Home / HYROX and hybrid race training
Hybrid racing asks you to run, then work, then run again, eight times over. Core Studio is a gym in Blackheath SE3 where that is the normal week rather than a special block. Your first session is free.
A HYROX race is eight runs of 1km, each one followed by a station. Everybody does the same stations in the same order, every time, which is unusual and genuinely useful: you can train for it precisely, because you know exactly what is coming.
The hard part is rarely any single station. It is doing the eighth run on legs that have just done 100m of sandbag lunges, and still having something left for wall balls.
Weights differ between the Open and Pro divisions, and between the doubles and relay formats. Standards get revised, so check the official race site for the current numbers before you enter.
| # | Station | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SkiErg | 1,000m |
| 2 | Sled push | 50m |
| 3 | Sled pull | 50m |
| 4 | Burpee broad jumps | 80m |
| 5 | Row | 1,000m |
| 6 | Farmers carry | 200m |
| 7 | Sandbag lunges | 100m |
| 8 | Wall balls | 75 or 100 reps |
Each station follows a 1km run. Eight runs, 8km in total.
We are not going to pretend there is a secret method. Hybrid racing rewards a fairly unglamorous combination of running, carrying heavy things, and being able to keep going when you would rather stop. That is what these sessions build.
Forty five minutes of conditioning. This is the side of racing that decides your finish time more than anything else, and the session most directly aimed at it.
Full body, lower and upper. Sleds, carries and lunges are strength problems before they are fitness problems, and this is where that strength gets built.
A block of ten sessions built around a race date. If you have entered something and want a plan rather than a guess, this is the honest answer.
Paul, one of the coaches here, runs his own hybrid race. By-Athena put on The Urban Engine, and its pitch is the opposite of the one you have just read about: no run, more fun. Eight stations, back to back, and not a single kilometre of running in sight.
It is split timed, you can enter as a single, a pair or a trio, and there is a half distance option if the full one looks like a lot. Most people finish somewhere between forty five and seventy five minutes.
Saturday 20 February 2027, at the Bussey Building in Copeland Park, Peckham. Entries were from around £70 when we last looked, and there is live music and a crowd, which changes how the last station feels.
| # | Station | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erg bike | 3,000m |
| 2 | Sled push | 100m |
| 3 | SkiErg | 1,500m |
| 4 | Burpee jumps | 100m |
| 5 | Row | 1,500m |
| 6 | Walking lunges | 100m |
| 7 | Assault bike | 100 calories |
| 8 | Wall balls | 100 reps |
Half distance racers cover half of each. Weights and standards vary by division, so check the rulebook on the By-Athena site before entering.
HYROX is the one most people have heard of, but it is no longer the only option. DEKA, Deadly Dozen, TRYKA and ATHX all run their own take on the same idea: a fixed course of running and functional stations, scored on time, open to ordinary people rather than only to athletes.
The specifics differ and the training does not change much. Build an engine, get strong at carrying and pushing, and learn to pace. We will happily help you prepare for any of them, and tell you if we think a different one suits you better.
Come and do a session before you decide anything. No card details, nothing to sign, and you can tell us what you have entered or what you are thinking about.
Book My Free ClassNo, it is a sensible place to start. Most people who come to us for this have entered a race first and worked backwards from the date. You do not need a background in it. You need somebody to look at what the race asks for, look at what you can currently do, and close the gap in the time available.
No. Running under fatigue is a skill in itself, and almost nobody arrives with it. What matters more is being honest about where your running is now, because that decides how much of your training goes into it.
The earlier the better, but twelve weeks is a reasonable block if you already train. Less than that and the work shifts towards pacing and managing the course rather than building fitness. Tell us your race date and we will tell you honestly what is realistic.
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. We are not an affiliated HYROX Training Club and we are not connected to the organisers. We are a gym in Blackheath that trains people for the race, which is a different thing and worth being clear about.
No. The work itself, running, carrying, pushing, pulling and holding form while tired, is useful whether or not you ever pin a number on. Plenty of members train this way because they enjoy it.
Your first class is free. After that a single class is £20, The Core Membership is £149.99 a month for every class on the timetable, and a block of ten personal training sessions is £400, valid for three months.
7 Delacourt Road, Blackheath, London SE3 8XA, a few minutes from Blackheath station with free street parking outside. We are open Monday to Saturday.
Core Studio is an independent gym in Blackheath. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by HYROX, DEKA, Deadly Dozen, TRYKA or ATHX, and we are not an official HYROX Training Club. Those names are the trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to describe the races we help people prepare for. Always check the official race website for current rules, standards and entry details.