Most of HYROX is running. Train like it.
It's tempting to think HYROX is won at the sled. The first lab study of the race found that running took up most of the clock, and what separated finishers was mostly aerobic fitness.
In 2025, researchers in Germany measured athletes completing a full HYROX simulation and published one of the first physiological breakdowns of the race. Out of an average 86.5 minutes, about 51 minutes were spent running, roughly 59% of total time. The stations took the rest.
Two other findings stand out. The slowest runs came late (runs 5, 6 and 8), as fatigue from the stations built up. And faster finishers tended to have a higher VO2max and lower body fat, with running times tracking aerobic fitness more closely than station times did.
Compromised running
The skill HYROX really tests is running well on legs that have just pushed a sled or done 100 wall balls. That's called compromised running. You get better at it in two ways: build the aerobic engine with plenty of easy running, then practise the specific transition by alternating runs with stations at race pace.
Long runs should stay plain long runs. Their job is aerobic, and mixing stations into them turns an easy day into a hard one. Keep the compromised-running practice in dedicated hybrid sessions.
Try this week
Once a week, do a short hybrid: 4 rounds of a 1 km run at race pace straight into one station at moderate volume. Notice how the first 200 m of each run feels. That's the skill you're training.
If you race HYROX or DEKA
If your running is the weak link, the fastest gains are usually more easy running and a weekly hybrid, not more station-specific strength.
If you race triathlon
Triathletes know this feeling as the run off the bike. Bricks train exactly the same skill: running well on legs that have just done something else.
If you're a runner
Thinking of trying HYROX? Your running is the biggest part of the race. Add the stations gradually and focus on the transitions.
If you train for general fitness
Even outside racing, mixing a short run with a strength move trains you to keep moving well when you're already tired, which is useful in everyday life.
How Duravel uses this
Duravel builds every hybrid session around the race's own structure: all eight stations in race order at a trainable volume, each preceded by a 1 km run at race pace, plus a full race simulation in the peak phase. Long runs stay plain long runs.
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Educational content, not medical advice.