Crossing the marathon finish line in December, albeit a lacklustre finishing time, felt triumphant. So did getting back about 80% of my strength in the conventional lifts in the span of 3 months. But the Hyrox Foundational Class humbled me, revealing gaps that I never saw coming.
My Fitness Journey
My entire goal in 2024 was to improve my cardiovascular capacity by training and participating in endurance sports. I underwent a total of three training blocks for three different races throughout the year. Just so you know, I’m not lacking in the mental grit department.
After my final race of 2024, I decided to get back into strength training. As I increased the numbers week-on-week, probably due to a long layoff from strength work and muscle memory, I started feeling more well-rounded as an athlete.
One of the goals I set for myself in 2025 was to participate in Hyrox Mixed Doubles with my lovely partner. How did I get drawn in to try it? It’s all due to its format: 8x1km run with some obstacles in-between, which seems pretty straightforward to someone who runs and lifts.
So when the opportunity came to sign up for a class, I thought – since I just completed a Marathon not too long ago and have managed to get some of my strength back, how hard could this be, right?
It was really hard.
The Hyrox Class Experience
The workout consists of 6 stations – Devil Presses, Run, Rower, Wall Balls, Ski Erg and Farmer’s Carry + Burpee, 110s of work at each station followed by 30s of rest, for a total of 2 sets with 90s rest in between.
My partner and I started at the rower station. At the end of the first set, my heart rate was already at 180 and by the third station, my quads were trembling uncontrollably.
My familiarity with rowing and run did carry me through the stations, but anytime muscle endurance was required, I would crumble within seconds. Farmer’s carry made me feel like I was moving through quicksand, while burpees got me burping up my lunch.
The Harsh Truth
With the number of runs and lifting under my belt, I was expecting to do much better at these exercises. I guess what shocked me was how poorly I had done in my first session. The amount of sustained explosive power required for some of the stations and the resulting grip fatigue was shocking, to say the least.
Things start to make sense once we bring energy systems into the equation. Marathon training is mostly aerobic, as compared to the anaerobic systems that Hyrox demands of our body. The muscle recruitment tends towards muscular endurance too, which 5×5 RPE 9 bench presses don’t directly translate to.
Long story short, my body just isn’t prepared to be put through such a session. I lacked muscular endurance in every way. So much so that my leg actually cramped up during the cooldown stretches (which I also did not complete).
Moving Forward
With my struggles and weaknesses in mind, I have a brand new 16-week plan to follow. This training block will be split into 4 phases. In each phase, I will include some endurances exercises to my upper/lower body strength sessions, while dedicating more days to doing faster training runs and functional circuits.
Hyrox didn’t just test my body, it made me rethink the term ‘fit’. That alone is a win worth going for.
Zen Yi 
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