Lessons from HYROX London: How to prepare, focus, and compete

A big shoutout to everyone who took part in HYROX London and to every club who supported a member or trainer. Fun and friendly, exhilarating and exhausting, and attracting people from all walks of life, there’s nothing quite like HYROX. Here's how to prepare, focus and compete in any competition.

Thousands of people travelled to London ExCeL to challenge themselves – some competing alone, others partnering with a friend or gym buddy as a double and some as full clubs teams. Many were trying the event for the first time, while HYROX veterans returned on mass to beat their previous performances.

One of the things we love about the world’s biggest indoor fitness race is that it is open to everyone. Yes, it’s tough, but it’s also accessible, which is why 99 out of 100 people who start the race finish it.

Anyone can do it, you’ve just got to put in the training...

Preparation is everything when competing at HYROX.

For months, gyms up and down the country helped their members prepare for the punishing fitness challenge with Myzone on hand to ensure they trained harder and smarter to optimise their performance on the day.

Clubs like CrossFit Cirencester, which had 22 members at the event.

“We spent a lot of time using Myzone in our classes, teaching members about managing heart rates and perceived exertion, how they differ, when to push and when they should hold back,” explains head coach and founder David Long. “It allowed us to give great visuals for pacing, it makes the members think a lot more about how they attack their training and the coaches can be very specific with each member on the intensity required in the prescription.” 

Being able to view people’s heart rate data during training sessions helped develop the speed and stamina needed to conquer the event’s functional exercises and keep pace with its eight 1km runs.

Pacing is critical during any fitness competition.

“Myzone is a great tool to prepare; you can see which training zones you are in throughout the workout so you can maintain a good heart rate for the endurance needed for the event,” says Chloe Swarbrick, general manager of UN1T Southwark. “HYROX is a fairly long competition - you don’t want to be in the red zone the whole time.” 

Pacing is critical to avoid crashing out of the competition. Part-time gym floor coach, Ashley Azzopardi, trains with Myzone to prepare for some of the toughest fitness events on the planet, including HYROX. It’s all about tactics, he says.

“Myzone has really helped me with my game plan for HYROX. Thanks to Myzone I know which exercise stations make my heart rate spike. The burpee broad jumps kill me, so I have to slow my runs down before I approach the station so I can get through them and keep my race time up overall.”

HYROX focuses your training.

The beauty of HYROX is that it mimics many of the functional exercises that people perform as part of their regular gym routine. And this is why John Penny, managing director of Third Space in London, is such a fan of the event - HYROX London is his third competition.

“HYROX has given all the people going to the gym something to train for,” explains John. “It’s absolutely genius for Myzone to partner with HYROX because heart rate training is one of the best ways to train for the competition. You definitely need to do some running in the red zone if you want to perform well in the race.”

Third Space has installed Myzone screens next to treadmills and un its functional fitness spaces so members can monitor their heart rate zones during their workouts.

John continues: “Whenever I see people doing lots of running or functional training in the gym, I suggest they try HYROX. They’re doing most of the training anyway, but once they sign up to event they are likely to come to the gym more, follow the programme and have fun with it.”

Start taking your fitness to the next level.

Committing to HYROX gives members something to aim for, but it can still be a struggle to find the motivation to train at times.

“I know I’ve got to train every day, but sometimes it can feel like a chore,” says HYROX competitor, Ashley. “This is when the Myzone challenges really help. When one of my connections invites me to take part in a challenge, it’s not just about training anymore, it’s about beating the person at the top of the leaderboard.”

As the first UK club to partner with HYROX, Nottingham’s H3 Gym had almost 40 members at the London event.

“We love the HYROX ethos and it would be fantastic to get 100 members there in the future,” says H3 owner Jez Kearney.

The club runs four HYROX classes a week, covering all the stations found in the event. Jez encourages all members to train with Myzone due its motivational elements.

“Myzone is a massive motivator for our members. We run regular challenges, which build healthy competition and creates banter in the club,” Jez continues. “People who use Myzone visit the gym more, because they want to take part in the challenges and they want to earn their MEPs. They become addicted to it.”

That’s certainly been the case at UN1T Southwark, too, where the Myzone-HYROX partnership has proved a winning partnership.

“Myzone users are definitely more regular than normal members as they want to get those all important points,” says Chloe Swarbrick, general manager at UN1T. “It adds another element to both our community and our training here at UN1T and really helps to take your fitness to that next level. HYROX has also had a very positive impact on our members and has pushed a lot of them out of their comfort zone.”

So that’s a wrap. A fantastic end to a hugely successful 2021-2022 season for HYROX in the UK. We are so proud to support this incredible event as well as all of our gym partners and Myzone movers who took part in the world’s fastest growing fitness race. We salute you.

For full event details and results visit the official Hyrox website.

For further information on becoming a Myzone club email info@myzone.org