Get your Hyrox off! Popular fitness craze is coming to Dublin's RDS in November
It's one of the fastest growing events in the world of fitness
It's Thursday lunchtime in Dublin’s Hatch Place and this narrow pedestrian laneway is buzzing with smartly dressed business folk, scrambling to get their coffees and sandwiches.
Every so often, some of these bemused nine-to-fivers have to sidestep a small group of sweaty, exhausted runners, who suddenly appear, drag themselves from one end of the lane to the other, and then disappear once again.
Back into No17, a compact gym where personal trainer John Belton has prepared another form of torture for his victims to launch straight into.
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John has been tasked with getting a motley crew of journalists, influencers and content creators ready for one of the newest fitness crazes to hit the scene.
Hyrox, which began in Germany in 2017, has quickly gained in popularity.
Now taking place in over 30 different cities across 11 countries, it is a unique fitness race, which challenges every aspect of your physical wellbeing.
It is made up of 16 stations - eight one-kilometre runs, with a different challenge between each one.
With the Dublin event - hosted at the RDS from November 15-17 - closing in, John has set his students a mini-simulation.
A scheduling clash means Fitter Happier can’t make the actual race (we’ll be in London covering the Nations League game at Wembley), but we popped down to take part in a training session.
Just as there will be at the RDS, there are Sled Pushes, Sled Pulls, Ski Ergs, Burpee Broad Jumps and Sandbag Lunges - with a run between each station.
On the day, there will also be a 1,000m row, a Farmer’s Carry and Wall Bangs.
While that sounds like a lot of hard work - and it is when John Belton is standing over you - he explains that Hyrox is an event that attracts people of all fitness levels and ages.
“To those looking from the outside in, it looks very complex. And if I was to maybe critique Hyrox on one thing, it would be that their branding makes them look pretty hardcore,” John tells Fitter Happier.
“But when you get in there and you compete, you realise how everyone that is there is on a shared journey. Everyone wants to be the best version of themselves.
“They want to compete, do their best Hyrox time, they want to get through the event and it’s amazing how it runs so seamlessly.
“I could be out there running around the track and I could be running past somebody who took off 40 minutes ago, and that could be two ladies in their 50s who are walking, and they’ve been out there for two hours to get around it.
“It’s brilliant for the ego as well, because it makes you realise that no one really cares about you in that sense, it’s you versus you.
“There’s a really simple but very smart methodology to it that I love.”
Explaining the fitness requirements for Hyrox, he says: “It is predominantly an aerobic workout. You are running, so you have got to be a runner, there are no two ways about it.
“Yes, you can run-walk as much as you want. But to have a competitive time that you are proud of, you need to be able to run efficiently.
“Eight of the 16 stations are running-based. You could argue that 10 of the 16 stations are aerobic, because you have got the ski and a one kilometre row as well.
“So you need to be able to run, and you need to be able to perform simple strength-based movements, which means push, pull, squat, lunge and carry.
“They are all what we call functional. They are movements that our body can do in nature.
“It means your training becomes very exciting, because it’s not just, I need to do a 5k, so I’ll do my fast day, my tempo run, my interval run and my long slow run.
“Yes, you do all of those things to improve your Hyrox running, but you also need to get stronger, you need to be able to deal with what we call compromise running, which is running under fatigue. These are all the components to it.”
John has some advice for anyone looking to do their first Hyrox.
“So, a couch to 5k for Hyrox, I would say to give yourself closer to 12 weeks’ training,” he says.
“I think if you are going in with a good running base, that makes it a little bit easier for you, because all you need to do is get a little bit stronger, and that can be done quite simply.
“My advice to anyone who is taking on their first Hyrox is, as soon as you finish reading this article, sign up to one. It’s a great way to see a different European city or get into Dublin.
“It’s not like when you take on a marathon. A marathon is 24 weeks, six months or even a year for some people of prep and mental prep. Hyrox is just a 90-minute workout.
“If you can view it that way, it makes it a lot less intimidating.”
Red Bull are global partners of HYROX, the fitness race which combines both running and functional workout stations. HYROX is taking place in the RDS in Dublin from Friday November 15 to Sunday November 17.
Ahead of the sold-out event, Red Bull have recruited a group of Irish content creators to take it on.
The group is coached by Personal Trainer John Belton, and includes Lauren Guilfoyle, Louise Cody, Rory Martin, Nadia El Ferdaoussi and Manny Betan.
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