If you’ve been on social media lately or turned on any fitness news, you will have heard of Hyrox, the fitness race that has taken the fitness industry by storm, becoming the fastest-growing fitness brand in the world.
The scale of this growth is staggering. Despite only starting in 2017, Hyrox has exploded in popularity. With over 500,000 athletes and 5,000 training clubs, its races are unrivalled in popularity. Tickets for official races sell out at a rate only Taylor Swift can compete with. Some events are selling out in 15 minutes, with waiting lists topping thousands.
While this is all great for the Hyrox brand and athletes aiming to reach #1, what does this mean for you and your gym? And is it worth adjusting your gym for?
Let’s start with the kit, what equipment do you need to facilitate a Hyrox workout?
For a complete setup, you will need: ski machines, sleds (with weight plates), battle ropes, rowing machines, kettlebells, sandbags, wall balls and wall ball targets.
Other kit considerations:
- Each station is broken up with a 1km run, you will need to facilitate this either with treadmills or a track area that doesn’t disturb your facilities' day-to-day operations
- You’ll need a customised track for your athletes to measure specific distances for each station.
- Multiple items – enough for simultaneous workouts:
- The advantage of Hyrox having so many stations is that despite a lot of unique pieces of equipment, you don’t need many as items per station, as members can rotate between stations quite easily
- The weights used vary based on gender and level, however, it’s important to consider that some weights will be more popular than others, especially for doubles competitions.
- Storage – all this kit will need a home, so to keep things tidy, we recommend planning a storage area and investing in the appropriate racks to keep things organised.
Whilst this may seem like a very long list of kit, in reality, many gyms will already stock some of these items, and on top of not requiring much space, they are also incredibly versatile and relatively low-cost items compared to a full suite of traditional cardio items or strength machines.
Beyond Hyrox, functional fitness as a whole is on the rise, so equipment like kettlebells can be used by members and in classes to facilitate a whole host of alternative workouts.
Functional cardio equipment also facilitates a different style of workout from traditional cardio machines, making them an interesting alternative for your members and a point of difference from other gyms.
So that brings us to the second challenge: space.
With new kit and the requirement of an open area for a track, how do you make everything fit?
The challenging part is the track. Hyrox requires a decent amount of open space, for sled pushes/pulls, burpee broad jumps, farmer's and sandbag lunges. If you are looking to convert an existing space into a track, you will need to redesign your floorplan or even remove some pieces of kit to facilitate this change. We have an entire article on maximising space if you’re struggling to find a layout that works. If your facility has an outdoor area, this can be utilised for the run and some of the stations.
Rowers and ski machines have a small footprint and are generally self-powered, so they can be positioned around your existing layout; ski machines can be drilled into the wall and rowers can be folded when not in use.
What about reach and pull?
As a class, Hyrox is far more accessible than alternatives such as CrossFit, requiring less strength and flexibility to get started. The standardised events and less competitive nature make it more suitable for beginners, or runners looking to gain more functional strength.
As we touched on, the global influence for Hyrox is massive, however the big question is always looming in the background: “is this just the current trend that’ll fade out in a few years?”
Given that all available UK events have already sold out and major chains (including PureGym, Fitness First and the Gym Group) aim to cater for it, we’d say it has no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Looking to get your gym in shape?
Dyaco can provide a complete Hyrox solution. Beyond just stocking and supplying all the kit, our team are experts in designing spaces, they will evaluate your existing space and work with you to design a Hyrox facility that works for you and your members. Interested? Then get in touch.
