Six of the eight HYROX stations can be trained properly in an ordinary gym, and every one of them comes down to three things: the drill that actually builds it, the load to work at, and the rep standard a judge will hold you to on the day. That assumes a gym with a rower, some dumbbells and a bit of floor, and no competition sled, SkiErg or turf lane.
That is the normal case, and it is workable. Almost every station has a substitute movement that loads the same tissue in the same pattern, and the two that do not, the sled push and the sled pull, are worth a single visit to a HYROX-affiliated gym rather than a wasted training block.
The other half of this page is the half most athletes skip until it costs them. Three of the eight stations have judged rep standards, and a no-rep in a race means doing that rep again with an official watching. Wall ball depth, the trailing knee on the lunge, and hip extension on the burpee are all trainable to the point of being automatic, and the time to train them is every session from week one.
Key Takeaways
- Six of the eight stations can be trained properly with dumbbells, a rower, a wall and floor space.
- Only the sled push and sled pull genuinely need equipment most gyms do not have, and one session on the real thing is worth a month of approximations.
- Three stations carry judged rep standards: wall balls (depth), sandbag lunges (trailing knee), and burpee broad jumps (hip extension).
- Train at your own division’s load rather than a generic one. Open Men push 152kg and Pro Men push 202kg, and the gap is a different training problem.
- Grip is the shared limiter across the sled pull, the farmers carry and the rowing, and almost nobody trains it deliberately.
What Training a Station Actually Means
Doing a station is not the same as training one. You can complete 100 wall balls on fresh legs in a quiet gym and learn almost nothing, because the race asks for them at the end of 8km of running and seven other stations, to a depth standard, with someone watching.
Consider Laura, a solid runner with a 24-minute 5K who trains at a commercial gym three times a week and enters her first HYROX expecting it to feel like a long gym session with some running in between. Three kilometres in, at the sled pull, her lungs are fine but her legs have nothing left, with five runs and five stations still to come.
Laura has done the movements. She has never loaded them the way the race loads them.
So each station below is written as three things. The drill is what to do in a gym that has ordinary equipment. The load is what weight to work at, and when to get there. The standard is what a judge is watching for, or where the time actually goes if nothing is judged. Current standards for every division sit in the official HYROX Season 26/27 rulebook , and it is worth reading once before your first race.
Training the 8 HYROX Stations, One by One
1. SkiErg (1,000m)
The drill: if you have a SkiErg, do 4 x 500m at your target 1,000m pace with 90 seconds of rest, and add a fifth interval each fortnight. If you do not, the closest substitute is a rowing machine for the aerobic demand plus straight-arm cable pull-downs, 4 x 12, for the lat-driven pull. The pattern comes from a hip hinge rather than the arms, so train the hinge as well: Romanian deadlifts twice a week transfer better than any arm work.
The load: bodyweight, so the variable here is pace. Target 4:00 to 5:00 for Open Men and 4:30 to 5:30 for Open Women, and treat anything slower as a training priority.
The standard: no judged rep. The station ends when the monitor reads 1,000m. What costs you is starting too hard, because your heart rate is already up from the opening kilometre and a red-lined SkiErg is a debt you pay back over the next seven stations.
2. Sled Push (50m as 4 x 12.5m)
The drill: this is one of the two stations worth travelling for. If a prowler or turf sled exists anywhere near you, use it, and build from roughly 60% of race weight by adding 10kg a session. Where there is nothing, the useful substitutes are heavy walking lunges, leg press at low reps and high load, and paused split squats loaded on the front leg. They build the quad drive. They do not teach you the body angle, which is why one session on a real sled before race day matters more than the loads you used at home.
The load: 102kg for Open Women, 152kg for Open Men, 152kg for Pro Women and 202kg for Pro Men, and every one of those figures is the total including the sled.
The standard: no judged rep, and all of the loss is in technique. Standing upright pushes down into the sled instead of through it. Hips low, arms long, short fast steps.
3. Sled Pull (50m as 4 x 12.5m)
The drill: seated cable rows with a rope attachment, heavy, 5 x 8, plus hand-over-hand rope pulls on a sled or a weight stack if your gym has a rope. Add a grip finisher, because the pull is where grip first starts to go.
The load: 78kg for Open Women, 103kg for Open Men, 103kg for Pro Women and 153kg for Pro Men, again including the sled.
The standard: no judged rep. The time goes when the rope goes slack, because every restart costs more force than holding tension would have.
4. Burpee Broad Jumps (80m)
The drill: this is the station that needs no equipment at all, so there is no excuse for arriving unpractised. Do 4 x 20m at a rhythm you can repeat, with 60 seconds of rest, and measure the metres rather than counting reps. Then do one set at the end of a hard session, when your legs are already gone, because that is where it sits in the race.
The load: bodyweight.
The standard: this one is judged. Chest to the floor at the bottom, full hip extension at the top of the jump, and a two-footed take-off and landing. A judge will no-rep an incomplete hip lockout, which is exactly the thing that degrades when you are tired. Practise the lockout on every single rep in training so it survives fatigue.
5. Rowing (1,000m)
The drill: most gyms have a rower, so this is the cheapest station to train well. Do 5 x 500m at your target split with 90 seconds of rest, and one weekly 2,000m continuous piece to build the aerobic side. Sequence every stroke legs, then back, then arms.
The load: bodyweight, and the number to chase is a split. Working towards a sub-1:55 per 500m in training gives you room on race day.
The standard: no judged rep. The loss here is pacing. Rowing arrives at the halfway point of the race with three kilometres and three stations still to come, so anything you spend making up time comes straight back out of the next run.
6. Farmers Carry (200m)
The drill: carries at race weight for distance, broken into 4 x 50m, twice a week. Then train grip separately, because that is the actual limiter: dead hangs to failure, and static holds at race weight for 60 seconds building to 90.
The load: 2 x 16kg for Open Women, 2 x 24kg for Open Men, 2 x 24kg for Pro Women and 2 x 32kg for Pro Men. Dumbbells or kettlebells at the same weight are a fine substitute, though the handle thickness differs and the real handles are harder.
The standard: no judged rep. You may set the handles down, and a planned stop at the turnaround costs you a few seconds where grinding to failure costs you a minute and the station after it.
7. Sandbag Lunges (100m)
The drill: 4 x 25m at race weight, walking lunges, with the bag in the position you plan to race in. Train the front-rack and the bear-hug carry and pick one, because they breathe differently and switching mid-race wastes time. Rear-foot-elevated split squats build the strength underneath it.
The load: 10kg for Open Women, 20kg for Open Men, 20kg for Pro Women and 30kg for Pro Men. A loaded barbell or a heavy dumbbell across the shoulders substitutes for the strength, though nothing substitutes for how a sandbag shifts.
The standard: judged. The trailing knee has to touch the floor on every rep. That is the standard that quietly disappears around the 60m mark when your quads are done, so drill full depth in every training set rather than the ones you feel fresh for.
8. Wall Balls (100 reps)
The drill: sets of 25 with 60 seconds of rest, three or four times a week early in a block, moving towards 2 x 50 and then an unbroken attempt. Do at least one of those sets immediately after a hard run, because that is where the race puts them.
The load: 4kg to a 2.7m target for Open Women, 6kg to a 3.0m target for Open Men, 6kg for Pro Women and 9kg for Pro Men. A dumbbell thruster substitutes for the leg and shoulder demand where there is no wall target, but book one session somewhere with a real target before race day, because the catch and the throw are a rhythm you have to own.
The standard: judged, and the most penalised standard in the race. You squat below parallel and the ball hits the target. Depth is what fails first under fatigue, so train below parallel on every rep from week one, and never let a tired set turn into half squats.
Which Loads to Train At
Train at your own division’s weight. The gap between Open and Pro is a genuinely different training problem.
| Station | Open Women | Open Men | Pro Women | Pro Men |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sled Push (incl. sled) | 102kg | 152kg | 152kg | 202kg |
| Sled Pull (incl. sled) | 78kg | 103kg | 103kg | 153kg |
| Farmers Carry | 2 x 16kg | 2 x 24kg | 2 x 24kg | 2 x 32kg |
| Sandbag Lunges | 10kg | 20kg | 20kg | 30kg |
| Wall Balls | 4kg | 6kg | 6kg | 9kg |
Doubles and Relay use the Open loads, and the SkiErg and rowing carry no load standard at all. Every weight is set by HYROX and is identical at every event worldwide. The full table including Elite 15 and Mixed Doubles is in the HYROX weights by division guide .
Get to race weight in training by around week eight of a block, and keep at least half your working sets there from that point on. Training light and racing heavy is the most common way a well-trained athlete still falls apart at the sandbag.
Drilling the Rep Standards So They Survive Fatigue
Three stations are judged, and the standards are not hard. They are simply the first thing to go when you are tired, which is precisely when the race asks for them.
The way to train that is to make the standard non-negotiable in the gym, including on the sets that do not feel worth it. Squat below parallel on wall ball number 97 in training, and you will do it in the race. Let it slide on rep 97 in training, and a judge will find it.
Three habits make it stick:
- Film one set a fortnight from the side. Wall ball depth and burpee hip extension both look fine from the inside and are obvious on video.
- Put the judged stations at the end of a session. A standard you can hold fresh tells you nothing.
- Count no-reps in training. If you would not have passed, do not count it. The number is uncomfortable at first and it drops fast.
Where This Fits in a Training Week
Station work sits on two days of a typical HYROX week, alongside two or three runs. The rest of the week, and the order the phases run in, belong to the 12-week HYROX training plan , which sets out what each phase builds and when transition work starts.
For the sessions themselves, with sets, reps and loads laid out day by day, two sample HYROX training weeks writes out a beginner week and an intermediate week in full. Both put the station work you have just read about into an actual Tuesday.
One rule links the two. Once you can hold the standard on each station in isolation, stop training them in isolation. Run a kilometre at race pace and go straight into the station with no rest, because the race never gives you the recovery your gym session does. Set your intensity bands with the free training zone calculator so the running half of those sessions is done at the right effort rather than by feel.
FAQ
Can I train for HYROX without a SkiErg or a sled? Mostly, yes. A rowing machine plus straight-arm cable pull-downs covers the SkiErg’s aerobic and lat demand, and heavy lunges, leg press and split squats build the quad drive the sled push needs. What no substitute gives you is the body angle on the sled and the friction of competition carpet, so book one session at a HYROX-affiliated or CrossFit gym before race day if you possibly can.
Which HYROX stations are actually judged? Three carry rep standards you can lose a rep on: wall balls must be squatted below parallel with the ball hitting the target, sandbag lunges need the trailing knee to touch the floor, and burpee broad jumps need full hip extension at the top with a two-footed take-off and landing. The rest are judged on completing the distance rather than the rep.
What weight should I train the stations at? Your own division’s weight, and at least half your sets should be there from around week eight. Open Men push a 152kg sled and Pro Men push 202kg, so a generic “heavy sled” session prepares you for neither. Use the division table above and check it against the current rulebook before your race.
Which station should I train first if I only have time for one? Wall balls. They carry the highest time variance across athletes, they are judged on depth, they arrive last when you are most tired, and they need nothing more than a ball and a wall.
Do I need to train at a HYROX-affiliated gym? No. A standard commercial gym with a rower, dumbbells, a wall target and floor space covers six of the eight stations properly. The sled push and sled pull are the exception, and they justify a single visit rather than a change of membership.
How do I train grip for HYROX? Twice a week, deliberately, because grip limits the sled pull, the farmers carry and the rowing at once. Dead hangs to failure and static farmers holds at race weight for 60 to 90 seconds are enough, and both fit at the end of a session you are already doing.
The Habits That Hold Up on Race Day
The athletes who perform best at a first HYROX trained each station at the load the race actually uses, drilled the three judged standards until they held under fatigue, and stopped practising the stations in isolation somewhere around the halfway point of their block.
Start with the drills above at technique load. Get to race weight by week eight. Film a set a fortnight. Then put the stations behind a kilometre of running and find out what they really cost you.
For a HYROX block built around your race date, your equipment and the days you can actually train, meet your Kracey coach . It reads the sessions you complete, adapts what is still ahead of you, and gives you 14 free days that start when it can see your training.