What is HYROX

Have you got what it takes?

It’s the workout that’s taken the world by storm and become the latest fitness trend, but is HYROX just a social media fad or the new best way to work out?  

According to my Instagram, everyone I know is now a HYROX athlete – heading off on weekend’s away to compete in what quite frankly looks like a death defying competition. 

Combining both running and functional workout stations, HYROX – a combo of the words ‘hybrid’ and ‘rockstar’ – has been taken out exhibition halls globally for seven years, but it only hit Aussie shores in 2023. 

Since then, events have been held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, and with the harbour city set to host a HYROX-style endurance test at the AusFitness Expo next month (11-13 October), I had to get to the bottom of what this fitness craze is all about. 

What is HYROX?

We’re so glad you asked (and can share in our mutual horror) because HYROX – self-described as ‘the sport of fitness racing that you have always been training for’ – is not for the fainthearted. 

Made up of a eight functional workout stations including the SkiErg, Sled Push, Burpee Broad Jumps and Farmers Carry, participants must run one kilometre, complete a station and then run again until all stations are complete (honestly we’re tired just writing about it). 

All events are held indoors to ensure that the race format remains exactly the same all across the world and that everyone is competing under the exact same conditions – no wind, no rain, nothing taking away from the result – to enable participants to compete globally in world championships. 

But it’s also for everyone from professional athletes to everyday fitness lovers looking to step up their training. And with four diffrerent categories to choose from – Open, Pro, Doubles or Relay – you don’t even need to be super skilled at any of the elements. You just need to be fit and ready to race against the clock (which FYI, doing it under 60 minutes is considered very fit).

Put yourself to the test

For an intro into the world of HYROX without overcommitting, this year’s AusFitness Expo will be taking tributes through drills at the hands of Steve Willis, aka Commando Steve – best known as the PT from The Biggest Loser who’s made a TV comeback as a co-host on Search4Hurt – and the show’s producer Adam MacDonald. 

“We’ve partnered with HYROX and I’ve got an idea of what the challenges are going to be, but they’re even keeping it all a bit secret from me,” MacDonald tells Body+Soul, adding that the male and female winners and runners up will also claim “golden tickets” to the fitness show’s qualifying round known as Hurt Camp. 

After that, four participants will be picked to take on a series of intense and demanding physical and mental challenges throughout the show. This season, they competed in a Backyard Ultra which went for more than 24 hours, and the Hybrid Games.  

Commando Steve says Aussies love to challenge themselves. Image: Steve Willis

Aussies love to challenge themselves

Since CrossFit hit the scene in the late 90s, functional training has taken off, first with F45 and now HYROX. Especially in Australia, where fitness fanatics love a challenge. 

“You just look at the Olympics and how small a country we are really in population and how well we do,” Commando Steve tells Body+Soul. “We love a good challenge and then putting ourselves to the clock or competing team against team or individual against individual, is something that, especially in this day and age, people live for. And it’s these types of world competitions [in CrossFit and HYRXO] that give people a reason to put their feet on the floor each morning and to get after it.” 

It’s also one of the reasons why Search4Hurt is entering its fifth season in 2025. “Most of the executive producers that are putting content on TV today try to bring out the worst in people to create drama,” MacDonald says.

“You’ve only got to look at Married at First Sight, The Block, and all that sort of stuff and see that they're just trying to create friction between people. It's that sort of car crash TV. They want fights and they want to create anxiety in the viewer so they can't look away.

“Whereas I think I can bring out the best in people and still create a level of drama by putting them into situations where they test their human potential, like their absolute limits. I just think what's going to inspire and educate the viewer of my TV show to want to book in one of these events for themselves.”

While Commando Steve claims it’s all about witnessing the willingness of others to put themselves out there and step into the unknown. “What you’re seeing is people giving their best,” he says.

“But to get to that point, the hours and the days and the weeks and the years of training to get themselves to that level is phenomenal. When other people are making the choice to sit around and sleep in a few hours here and there, they’re up doing something.” 

The HYRXO Hurt Challenge will be held at the AusFitness Expo at the International Convention Centre in Sydney from 11-13 October.

Originally published as What is HYROX