In the world of ever-evolving functional fitness training regimens, there’s a new kid on the block, and everyone’s talking about him. His name? HYROX.
What is HYROX?
For CrossFitters worldwide, HYROX is bound to draw some interest. It’s a competition. It’s an interval-style workout. It incorporates standard movements that everyday CrossFit athletes are comfortable performing.
So, what is the difference between the two, exactly?
HYROX is a fixed workout athletes can train for with confidence and certainty. Each time you run a HYROX race, you’ll do the exact same thing, the exact same way. Think of it like a half marathon, or a triathlon — the programming doesn’t change.
CrossFit, on the other hand, prides itself on constantly varied, high-intensity movements. When you compete in a CrossFit competition, you won’t know the workouts until the week of (or sometimes the day of) the event. You must be ready for everything and anything, both on a local scale and at the national or worldwide level.
HYROX is also a much longer workout than almost anything you’ll see in CrossFit. At a CrossFit box, the longest workout athletes will generally perform is either Murph or Chad, two annually programmed Hero WODs honoring fallen veterans. Both of these workouts take athletes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour-plus to complete. For HYROX, the fittest people in the entire world will generally run the race in just under an hour. For some individuals, it could take over two. There’s a lot of running, a lot of strategizing, and a lot of heart rate/fatigue management involved to perform your best. The same can obviously be said for CrossFit, just on a smaller — or, rather, “shorter” — scale.
What’s the Workout?
HYROX breaks functional strength and endurance exercises with 1K running intervals eight separate times. In the end, athletes will run an 8K AND perform eight separate movements either individually, on a team of two (men’s, women’s, or mixed doubles), or as a relay. Here’s what it looks like:
In CrossFit, athletes can also choose to work as a team or individually. Just like HYROX, it requires a solid game plan to succeed. You’re competing against people in your own age group (there are exceptions, in some situations), and you’re always looking to bring out the best in yourself and your future teammates.
HYROX VS. CROSSFIT: The Final Verdict
So, which sport is right for you? Both CrossFit and HYROX are excellent ways to improve your fitness in a community of like-minded people. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete looking for a new challenge or someone hoping to better their day-to-day lives, both will do the trick.
A few things to keep in mind:
In the end, you must remember the goal of CrossFit: to be good at EVERYTHING, not great at one thing. HYROX is about being great at one workout, and to do that, you need to practice those movements often. If you decide to run a HYROX race in 2025, you’ll likely take note of what worked and what didn’t, then look to improve in 2026. When writing out a training plan, you’ll know EXACTLY what to work on to better your performance next year. In CrossFit, you’ll train several different movements to best prepare you for the next competition, whatever that may be.
Titan CrossFit at HYROX
At Titan CrossFit, we offer a Saturday morning HYROX class that lets athletes train the movements they’ll see on race day, ensuring we’re always prepared for anything, including HYROX. We saw several members compete in the Washington D.C. HYROX North American Championships on March 29 and March 30, 2025, including: Bri/Heidi (women’s doubles), Spin & Pat (men’s doubles), Joe & Tommy (men’s doubles), Kyle & Mark (men’s doubles), Elaine & Karen (women’s doubles), and Frankie & Alexis (mixed doubles).
We’re proud of our Titans for all their hard work. At Titan CrossFit, we program every workout to keep athletes ready for wherever their fitness goals take them. If that’s HYROX, we’ve got you covered.
