You've signed up. The date's on the calendar, the nerves have started, and now you need an actual plan, not just "run more and do some sled work." Eight weeks is enough time to prepare properly for a first Hyrox if you train with intent. It isn't enough time to fix years of neglected running or completely rebuild your strength base, so this plan assumes a baseline: you can currently run 5km without stopping and you train with weights at least once a week already.
If you're starting from zero on either front, give yourself 12 weeks instead and use the first month to build that base before starting week 1 below.
How Hyrox training differs from normal gym training
Most gym programmes build strength or endurance in isolation. Hyrox demands both, delivered back to back, under fatigue, in a fixed order. That's the entire training problem to solve: your legs need to run 8km and grind through four leg-dominant stations, your grip and upper back need to survive the sled and carry work, and your conditioning needs to hold up when your legs are already gone.
If you haven't read it yet, The 8 Hyrox Stations Explained breaks down what each station demands individually. This plan sequences training for all eight into a single eight-week block.
The weekly structure
Four training sessions a week, each with a clear job:
- Session 1: Running-focused, with intervals to build speed and threshold.
- Session 2: Strength, built around the stations that lean on raw force (sled push, sled pull, sandbag lunges).
- Session 3: Hybrid conditioning, combining short runs with station work, the closest simulation to race day.
- Session 4: Long run or long conditioning piece, building the aerobic base that carries you through 8km of race-day running.
Rest or light movement on the other three days. If you're also lifting for general fitness, keep that volume low during this block; your legs need to recover for the next hard session, not fight through soreness from an unrelated leg day.
Weeks 1-2: Build the base
The first two weeks are about establishing movement patterns and testing where you stand, not about pushing intensity.
- Session 1: 5 x 800m at a moderate-hard pace, 2 minutes rest between reps.
- Session 2: Sled push and pull technique work at light-moderate load, farmers carry practice, sandbag lunges for distance. Focus entirely on form.
- Session 3: 3 rounds of: 500m row, 15 wall balls, 200m farmers carry.
- Session 4: 6-8km steady run, comfortable pace throughout.
By the end of week 2, you should have a rough sense of which stations already feel manageable and which ones you're avoiding. Write it down. That list drives weeks 3 through 6.
Weeks 3-4: Add load and specificity
Now you increase weight on the strength station and start combining movements the way race day will.
- Session 1: 6 x 1km at target race pace, 90 seconds rest.
- Session 2: Sled push and pull at closer-to-race-weight loads, 4 sets each, plus weighted sandbag lunges for distance.
- Session 3: 4 rounds of: 400m run, 200m sled push, 15 burpee broad jumps, 500m row. This is your first real taste of the fatigue-under-fatigue problem Hyrox creates.
- Session 4: 8-10km run, comfortable but slightly longer than weeks 1-2.
This is also the point to start training your weakest station specifically, twice a week if needed. If burpee broad jumps are the one you dread (they usually are), don't wait until week 7 to address it.
Weeks 5-6: Race simulation
These two weeks build the mental and physical tolerance for stringing everything together.
- Session 1: 8 x 1km at race pace, 60 seconds rest. Sharper, less recovery than weeks 3-4.
- Session 2: Full strength circuit through all four "power" stations (sled push, sled pull, farmers carry, sandbag lunges) back to back, resting only between stations, not within them.
- Session 3: A half-Hyrox simulation: run 500m, complete a station, repeat through 4 of the 8 stations at race-day intensity. Build toward a full simulation by the end of week 6 if your recovery allows it.
- Session 4: 10km run, race-pace effort for the middle 5km if you're feeling strong.
Week 6 is the hardest week of the block. Expect to be tired. That's the point; you're building tolerance for exactly what race day asks of you.
Weeks 7-8: Taper and sharpen
Training volume drops here. This is not the week to chase a new personal best in the gym; it's the week you arrive at the start line with fresh legs instead of accumulated fatigue.
- Week 7: Reduce volume roughly 30% across all four sessions. Keep intensity, cut the reps and distance. This week is about staying sharp, not building more fitness; that work is already done.
- Week 8 (race week): Two short, light sessions early in the week (technique reminders only, no fatigue), then rest for 2-3 days before race day. Hydrate properly, eat normally, and resist the urge to squeeze in "one more hard session." It will not help you and it will cost you recovered legs.
What to prioritise if you're short on time
Not everyone has room for four sessions a week. If you're working with three, cut Session 2 (pure strength) and fold a short strength block into the end of Session 3 instead. Running volume and race simulation matter more than isolated strength work when time is tight; you can be strong enough to survive the stations, but you can't fake 8km of running fitness in a single session the week before.
Gear that matters for this block
You don't need much to train for Hyrox: access to a sled (most functional-training gyms have one), a set of moderate-to-heavy kettlebells for carries, a sandbag, and somewhere to run. What matters more than equipment is training in kit that won't fight you through eight weeks of sled work and mileage. Our Hyrox collection is built for exactly this training block, not just race day, so it holds up through the sessions that get you there.
Once you're within a week of race day, What to Wear for Hyrox covers what to race in.
The honest truth about week 6 fatigue
You will feel worse in week 6 than you did in week 2. This is normal and it does not mean the plan is failing. Fitness accumulates fatigue before it shows up as performance; the taper in weeks 7 and 8 is what converts eight weeks of hard training into a good result on race day. Trust the taper. Show up rested, and let the work you've already done carry you through the course.