close. The registration fee of about ₹5,600 per head is slightly on the higher side for India, making this a firmly premium event. However, buoyed by the interest the debut Hyrox race had generated across the country, the organisers are going to have two more Hyrox races in New Delhi and Bengaluru later in the year. One thing that is likely to benefit first-time participants in India is a short briefing session about what the participants need to do both as individuals and as a team and how the time penalties work. For this event all we found was a long reel on the race’s official Instagram handle.

The wall ball shots alone broke me and I am still in pain. I can’t even imagine what state of disintegration my friends who finished the individual and doubles events are in today. However, now that I have tasted blood, I know I will sign up for another Hyrox, train properly, and then tame the wall ball shots and the rest of the circuit without suffering. 

Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.

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