The HYROX rules ask four things of you: complete eight 1km runs and eight stations in the set order, meet each station’s movement standard, use the correct weight for your division, and wear your timing chip on an ankle the whole way. Break one and one of three things happens. The rep does not count, a time penalty is added to your finish time, or a Race Director disqualifies you and your result never reaches the leaderboard.
Most athletes worry about the wrong one of those three. A no-rep at wall balls costs you a few seconds of extra work. Picking up the wrong sandbag, skipping a station or stepping off the rower at 990m costs you the whole race, and no amount of fitness protects you from it.
This guide covers every rule that can cost you time or a result: the course rules, the standard at each of the eight stations, the full penalty table, what gets you disqualified, the kit rules and how judging works. Every rule below comes from the official HYROX Season 26/27 rulebooks for Singles and Doubles , published on HYROX’s rulebook page , with the wording quoted where the wording decides the call. Where the rulebook says nothing, we say so.
Key Takeaways
- A broken rule costs you in one of three ways: a no-rep, a time penalty added to your finish time, or disqualification.
- On Stations 1 to 7 you get one warning per station, then every further fault is a 15-second penalty. Wall balls have no warnings: “it is either a rep or a no-rep.”
- Missing a run, missing a station or leaving any station unfinished is a disqualification, and that includes stepping off the SkiErg or rower before 1,000m.
- Using the wrong weight at the farmers carry or sandbag lunges means repeating the whole station with the correct weight. Refuse and you are disqualified.
- A missed run lap costs 3, 5 or 7 minutes depending on how many laps make up each 1km at that venue, and on a one-lap course it is a disqualification.
- The wrong Roxzone arch, outside assistance, littering and chalk used outside the sled pull and farmers carry each cost 2 minutes.
- Any item not on the permitted kit list is prohibited by default, and headphones, phones and cameras are banned outright.
- The rulebook sets no overall time limit for finishing, and it gives no appeal route: “All decisions of the Lead Race Director are final.”
The Three Ways a HYROX Rule Costs You
Every HYROX rule is enforced in one of three ways: a no-rep, a time penalty or a disqualification. Which one you get depends on the rule and the station, and the rulebook’s catch-all in section 12.5 covers anything it did not foresee: a movement that “deviates from the movement standards, and/or is unusual or uncommon and/or results in a time advantage will not be recognised and will result in an invalid repetition [no rep] or a time penalty.”
This table is the short version of the whole rulebook.
| Outcome | What it costs you | Typical causes |
|---|---|---|
| No-rep | The rep does not count, so you repeat it | Wall ball squat above parallel, a throw that misses the target |
| Time penalty | Seconds or minutes added to your finish time | A second fault at a station, the wrong Roxzone arch, outside assistance |
| Disqualification (DQ) | Your result: no time, no ranking, and you stop racing | A missed station or run, an unfinished station, the wrong weight left uncorrected |
The middle row is where most of the fine print lives, and the outer two are where the real damage is.
The Warning System at Stations 1 to 7
At the first seven stations you get one free mistake. Section 12.2 says racers “will receive one warning per station for not meeting movement standards.” The second fault at that station, whatever kind of fault it is, makes the rep invalid and adds the station’s time penalty, and every fault after that adds another. At all seven stations that penalty is 15 seconds.
Two details matter here. The warning resets at each station, so a warning on the SkiErg does not carry over to the sled push. And the rulebook keeps the right to skip the warning entirely: “Certain violations may result in immediate penalties without warning, depending on their severity.”
Wall balls work differently. There are no warnings at Station 8, so every fault is a no-rep on the spot.
Who Can Penalise You and Who Can Disqualify You
Judges and Head Judges can penalise you in real time for movement standards, rep counts and weights. Some penalties need no judge at all, because “many penalties are automatically detected by the timing system using chip reads”, including the wrong use of the IN and OUT arches and missing sled laps.
Only one person can disqualify you. Section 12.2 is explicit: “Only Race Directors have the authority to disqualify [DQ] a racer, based on input from Head Judges, Judges, or their own direct observations.”
The Course Rules: Order, Laps, Arches and the Roxzone
The course rules are the ones athletes break without noticing, because they happen on the run rather than at a station where a judge is watching. They are also the most expensive, since several of them go straight to minutes or a disqualification.
Start in Your Own Wave, with Your Chip On
Your start time is assigned before race day and has to be clearly visible on your arm. Starting in an earlier or later wave than your own without prior approval from the race organisers is a disqualification. Your timing chip goes on an ankle and stays there, and racing without it is recorded as Did Not Start (DNS), not as a finish.
You are expected at the start tunnel 10 minutes before your start time. Once your wave goes, go with it: waiting in the tunnel after your wave has started can cost you a 1-minute penalty.
Run Every Lap, and Count Them Yourself
The running totals 8,000m in eight segments of about 1km, and at most venues each segment is split into laps. The rulebook puts the counting on you: “Racers are solely responsible for counting their own running laps; completing extra laps does not warrant any time adjustment, and any lap screen provided at the venue serves only as a non-official aid.”
A missed lap is charged per lap, and the charge depends on how many laps make up each 1km at that venue.
| Laps per 1km segment | Penalty per missed lap |
|---|---|
| 4 laps | 3 minutes |
| 3 laps | 5 minutes |
| 2 laps | 7 minutes |
| 1 lap | Disqualification |
The rulebook’s own example: at a venue with a 5-minute lap penalty, a racer who crosses the line in 1:24 having missed two laps is credited with 1:34. Running an extra lap costs you the time it took and earns nothing back.
If you run at 4:00 per kilometre or faster, the rulebook requires you to use the Fast Lane, the narrower lane on the inside line. Everyone else stays in the wider Running Lane on the outside.
Do the Stations in Order
The order is fixed: Run 1, Station 1, Run 2, Station 2, and so on through Station 8. If you skip a station by mistake, section 12.1.2 lets you go back and complete it before you enter Station 8, wall balls, at a cost of 3 minutes. More than one station done out of order is an automatic disqualification. Missing a station or a 1km run outright, with no correction, is a disqualification too.
Use the Right Arch
Every pass through the Roxzone has a way in and a way out. Running into the Roxzone through the OUT arch, or out of it through the IN arch, costs 2 minutes each time, and so does leaving a workout station through its IN arch. These are among the penalties the timing system catches on its own from your chip, so there is no talking your way out of one. Our guide to the HYROX Roxzone covers the transitions themselves and what they cost in time.
HYROX Rules for Every Station
The station rules share a frame before you reach any one of them. Equipment and lanes are assigned by the Head Judge and their team, and “racers are not permitted to choose their own equipment or lane under any circumstances.” Using a machine, lane or wall ball station you were not given costs 2 minutes each time. And every station has to be finished in full: “Any failure to complete a workout station in its entirety will result in disqualification.”
Below is the standard at each station and the penalty for missing it. Each station also has its own guide on this site for technique, pacing and training, linked at the end of each section, so this page sticks to the rules.
Station 1: SkiErg (1,000m)
Both feet stay on the SkiErg base plate. You may jump, and your feet may leave the plate, but they have to land back on it, and while your heels may hang over the edge they must not touch the floor. When the monitor reads 1,000m, stay on the platform, raise an arm, and leave only once the judge confirms. The damper is preset to 6 and you may change it as often as you like.
A foot on the floor is a warning, then 15 seconds per fault. Stepping off before 1,000m is a disqualification. Technique is in the HYROX SkiErg guide .
Station 2: Sled Push (50m)
The sled push is four lengths of 12.5m in the lane a judge assigns you. You and the sled start completely behind the white line, both stay inside your lane, and the whole sled has to pass the 12.5m line before you change direction. The station ends when the whole sled crosses the line at the end of the fourth length.
Faults are a warning, then 15 seconds each. A missed length is a disqualification for an incomplete station. Technique is in the HYROX sled push guide .
Station 3: Sled Pull (50m)
You pull from inside the Racers Box at each end of the lane and may not step on its solid front or back line while holding the rope. You must stay standing: pulling “from a seated or kneeling position” is not permitted. The rope must stay in your lane, the whole sled has to cross the line before you run to the other end, and the station ends after four lengths.
Faults are a warning, then 15 seconds each, and a missed length is a disqualification. This is one of only two stations where chalk is allowed. Technique is in the HYROX sled pull guide .
Station 4: Burpee Broad Jumps (80m)
This station has the most detailed standard in the rulebook, and the most room for small faults.
- Chest to the floor, defined as “the nipple line making clear contact with the ground”, on every rep.
- Two-footed take-off and landing, with no more than 5cm between the front of one foot and the other. “Additional steps or shuffles are not permitted at any time.”
- No overstepping. When you step or jump out of the burpee, your feet cannot go beyond your fingertips, and once your hands are down they cannot shuffle forward.
- Hands no more than 30cm ahead of the toes of your front foot when you start each burpee.
- Cross every line with both feet. Each section starts with your chest down and hands behind the white line, and if either foot lands on the finish line you owe another rep.
Using a knee to get up from the bottom is allowed, and so is stepping rather than jumping out. Faults are a warning, then 15 seconds each. Technique is in the HYROX burpee broad jumps guide .
Station 5: Rowing (1,000m)
You stay seated until 1,000m is done and a judge has confirmed it. You may stop, put the handle back in its holder and rest with your feet on or off the foot plates, but you may not stand up or leave the seat. The damper is preset to 6 and the footplates to position 4, and you may adjust both.
Faults are a warning, then 15 seconds each. Leaving the rower before 1,000m is a disqualification. Technique is in the HYROX rowing guide .
Station 6: Farmers Carry (200m)
Picking the right kettlebells is your job, not the judge’s. They are colour-coded by load: white 16kg, grey 24kg and black 32kg. You carry both bells whenever you move, arms extended by your sides, and you may set them down to rest as long as they do not move forward when you do. The station ends when you cross the finish line and return both bells to the correct box with the handles upright.
A bell left in the wrong place or not upright is 30 seconds, waived if you go back and fix it before you leave the Roxzone. Carrying the wrong weight for any part of the station means repeating the whole 200m with the correct weight, and refusing is a disqualification. A missed lap is a disqualification. Chalk is allowed here. Technique is in the HYROX farmers carry guide , and every division’s loads are in our HYROX weights table .
Station 7: Sandbag Lunges (100m)
The trailing knee “must clearly touch the ground” on every rep, and each rep ends standing tall with knees and hips fully extended. Lunges alternate legs, and no steps or shuffles are allowed between reps, though you may pause with both feet parallel. Your front foot has to cross the white line at the end of each lane completely, and each new section starts with both feet behind the line.
The sandbag has to stay supported on both shoulders the whole way. Resting it on the ground, a barricade, your feet or anything else costs 15 seconds each time. A knee that does not touch or a rep that does not finish tall is a warning, then 15 seconds each. The wrong weight means repeating the station or a DQ, and a sandbag not returned to its area is 30 seconds unless you fix it before leaving the Roxzone. Technique is in the HYROX sandbag lunges guide .
Station 8: Wall Balls (100 Reps)
Each rep starts standing tall with the ball in both hands, so you cannot scoop it off the floor and throw it in one movement. Squat until your hips are below your knees, then throw with both hands to hit the correct target: 2.70m for women and 3.00m for men. After it hits, either catch it and go again or let it drop and stand tall before the next rep. Catching it after a bounce and carrying on is not allowed.
Every fault is a no-rep, with no warning first. Some venues use digital screens that count reps and show no-reps, but the rulebook is clear that they are a visual aid only: “The physical target and judge confirmation remain the official standard for all repetitions.” A judge may also put a squat depth box under you to check depth. You cannot ask for one, and you may not sit on it.
You may take your shoes off once you reach your target. They go under the rig, and you carry them with you to the finish, because you cannot come back for them. Powdered chalk at this station costs 2 minutes, and leaving before 100 valid reps is a disqualification. Technique is in the HYROX wall balls guide .
The HYROX Penalty Table
The rulebook ends its penalty chapter with a table of 23 codes, and this is it in plain terms, with the SkiErg and rower codes on one row. It is the page to read the night before a race.
| Infringement | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Missed run lap | 3, 5 or 7 minutes per lap (4, 3 or 2 lap setup), DQ on a 1 lap setup |
| Missed run or station | DQ |
| Station done out of order | 3 minutes the first time, then DQ |
| Wrong use of the Roxzone IN or OUT arch | 2 minutes per infringement |
| Wrong entry to or exit from a workout station | 2 minutes per infringement |
| Leaving the SkiErg or rower before 1,000m | DQ |
| Leaving wall balls before 100 reps | DQ |
| Missed sled lane | DQ |
| Burpee broad jump fault | 15 seconds per infringement |
| Missed farmers carry lap | DQ |
| Kettlebells returned wrongly | 30 seconds |
| Wrong weight at the farmers carry or lunges | DQ (unless the station is repeated with the correct weight) |
| Trailing knee not touching, or not standing tall, at lunges | 15 seconds per infringement |
| Sandbag taken off the shoulders | 15 seconds per infringement |
| Waiting in the start tunnel after your wave has started | 1 minute |
| Chalk anywhere except the sled pull and farmers carry, your own chalk, or event chalk taken from a station | 2 minutes |
| Outside assistance | 2 minutes per infringement |
| Wrong start time without permission | DQ |
| No timing chip while racing | Did Not Start (DNS) |
| Spitting or clearing your nose | 2 minutes or DQ, Race Director’s decision |
| Littering, or pouring water over yourself to cool down | 2 minutes per infringement |
| Unsporting behaviour | 2 minutes or DQ, Race Director’s decision |
The table splits cleanly. Almost every penalty measured in seconds belongs to a movement standard, while almost every one measured in minutes, or in a DQ, belongs to the course, the weights or your conduct.
What Gets You Disqualified at HYROX
A disqualification ends your race on the spot. Under section 12.4 you receive no results data, you are excluded from every ranking and award for that race, and “once disqualified, the participant may not continue competing in that specific race.” Chapter 13 adds that a disqualified racer gets no refund.
These are the rules that can lead to one, all of them avoidable:
- Starting in the wrong wave without approval from the race organisers.
- Missing a 1km run or a station, or leaving any station unfinished. That covers stepping off the SkiErg or rower early, leaving wall balls short of 100, a missed sled length and a missed farmers carry lap.
- Doing more than one station out of order. The first one costs 3 minutes. The second ends your race.
- Missing a lap on a course where each 1km is a single lap.
- Racing the wrong weight at the farmers carry or sandbag lunges and not repeating the station with the correct one.
- Outside assistance with kit. Handing a permitted item to someone, or receiving one, “constitutes outside assistance and may result in disqualification.”
- Spitting, unsporting behaviour or poor sportsmanship, at the Race Director’s discretion. Section 10.3 adds that penalties for poor sportsmanship “can also be applied retrospectively following a race”, and serious cases can lead to a lifetime ban from HYROX races.
Notice that no single movement fault is on the list. A sloppy burpee or a shallow squat costs you seconds. The race-ending mistakes are almost all about weights, order and attention.
Kit Rules: What You Can Wear and Carry
HYROX runs its kit rules as a short permitted list, not a long ban list. You must wear closed-toe shoes at all times, except at wall balls, and beyond that section 10.1 permits seven items:
- Knee sleeves
- Gloves, but not grips
- A weightlifting belt
- Wristbands
- Hydration packs
- Asthma inhalers, or similar items if prescribed
- Respiratory devices
The sentence under that list is the one that matters: “Any item not explicitly listed as permitted is, by default, prohibited.” Anything else needs written permission from the Race Director before the start, and a prohibited item is confiscated until you finish. Whatever you start with, you finish with, because handing kit to anyone mid-race counts as outside assistance.
Some items are banned outright under section 10.2: headphones, phones, VR headsets, GoPros or any other body cameras, helmets, breathing apparatus, compressed air cylinders, ear plugs, and smart or AI glasses with a camera, audio or data function. A phone is allowed only when a medical device needs it nearby, with the Race Director’s approval in advance. Uniforms and weight vests are still allowed, as long as they do not affect other racers.
Fuel and water follow the same logic. Water is available at least once around each pass through the Roxzone, and any nutrition of your own has to be on you from the start. Taking a drink or food from anyone other than an aid station is outside assistance. The water is for drinking only: pouring it over your head or body is a 2-minute penalty, because a wet floor is a slip hazard.
Chalk has its own rule. Only event chalk is allowed, only at the sled pull and the farmers carry where it is provided, and you may not carry it anywhere else. Bringing your own, or taking event chalk away from a station, costs 2 minutes.
Judging: Who Calls It and Whose Word Is Final
Each station has a judging team working under a Head Judge, and the Head Judges answer to the Race Directors, who “make the final decisions on all judging matters.” At the top sits one sentence, in section 7.3: “All decisions of the Lead Race Director are final.”
The rulebook also puts the burden of proof on you. Chapter 8 says each racer must “clearly demonstrate that all required movement standards are being met throughout the race”, and the burpee broad jump section repeats it: “It is the racer’s responsibility to make it clear for the Judges that they are meeting all movement standards.”
In practice that means racing the standard so a judge can see it from a few metres away. Finish every wall ball and every lunge fully upright, make your chest visibly touch the floor on each burpee, and raise your arm and wait on the SkiErg and rower rather than stepping off at the last metre. A rep that is legal but hard to see is a rep you are asking a judge to guess about.
What the HYROX Rulebook Does Not Say
A rulebook is as useful for its gaps as for its rules, and the Season 26/27 edition has four worth knowing.
- There is no overall time limit. The Singles rulebook sets no cut-off for finishing a race. The only cut-off in it is the date for Elite 15 qualification.
- Watches and heart-rate straps are not mentioned. They are on neither the permitted list nor the forbidden list. Read literally, the default rule (“any item not explicitly listed as permitted is, by default, prohibited”) covers them, and we have found no official HYROX guidance that settles it. If you plan to race with one, ask your race’s customer support before race day, which is the route the rulebook gives for medical devices.
- There is no appeal or protest process. The rulebook describes none. Its only word on disputes is that the Lead Race Director’s decisions are final, and that “excessive disputes” count as poor sportsmanship.
- An unfinished station is described two ways. Section 12.3 says a racer who does not finish a station gets no results data but “may continue with the race [without a final time]”, while chapter 8 and section 12.1.3 call the same thing a disqualification, after which you may not continue. Either way you leave without a result, so plan on finishing every station in full.
Doubles: The Extra Rules
Doubles teams race under the same station standards with a handful of extra rules, all of them about staying together. Both partners start together, run every 1km together, enter each station together and leave it together, and a station cannot start until both of you are there.
If one partner runs ahead, the team takes a 1-minute penalty. More than three penalties for not staying together and the team is ruled Out of Competition and gets no ranking. Every station also has its own Doubles handover rule. Two examples: at the sled pull, the resting partner stays behind the worker and may not touch the rope with hands or feet. At wall balls, the ball changes hands by passing it or letting it hit the floor, and a “flying transition” (one partner throws, the other catches it in the squat and keeps going) is a no-rep. The full set, including the SkiErg and rower handles, the kettlebells and sandbag, and the burpee handover, is in our guide to HYROX Doubles rules .
How Doubles fits alongside the other divisions is covered in HYROX divisions explained .
FAQ
The rep does not count and you repeat it. At Stations 1 to 7 you get one warning per station for a movement fault, and from the second fault the rep is invalid and a 15-second time penalty is added to your finish time. At wall balls there are no warnings: every fault is a no-rep on the spot, with no time added.
Missing a run or a station, leaving any station before it is finished, doing more than one station out of order, starting in the wrong wave without approval, missing a lap on a one-lap course, and racing the wrong weight at the farmers carry or sandbag lunges without repeating the station. Spitting and unsporting behaviour can also lead to a DQ at the Race Director's discretion.
No. Headphones are on the rulebook's list of items that are strictly forbidden at all times, along with phones, body cameras, ear plugs and smart glasses. Anything not on the short permitted list of knee sleeves, gloves, a belt, wristbands, hydration packs, inhalers and respiratory devices is prohibited by default.
A missed run lap adds 3, 5 or 7 minutes per lap to your finish time, depending on whether each 1km at that venue is four, three or two laps. If each 1km is a single lap, a missed lap is a disqualification. You count your own laps, and an extra lap earns no time back.
No. The sandbag has to stay supported on both shoulders for the whole 100m, and resting it on the ground, a barricade, your feet or any other surface costs 15 seconds each time. You may pause between reps with both feet parallel, as long as the bag stays on your shoulders.
The Season 26/27 Singles rulebook sets no overall time limit or cut-off for finishing a race. The only cut-off it mentions is the qualification date for the Elite 15 division. Check your own event's information for anything venue-specific.
Conclusion
The HYROX rules are less about fitness than about attention. The penalties a fit athlete actually takes are a wrong arch, a missed lap, a sandbag rested on a barrier, a bell left lying on its side, and the one that ends the race outright: grabbing the wrong weight. Read the penalty table, check the colour of every kettlebell and sandbag before you pick it up, count your laps out loud if you have to, and race every standard so a judge can see it.
The movement standards are the part you can train. Rehearse your wall ball depth, your lunge knee touch and your burpee landings until meeting the standard is how you move, not something you think about at 7km. Each station guide linked above shows you how.
What no rulebook covers is the build to race day, where the plan meets your actual weeks and the sessions that were supposed to happen start to move around.
That is what Kracey is for. It is an AI HYROX coach that lives in Telegram, with nothing to install. It reads your training through intervals.icu, so it sees what you actually did rather than what the plan said, and you can move, shorten, swap or skip any session by saying so in the chat. Tell it your race date and it counts the weeks back from there. The first 14 days are free, starting when it can see your training rather than the moment you sign up.