Bored with your workout? How about mixing it up with some sled pulls and sandbag walking lunges?
If you’ve been looking for a new fitness challenge, one that doesn’t require a lot of pricey high-tech equipment but still delivers cardio, strength, and endurance, then you might just be in search of Hyrox.
This booming indoor circuit sport alternates one-kilometre runs with eight different functional movements such as burpee broad jumps, rowing, and wall ball. Oh — and it’s a race, which also makes it competitive, social, and fun.
Hyrox was founded by two Germans, endurance racer Christian Toetzke and Olympic field-hockey champion Moritz Fürste, with the idealistic goal of creating an event that would appeal to both top athletes and anyone of reasonable fitness levels. (They call it “the global sport of fitness racing for Every Body.”) They wanted mass participation, so the moves are designed to be accessible to almost everyone.
The first Hyrox event was held in November 2017, in Hamburg, Germany, when 650 people competed. There are now dozens of events around the world, with hundreds of thousands of competitors taking part, as many as 12,000 in a single event. In 2024, Hyrox was named one of the world’s most influential companies by Time magazine.
Hyrox is also becoming a popular spectator sport, which is handy since its races are held in giant exhibition halls in places people like to go. This spring, for instance, there are Hyrox races planned for Copenhagen, Miami Beach, and the Paris Grand Palais, with the world championships scheduled for June 12 to 15 in Chicago.
There is so far no Hyrox race in Canada, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still do the training. BPM Fitness Centre is the first Hyrox-licensed gym in Victoria, but there are also YouTube tutorials you can watch and trainers who have expertise in functional fitness (think CrossFit, HIIT, or boot camp).
Ultimately, the point is to get moving and maybe do a few kettlebell farmer carries while you do.