HYROX 8 Stations Guide: Order, Meaning, and What to Train First

1. The official order

In HYROX, each 1km run is followed by a workout station in a fixed sequence. The race consists of 8km of running total plus 8 functional workout stations. This order is the same at every HYROX event worldwide.

Open vs Pro: weight differences

HYROX has Open (general) and Pro (advanced) categories. The distances and rep counts are the same, but the weights differ significantly.

Most first-time athletes start in the Open category. Even so, the Sled Push and Sled Pull weights feel surprisingly heavy if you have not practiced with real sleds beforehand.

2. Station-by-station breakdown: technique, mistakes, and targets

Station 1: SkiErg (1000m)

The first station comes immediately after Run 1. It is primarily a breathing and pacing test. If you rely on arm strength alone, lactic acid builds up fast and your breathing deteriorates early in the race.

Technique tips: Rather than pulling with your arms, use your core weight to drive the handles downward. Keep your knees slightly bent, brace your midsection, and think of your arms as guides rather than the primary movers. Aim for a stroke rate of 30-35 strokes per minute to maintain a sustainable pace across the full 1000m.

Common mistakes: Starting at a pace carried over from the Run 1 adrenaline, then hitting a wall after 500m. The most effective approach is a negative split: deliberately hold back for the first 200m, then gradually increase pace in the second half.

Time targets: For Open first-timers, 4:00-5:00 is a reasonable range. There is no need to chase a sub-3:00 time. What matters most is arriving at Sled Push with your breathing under control.

Station 2: Sled Push (50m)

Not just a leg strength test. Surface friction varies enormously between gym turf and the race venue floor, and many athletes find the sled far heavier than expected on race day.

Technique tips: Staying low is the single most important factor. Grip the lower handles, lean your body forward at roughly 45 degrees, and use short, rapid steps rather than large, forceful strides. Continuous small steps keep the sled moving. If you stop completely, restarting requires a massive energy expenditure, so prioritize never stopping, even if your pace is slow.

Common mistakes: Standing too upright so your body weight does not transfer into the sled. Coming to a complete stop mid-push and struggling to restart. Wearing shoes with insufficient grip, causing your feet to slip on the floor surface.

Why it matters for your time: Sled Push produces some of the largest time differences among first-time athletes. The gap between a fast and slow Sled Push can easily be 2-5 minutes. Efficiency here directly determines your overall race time.

Station 3: Sled Pull (50m)

You pull the sled toward you using a rope, hand over hand. Both grip and back strength are tested, and the speed at which you process the rope directly determines your time.

Technique tips: If pulling from a seated position, press your feet firmly into the ground to anchor your body. Establish a rhythm of pull, gather, pull. Stack the pulled rope neatly beside you to avoid tangles that cause delays. Avoid pulling with arms only. Engage your entire back to spread the load and protect your grip for later stations.

Common mistakes: Rope tangles that force you to stop and reorganize. Grip burning out early, which then carries over to affect Farmers Carry later. Unstable seated position that prevents you from generating pulling force.

Station 4: Burpee Broad Jump (80m)

Eighty meters of burpee broad jumps. The movement itself is straightforward, but it comes after three stations of accumulated fatigue. Heart rate spikes sharply, and many athletes say this is where the race starts to truly hurt.

Technique tips: Do not try to maximize jump distance on each rep. Larger jumps increase leg strain and cause you to fade in the second half. For the burpee portion, prioritize a quick touch-and-rise rhythm rather than a controlled push-up. Aim for consistent jumps of 1.2-1.5m per rep. Steady repetition beats aggressive early jumping every time.

Common mistakes: Jumping too far in the first 40m, then having extremely short jumps afterward. Heart rate climbing so high that you need a long rest before the next run segment.

Pacing: Divide the 80m mentally into equal segments. Taking a brief breath every 5 reps helps maintain a stable rhythm throughout.

Station 5: Row (1000m)

Positioned at the midpoint of the race, the 1000m row serves as a full-body endurance section. How you manage rhythm here determines how well you perform across the final three stations.

Technique tips: Target a stroke rate of 24-28 strokes per minute. Pushing the rate too high reduces power per stroke and actually makes you slower overall. Focus on the kinetic chain: legs, then hips, then arms. On the recovery phase, consciously relax and use it as a breathing window.

Common mistakes: Jumping on the rower with an elevated heart rate from Burpee Broad Jumps and overdriving the first 200m. Pulling primarily with the arms, which drains grip endurance needed for Farmers Carry immediately after.

Strategic positioning: Because the row is performed seated, it is a relative rest period for your legs. Rather than attacking this station aggressively, maintaining a controlled pace that brings your heart rate down is usually more effective for overall race time. Think of it as preparation for the grip-heavy final three stations.

Station 6: Farmers Carry (200m)

Carry a kettlebell in each hand for 200m. Grip and core are the primary demands, but what catches people off guard is how much their stride and breathing deteriorate under load.

Technique tips: Keep your shoulders down (do not shrug), pull your shoulder blades back, and walk with an upright chest. Use shorter strides and maintain a consistent rhythm. Sync your breathing to your steps: inhale for two steps, exhale for two steps. Setting the kettlebells down and picking them back up is extremely costly for grip endurance, so aim to complete the full 200m without putting them down.

Common mistakes: Grip failing and forcing multiple rest stops. Leaning forward, which loads the lower back. Walking too fast in the first 100m and then hitting a wall in the second half.

What 24kg per hand actually feels like: Even if you can comfortably hold a 24kg kettlebell with one hand in the gym, carrying one in each hand for 200m after rowing 1000m is a completely different experience. By 100m, your fingers will feel like they are about to peel open.

Station 7: Sandbag Lunges (100m)

Carry a sandbag on your shoulders and lunge for 100m. This station tests leg endurance late in the race, and form breakdown here is extremely costly.

Technique tips: Step far enough forward that your front knee does not travel past your toes. Your back knee should lightly tap the ground without sinking too deep, as excessive depth wastes energy on the stand-up. Position the sandbag on top of your shoulders rather than behind your neck to help maintain posture.

Common mistakes: Fatigue shortening your stride, which increases the total number of steps required. Leaning forward and losing balance. One leg becoming significantly more fatigued than the other, creating an asymmetrical struggle.

Why lunges are a hidden problem station: Sandbag Lunges do not get as much attention as Sleds or Wall Balls, but 100m of lunges pushes your quadriceps to their absolute limit. If you burn out your legs here, the squat movement in Wall Balls becomes nearly impossible.

Station 8: Wall Balls (75 / 100 reps)

The final station and the defining collapse point of HYROX. Women perform 75 reps, men 100, with a medicine ball throw against a target, all under maximum accumulated fatigue.

Technique tips: The throwing power should come from your legs, not your arms. Use the upward momentum from the squat to propel the ball to the target (approximately 3m for men, 2.7m for women). If you try to push the ball up with your arms, your shoulders will fail quickly. Catch the ball and begin your squat descent simultaneously. The continuous motion should feel like: descend while catching, throw while standing.

Common mistakes: Blasting through the first 20-30 reps at high speed, then needing long rests between every rep from rep 50 onward. Total times exceeding 10 minutes are not uncommon. Switching to arm-dominant throws and failing to reach the target height. Accumulating no-reps (height failures) that add to the total count.

Pacing strategy: For 100 reps, breaking into sets of 10 with 3-5 seconds of rest between each set is a stable approach. Alternatively, 5 sets of 20 with slightly longer rest works as well. Find the set breakdown that works for you during training so you do not have to think about it on race day.

Why it matters for your time: Wall Balls represent the single largest time-loss station for many participants. The difference between a 5-minute and a 15-minute Wall Ball station is 10 minutes. After the sleds, Wall Balls show the largest individual variation, and whether or not you have practiced is immediately obvious.

3. What first-timers should prioritize

First-time athletes do not need to practice all eight stations with equal weight from the start. The priority should be the stations where time loss is largest.

• Highest priority: Sled Push, Sled Pull, Wall Balls
• Second line: Sandbag Lunges, Burpee Broad Jump
• Support layer: SkiErg, Row, Farmers Carry

For deeper analysis of these key stations, see our articles on Wall Balls technique and Sled and Roxzone strategy.

Why sleds and Wall Balls come first

The reason these three stations top the priority list is clear: they produce the largest time differences. On the SkiErg or Row, even untrained athletes typically finish within a narrow range of a few minutes. On Sled Push or Wall Balls, however, the gap between practiced and unpracticed athletes can be 5-10 minutes or more per station. If your training time is limited, concentrating on these three delivers the highest return on investment.

Do not forget about running

It is easy to become fixated on the eight stations, but running accounts for 8km of the total race. For many participants, combined running time actually exceeds combined station time. Without a solid running base, no amount of station improvement will significantly reduce your overall time. Maintain at least 1-2 running sessions per week (5-10km) alongside your station practice.

Practice the transitions between running and stations

Your station performance in isolation and your station performance immediately after a 1km run are two completely different things. Incorporate transition practice into your training: run 1km then immediately start the SkiErg; complete a Sled Pull then immediately begin running again. These run-to-station and station-to-run transitions are where much of the race experience gap shows up, and practicing them reduces the shock on race day.

4. How to structure practice

For the first 8 weeks, rotating focus areas across the week is more practical than trying to hit all eight stations in every session.

1. One session: run plus two weak stations (transition practice)
2. One session: grip and leg-endurance emphasis
3. One session: partial race simulation

If you need gym access for sleds or race-style practice, use a city guide such as Tokyo or Berlin before committing to a membership.

Sample 3-day training week

This is only an example, but the key principle is to create sessions where you never practice a station in isolation. Always combine stations with running or other stations so you experience what it feels like to perform under accumulated fatigue.

Sled alternatives when your gym does not have one

Gyms with permanent sled setups are limited. For Sled Push, effective substitutes include heavy leg press (low weight, high reps), heavy squat walks, and wall pushes (hands against a wall, driving your legs as if pushing a sled). For Sled Pull, cable rows or seated rows at high reps can develop the grip and back endurance you need. However, the actual race feel is quite different from these substitutes, so try to get at least one real sled session at a properly equipped gym before race day.

Allocate training time based on time sinks

Rather than dividing practice time equally across all stations, invest more time where your biggest time gains are. If you are already strong on the SkiErg and Row, additional time there yields small improvements. But if Wall Balls currently takes you 10+ minutes, cutting that to 7 minutes is a 3-minute improvement from a single station. Keep a training log and track your times per station. The data will show you exactly where to invest.

6. Summary

• The eight HYROX stations come in a fixed order. Understanding each station's demands and position in the race helps you train more effectively.
• First-timers benefit most from prioritizing Sled Push, Sled Pull, and Wall Balls, as these show the largest time variation between trained and untrained athletes.
• Running makes up 8km of the race and should not be neglected in favor of station-only training.
• Practicing run-to-station transitions under fatigue is more valuable than isolated station drills.
• Allocate training time based on where your biggest time sinks are, not equally across all eight stations.