At the HYROX event, the players ran out of the starting area. Photo provided by interviewee
Recently, a sport called HYROX (indoor fitness running event) has become popular.
HYROX is a mixed physical fitness competition that combines running and functional training. Its standard competition format is that contestants must complete eight 1-kilometer runs in sequence, and complete a fixed functional training program after each run. The whole process includes a total of 8 kilometers of running and 8 training programs. The 8 fixed functional training programs are ski machine, sled push, sled pull, burpee long jump, rowing machine, farmer’s walk, weight-bearing lunge squat and medicine ball throw.
In July this year, the State Council issued the “National Fitness Plan (2026—2030)” to carry out a variety of crowd events. Originating in Germany, HYROX entered China only two years ago and quickly caught fire among the young fitness crowd, becoming an emerging popular track for national fitness. Why is HYROX suddenly popular? How does it benefit ordinary people compared to traditional fitness methods, and can it be promoted nationwide? The reporter conducted the interview.
Fitness movements are like “doing farm work”, giving you a strong sense of accomplishment
The reporter recently visited a gym located in Tongzhou District, Beijing. This is a training center officially authorized by HYROX.
Venue coach Wang Yuan said that compared with pure running or strength training, HYROX uses a variety of events to alternate, making the training rhythm richer and more challenging. Therefore, there are certain requirements for participants’ cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength, physical coordination and willpower. This sport offers both individual challenges and a team atmosphere. During training, everyone will adjust the weight and speed based on their own foundation, encourage each other, and persevere together. “Students like this sport, on the one hand, because the training content is diverse and it is not easy to get bored; on the other hand, they can get a more intuitive sense of accomplishment every time they complete a project.” Wang Yuan said.
Pushing a sled is like plowing, a farmer walking is like carrying a load, and the rowing machine is like fetching water…HYROX is ridiculed by participants as spending money to “do farm work.” However, in fact, after experiencing the course, reporters found that many equipment training seems to be just the basic movements of simple pushing, pulling, and walking. In fact, it requires the coordinated efforts of multiple muscles in the legs, waist, abdomen, and arms, which requires high body strength and endurance. This is the key reason why many novices find it difficult to experience it.
The reporter was deeply impressed by the atmosphere in the venue – during the training process, music, passwords and cheers were heard throughout the training process. Even if the trainees were not familiar with each other, they would take the initiative to encourage each other.
“There are more and more people participating in this sport. Our venues have classes scheduled almost every day, and each class can accommodate up to 12 people at the same time. Events are frequently scheduled during this period, and most popular time periods are almost full.” Wang Yuan said.
On September 10, the HYROX Beijing event was held, with 12,000 registrations. Beijing fitness coach Dagang is one of them. Talking about why he wanted to participate in HYROX, he mentioned two reasons to reporters: First, HYROX provides clear “global rankings” and standardized assessments, turning the usual loose fitness into targeted “preparation”; second, it has a unique sense of accomplishment and atmosphere.
“The ceremony of ringing the gong at the end of the race was very strong, and the atmosphere was as lively as a ‘school sports meeting’.” Dagang said that after completing the training, he could reap the sense of accomplishment brought by his physical breakthrough.
“The fundamental reason why HYROX has become popular is that more and more people are exercising.” Yuan Fang, general manager of HYROX China, said that the increasingly strong sports atmosphere and the continuously increasing health awareness have provided fertile ground for this sport to quickly break out of the circle.
At present, HYROX’s event territory has covered many domestic cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Sanya, etc., and the number of authorized cooperative gyms has grown rapidly from more than 10 in early 2024 to more than 700 this year. The industry expansion momentum is very rapid.
Intermittent exercise can improve cardiorespiratory endurance
This sport consists of a one-kilometer run alternating with 8 other training exercises. Pictures generated by AI modification
Xu Shunlin, chief physician of the Department of Cardiology at Peking University Third Hospital, believes that in the past 20 years, the international concept of exercise in the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular fields has changed. It no longer blindly advocates long-term endurance sports such as marathons, but instead places more emphasis on short-distance intermittent exercise stimulation. The 1-kilometer setting of each group of HYROX fits this concept perfectly. Intermittent exercise stimulation can not only improve the human body’s cardiopulmonary endurance, but also strengthen the spine’s stabilization ability.
In Xu Shunlin’s view, this is the core value of HYROX: improving cardiorespiratory endurance, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, strengthening spinal stability, and improving the quality of daily life.
In clinical practice, Xu Shunlin has come into contact with many marathon, triathlon, and cross-country running enthusiasts. These people have outstanding limb movement abilities, outstanding oxygen uptake and competitive performance, but they often suffer from exercise-induced heart injuries and impaired cardiopulmonary and brain functions. They are eventually unable to continue exercising and require rehabilitation intervention.
In contrast, HYROX only provides 1 kilometer of exercise stimulation at a time, and the risks are relatively controllable; many actions are derived from rowing, sled pushing, sled pulling and other sports, which can train trunk stability. Compared with individual sports such as simple running and brisk walking, it can form a moderate and precise load stimulation on the spine, and is suitable for contemporary people who sit for long periods of time. Long-term sitting can cause muscle atrophy in the hips and lower back, easily lead to hunchback, cervical spondylosis, and increase the risk of stroke. HYROX’s action mode can precisely improve a series of physical problems caused by prolonged sitting.
To a certain extent, this matches the professional characteristics of current HYROX participants. According to Yuan Fang, in addition to the professional needs of “fitness/physical coaches” for the event, most participants are office workers, among whom there are more financial, insurance, and Internet practitioners.
Ma Jia, chief physician of the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Sports Medicine Center of Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said that the alternating mode of HYROX’s “1-kilometer running + functional training” can form a continuous cardiovascular load and recovery stimulus, allowing the body to continuously adjust energy supply and exercise intensity between different exercise modes. Long-term regular training can help improve cardiopulmonary fitness, exercise endurance, and heart rate recovery after exercise, and promote the dynamic adjustment of exercise load by the autonomic nervous system.
The threshold for participation is low and more suitable for ordinary people
Can HYROX be made available to everyone?
Xu Shunlin believes that HYROX has a lower threshold for participation and is more in line with ordinary people’s exercise conditions. Under the background of national fitness, it is a good choice for ordinary people without underlying diseases.
Yuan Fang introduced that HYROX has been positioned as an “event suitable for everyone” since its inception. On the one hand, from the perspective of the competition system, every fitness action is based on the natural action patterns of the human body, such as “push, pull, squat, run”, etc., and the action patterns themselves are not difficult; on the other hand, the event has created many groups, allowing more sports enthusiasts to find a group that suits them. Although there are heavy-weight and high-intensity events similar to the “Single Elite”, there are also 4-person relay races. Everyone only needs to complete two 1-kilometer runs and two functional trainings to complete the race, which is an amount of exercise that is acceptable to most people. At the same time, there is no cut-off time for the competition, and players can participate in the competition according to their own abilities and pace.
Currently, there are more than 700 gyms across the country offering HYROX training and competition preparation courses. At the same time, the equipment and scenes required for training are relatively simple. Those who have no foundation can gradually improve through lightweight training.
“Instead of saying that equipment is important, it is better to say that coaches are more important.” Yuan Fang said that there are already many excellent HYROX coaches in first-tier cities, but the number is far from enough. He hopes that more excellent coaches can move to second-, third- and fourth-tier cities. In addition, he revealed that HYROX is also constantly trying to expand the scope of participation. For example, it is developing a new category for teenagers, which is expected to be officially opened next year.
Ma Jia reminded that HYROX is a medium-to-high-intensity mixed physical fitness project. The fitness for participation cannot be judged solely based on age, heart rate or a single disease. It needs to be comprehensively evaluated based on personal medical history, physical condition, sports foundation and training goals. The exercise load of this event is high, and improper movement control can easily lead to injuries. Especially when bending to exert force, the intervertebral disc pressure is imbalanced, which can easily induce lumbar disc problems. Many participants often misjudge sports injuries as ordinary strain injuries, and training with injuries aggravates the injuries.
Ma Jia suggested that during training, you should learn to “exercise force” and also learn to “discharge force”, and actively control muscle contraction during the fall and landing stages to complete buffering and braking; do a good job of monitoring. In the early stages of training, indicators such as subjective exercise intensity, heart rate response, and movement quality can be used to comprehensively monitor training load to avoid a sudden increase in training volume. Once abnormal conditions such as chest tightness, dizziness, palpitations, obvious joint pain, etc. occur, training must be stopped immediately and medical attention must be sought promptly to avoid blind competition and sports with injuries.
Experts interviewed all said that HYROX is a medium-to-high-intensity exercise. If you blindly cause injuries and “recklessly do it”, the result will only be to win the game and lose your health.
“True health is judged by various physiological functions of the body, not by competitive sports performance.” Xu Shunlin believes that the goal of national fitness is to increase national oxygen uptake and strengthen muscle stabilization and support capabilities, rather than simply pursuing explosive power.
Ma Jia believes that as an emerging sports project, if HYROX is to be truly promoted to the public, its corresponding physical condition access assessment, regular evaluation and standardized training will be crucial. He suggested that the organizers could consider launching a “half-distance version” or a “lightweight experience race” next, such as halving the running volume, reducing the weight, and reducing the number of stations, so that a wider range of people can feel its charm within a safe range. “This compromise plan can not only stimulate interest in exercise without losing the fun of competition, but also help to drive a grassroots fitness craze, gradually consolidate the health of the whole people, and help build a ‘Healthy China’,” Ma Jia said.
(China City News reporters Li Xinuo and Yu Qiuchi participated in the reporting)
