What is HYROX — and where do you train for it in the UK?

HYROX has done something no fitness race has managed before: it made endurance racing legible to ordinary gym-goers. There are no skills to learn, no rig, no barbell technique gate. If you can run and you can push a sled, you can enter — and that accessibility is exactly why UK gyms have adopted it so fast.

On Studiomaps, 434 UK gyms and studios now programme HYROX training, from dedicated race tracks in CrossFit boxes to pay-as-you-go classes in commercial gyms. Here's what the race is, what training for it looks like, and what it costs.

The format, in one paragraph

A HYROX race is eight 1 km runs, each followed by one workout station. The eight stations are always the same and always in the same order: SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls. Distances and weights differ by division — Open, Pro, Doubles and Relay — but the sequence never changes.

That fixed structure is the whole appeal. Unlike a CrossFit competition, you know precisely what you're training for twelve months out, and your time is directly comparable to everyone else's, worldwide.

What HYROX training actually looks like

Not what most people expect. The runs total 8 km, so it's an endurance event — but the stations are what wreck your time, because every one of them is done on legs that have just run a kilometre.

Good programming therefore drills the transition, not the movements in isolation. Compromised running — running immediately after heavy sled work, when your legs won't cooperate — is the single skill that separates finishers from good finishers.

Gymnasium Wandsworth on Wandsworth High Street runs HYROX as its own dedicated track alongside DELTΔ (strength and conditioning) and Athletica (Olympic lifting and gymnastics), all programmed in cycles rather than as random daily sessions. CrossFit Shapesmiths, in 14,000 square feet of railway arch by Clapham Junction, runs a HYROX Endurance stream among 170+ coached classes a week. In Sheffield, Forge Functional Fitness programmes a competition-style Forge HYROX track — and also runs a Legends class for over-55s, which tells you how broad the entry demographic has become.

CrossFit box or commercial gym?

Both, and the split matters when you're choosing.

160 of the 434 UK HYROX gyms are also CrossFit boxes — around 37%. They tend to have the sleds, the rigs, the ergs and the coaching culture already in place, so adding a HYROX track cost them nothing. CrossFit Huntsman in Hertford, CrossFit Chichester and CrossFit Dawn in Leytonstone all run HYROX alongside their regular classes.

The other 274 are gyms and studios that added HYROX because members asked for it. Mas Body Gym in Middlesbrough is the Official HYROX Gym for Teesside and runs structured HYROX classes up to six times a week. BARCH Richmond, a class-based strength and conditioning gym in the grounds of London Welsh RFC, offers HYROX training alongside group sessions, teen classes and post-natal work. F45 Training Ealing programmes HYROX-specific sessions within its regular timetable.

Rule of thumb: if you want to race well, the box with a dedicated track and a coach who's competed will get you further. If you want to finish comfortably, a gym class twice a week plus your own running is enough.

What it costs

There are three price points, and they're genuinely far apart.

Pay as you go. Mas Body Gym sells single HYROX classes to non-members at £10. CrossFit Shapesmiths drop-in starts from £18, and BARCH Richmond charges £20 per class, or £190 for ten.

Membership. Mas Body's Gym & Unlimited HYROX membership is £54.95/month (gym-only is £34.95). BARCH unlimited is £149/month. At the premium end, Gymnasium Wandsworth runs from around £145/month for roughly twice a week up to ~£235/month unlimited — with no contracts and 7-day cancellation.

Programming only. If you already have a gym and just need a plan, Kat Parnell in Ipswich — a HYROX Elite 15 athlete with three Pro wins and a 58:51 personal best — sells HYROX programming from £19.99/month, built around your race date.

Trials are widely available and worth using: CrossFit Shapesmiths does 7 days and 4 coached classes for £29, Gymnasium Wandsworth two weeks for £69, CrossFit Huntsman 21 days for £50, and CrossFit Chichester a free class. Current offers are collected on the offers page.

Choosing a gym to train at

Does it have the actual kit? Sleds, a SkiErg, a rower and wall ball targets. Without a sled you cannot train the two stations that hurt most.

Is there a coach who has raced? Someone who has done it will programme transitions and pacing rather than just hard workouts.

Can you run there? Sounds trivial, but 8 km of the race is running. A gym with a usable outdoor loop or treadmills you can actually get on beats one without.

Is there a class, or just "HYROX-style" workouts? A named, timetabled track — like Forge HYROX or Gymnasium's HYROX stream — is a different product from a Tuesday conditioning session with a sled in it.

For the broader checklist that applies to any gym, see how to choose the right fitness studio. And since mobility work is what keeps a HYROX block sustainable, our guide to yoga styles covers which classes are worth adding on rest days.

Where to find it

London has 49 HYROX gyms, Manchester 13 and Bristol 8, with 7 each in Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow, 6 in Cardiff and 5 in Cambridge — so every UK nation is covered.

Start with HYROX in London or HYROX in Manchester, or browse the full category.