WHY YOUR HYROX TIME ISN'T IMPROVING

You've just finished another HYROX. You've trained harder than last time, added more sessions, completed more simulations and generally spent more time preparing for the event. But when you cross the finish line, your time hasn't really improved. So naturally, the answer is to get fitter, right?

Not necessarily. One of the biggest mistakes I see in HYROX training is athletes assuming that every performance problem is a fitness problem. If they're struggling with a station, they'll add more conditioning. If they're slowing down towards the end of a race, they'll increase their running volume. And if their overall time isn't improving, the solution is usually to train harder.

But what if fitness isn't actually what's holding you back? What if it's your strength, movement efficiency, ability to access the positions a particular exercise requires, or simply a technical issue that's costing you time every time you reach a station? You can have an excellent aerobic engine and still lose considerable amounts of time because you're not particularly efficient at the movements you're being asked to perform. Before we start adding more training, we need to understand what's actually limiting performance.

LET'S USE THE WALL BALL AS AN EXAMPLE

Imagine two athletes who have similar levels of aerobic fitness and are performing 100 wall balls using exactly the same weight. Athlete A has sufficient shoulder mobility and control to achieve a comfortable overhead position. 

They're able to maintain consistent squat mechanics, use their legs effectively to generate force and coordinate the throw without needing to make significant adjustments between repetitions.

Athlete B, on the other hand, struggles to achieve a comfortable overhead position. They might compensate by excessively extending through their lower back, changing the position of their arms or altering the way they receive and release the ball. That doesn't necessarily mean Athlete B can't complete the movement, but the way they're performing it might require more effort than it needs to.

Now multiply those small differences across 100 repetitions. Both athletes are performing the same movement, using the same load and potentially arriving at the station with similar levels of fatigue. But the physical cost of completing the work can be very different.

Athlete B doesn't necessarily need a bigger engine. They might need better overhead mobility, improved scapular control, greater strength in the positions the movement requires or simply more practice coordinating the movement efficiently. The solution needs to address the thing that's actually creating the problem. And if your wall balls are inefficient because you can't comfortably achieve the required positions, adding another threshold session probably isn't going to make much difference.

SO WHAT'S ACTUALLY LIMITING YOU?

When we're looking at an athlete's performance, I think there are four broad areas worth considering before deciding what needs to change in their training. These qualities aren't completely independent of one another, and most performance limitations involve a combination of factors. But separating them gives us a useful framework for identifying where the biggest opportunities for improvement might be.

1. FITNESS: CAN YOU SUSTAIN THE REQUIRED OUTPUT?

Fitness is obviously an enormous part of HYROX performance. You're completing 8km of running alongside eight stations, and your ability to sustain a relatively high output across that duration is fundamental to achieving a good time. But we need to be more specific than simply saying someone needs to get fitter.

Are you struggling to maintain your running pace? Does your output drop significantly as the race progresses? Are you taking longer than expected to recover after demanding stations? These observations might suggest that aerobic capacity, threshold development or your ability to tolerate repeated hard efforts needs attention. For example, if your running pace consistently deteriorates across the later kilometres despite relatively efficient station execution, improving your aerobic endurance and pacing strategy may be particularly valuable.

The solution: Develop the aerobic capacity, threshold and repeatable work capacity required to sustain your target race intensity.

2. STRENGTH: ARE THE RACE LOADS TOO DEMANDING?

This is something we explored in last week's article on HYROX-specific strength. If the external loads you're being asked to move represent a relatively high percentage of your strength capacity, those movements can become considerably more demanding than they need to be.

Take the sled push, for example. If you're operating close to your maximum force-producing capacity just to move the sled, maintaining output across the required distance is going to be difficult, particularly when you're already fatigued from running. Compare that with an athlete who has a much greater strength reserve. The same sled load may represent a smaller proportion of their overall capacity, giving them more room to produce force without working so close to their limit.

Of course, being stronger doesn't automatically make someone faster at every station. Technique, pacing and muscular endurance still matter, but strength can change the relative demands of the work.

The solution: Develop the relevant strength qualities so race loads become relatively less demanding.

3. SKILL: ARE YOU WASTING ENERGY?

One of the things I think gets overlooked in HYROX is that the stations aren't simply tests of fitness and strength. They're also movements that require coordination, timing and technical efficiency. Just because you can complete a movement doesn't necessarily mean you're completing it particularly well.

Take the sled push. Your body position, foot placement and ability to maintain consistent force application can all influence how efficiently you move the load. Or consider wall balls. The timing between the squat and throw, the way you receive the ball and your ability to maintain a consistent rhythm can make a noticeable difference across 100 repetitions. Even transitions matter. If you're spending unnecessary time setting up equipment, changing positions or recovering between movements, those seconds accumulate across the race.

These aren't always problems you solve by getting fitter. Sometimes you simply need to practise the movement, receive some coaching and become more efficient at executing the task. A relatively small amount of focused technical practice can be valuable when it's directed at a genuine limitation.

The solution: Improve movement execution, coordination and efficiency through deliberate practice.

4. MOBILITY: CAN YOU ACCESS THE POSITIONS YOU NEED?

Mobility is another area that can influence performance, particularly when an athlete struggles to achieve the positions required for a movement. And when I talk about mobility, I'm not simply talking about flexibility. I'm talking about whether someone has sufficient usable range of motion, strength and control to perform the task effectively.

Let's go back to the wall ball. If you struggle to achieve a comfortable overhead position, you might compensate through your trunk or shoulders to get the ball to the target. Similarly, if you struggle to reach the required squat depth comfortably, you may need to alter your movement strategy to complete each repetition.

Those compensations aren't automatically problematic, and athletes will naturally use slightly different movement strategies based on their individual anatomy. But if a restriction is making the movement unnecessarily difficult, it's worth addressing. That might involve improving shoulder range of motion, developing strength and control through the available range or working on the coordination required to achieve a more efficient position.

The solution: Improve the specific range of motion, strength and control needed for the movement.

FROM THE MARCHON HYROX PROGRAM

So what might this look like in practice? Let's imagine we've identified an athlete whose wall ball performance is being limited, at least in part, by their ability to comfortably achieve and control an overhead position. Rather than immediately prescribing another few hundred wall balls, we might introduce targeted work to address the qualities contributing to that limitation.

The important thing is that we're not trying to solve everything with one exercise. We're using a combination of mobility, control, strength and specific practice to improve the athlete's ability to perform the movement.

PART A: SHOULDER MOBILITY & SCAPULAR CONTROL

1. DEAD HANG: 3 × 30–45 SECONDS

A dead hang can be a useful way to develop tolerance to an overhead position and expose the shoulders to a controlled stretch, provided the athlete can perform it comfortably. The objective isn't simply to hang for as long as possible, but to gradually develop comfort and control in the position.

2. TALL PLANK: 3 × 30–45 SECONDS

Here we're focusing on trunk stability and scapular control, particularly the ability to maintain active shoulder positioning through the support of the serratus anterior. While this isn't an overhead movement, developing control of the shoulder blade around the rib cage can contribute to broader shoulder function.

3. SINGLE-ARM LAT ROW: 3 × 8–12 EACH SIDE

The single-arm row gives us an opportunity to develop upper-back strength and scapular control while allowing the shoulder blade to move naturally around the rib cage. We're not trying to hold the shoulder blade rigidly in one position. We want to develop strength and control through the movement.

PART B: STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT

STRICT PRESS: 3 × 6–8 REPS

The strict press allows us to develop vertical pressing strength, particularly through the deltoids and triceps. Provided the athlete can achieve a comfortable pressing position, this gives us an opportunity to progressively load the upper body and develop strength through the range of motion we're trying to improve. The priority is controlled, quality repetitions rather than simply lifting as much weight as possible.

PART C: WALL BALL SKILL

5 ROUNDS: 20 WALL BALLS @ RACE WEIGHT

60–90 SECONDS REST BETWEEN SETS

Now we're bringing those qualities back into the actual movement. The objective isn't to complete the repetitions as quickly as possible. We're looking for consistent movement mechanics, efficient use of the legs, controlled breathing and accurate throws.

As the sets progress, we want the athlete to maintain the same quality of movement rather than allowing their technique to deteriorate significantly. This gives us an opportunity to practise the skill while monitoring whether the work we're doing elsewhere is helping.

HOW WE PROGRAM THIS AT MARCHON

We're not suggesting that you cram all of these movements into one enormous session and hope that your wall balls suddenly improve. These are different qualities, and they can be developed across the training week.

Mobility and scapular control might feature in your warm-ups or accessory work. Vertical pressing strength might be developed during a dedicated strength session. Wall ball efficiency might be trained separately during your HYROX-specific work. That gives us multiple opportunities to address the limitation without unnecessarily compromising the quality of the training.

And importantly, the work should be individualised. Not every athlete who struggles with wall balls needs more shoulder mobility. Some might need greater lower-body strength. Others might need to improve their breathing, pacing or ability to tolerate repeated contractions under fatigue. The point is to identify the problem first, then select the training that actually addresses it.

This is also why we place such an emphasis on developing well-rounded athletes at MARCHON. We're not simply trying to make people better at completing a particular workout or station. We want to develop strength, fitness, movement competency and the physical capacity to continue training and performing over the long term.

ONE THING TO REMEMBER

If your HYROX time isn't improving, don't automatically assume you need another run, another simulation or another conditioning session. Sometimes you absolutely do need to get fitter, but sometimes the biggest opportunity is improving your strength, movement efficiency or ability to access the positions the sport requires.

Identify the limiter. Address it. Then retest.

Don't just work harder. Work on the right thing.