HYROX Simulation Workout: Full, Half and No-Sled Versions, Plus When to Do Them

Every HYROX racer should do at least one dress rehearsal. A simulation tells you what no single workout can: how your legs feel on run seven, whether your gel sits well and how long you really spend in the Roxzone. Here’s how to run one, with versions for every gym.

This guide uses advice from GOWOD, Edge, Men’s Health UK and Built for Athletes, listed under Sources.

The full simulation

Eight 1 km runs, each followed by a station, in race order and at your division’s weights:

#	Run	Station
1	1 km	SkiErg 1,000 m
2	1 km	Sled push 50 m
3	1 km	Sled pull 50 m
4	1 km	Burpee broad jumps 80 m
5	1 km	Row 1,000 m
6	1 km	Farmers carry 200 m
7	1 km	Sandbag lunges 100 m
8	1 km	Wall balls 100 reps

Weights for every division are in our Open vs Pro guide. Keep the order: Edge warns against rearranging stations to suit your gym or your energy.

The half simulation

Built for Athletes halves everything, which makes it a great benchmark you can repeat:

#	Run	Station
1	500 m	SkiErg 500 m
2	500 m	Sled push 25 m
3	500 m	Sled pull 25 m
4	500 m	Burpee broad jumps 40 m
5	500 m	Row 500 m
6	500 m	Farmers carry 100 m
7	500 m	Sandbag lunges 50 m
8	500 m	50 wall balls

Use race weights. GOWOD suggests half sims earlier in a training block or as a weekly benchmark.

The no-sled, any-gym version

No sled, no SkiErg, no wall ball target? Men’s Health UK’s version keeps the eight 1 km runs and swaps the stations:

#	Station	Load
1	SkiErg 1,000 m (or row)	—
2	Dumbbell front squat into march × 25	15–20 kg dumbbells
3	Loaded beast row × 30	20–30 kg dumbbells
4	Burpee with tuck × 80	Bodyweight
5	Row 1,000 m	—
6	Farmers carry 200 m (or 200 marches)	20–25 kg dumbbells
7	Lunges × 100	20–25 kg dumbbell or sandbag
8	Thrusters × 100	10–15 kg dumbbells or a plate

Men’s Health suggests stashing dumbbells by the treadmill so you can go straight from run to station, and says beginners can halve the reps and distances and build up. Need dumbbells? See our best adjustable dumbbells for HYROX guide.

When to do one

Who	How many	When
First race	One full sim	4–6 weeks out (Edge) or 3–4 weeks out (GOWOD)
Chasing a time	Two full sims	About 6–8 and 3–4 weeks out (Edge)
Everyone	None	In the final two weeks (Edge)

GOWOD’s warning: “Doing a simulation too close to race day risks arriving on the start line fatigued.”

How to get the most from it

1. Pace it, don’t race it. GOWOD calls it a data-gathering session: if the first run feels easy, your pacing is probably right.
2. Hold even run splits. Edge’s example for a 1:20 goal: about 4:10 to 4:20 per km on every run, not 3:55 on run one and 4:45 on run seven. Our pacing splits give targets for every finish time.
3. Time your transitions. Edge says beginners can lose 30 to 60 seconds per station, which adds up to 4 to 8 minutes over a race.
4. Rehearse race day. Same breakfast, same warm-up (GOWOD suggests about 15 minutes), same kit and the same gel plan. Our race-day fuel guide and what to wear guide help.
5. Bring a partner. GOWOD says a training partner who keeps time, counts reps and calls out bad reps makes the sim far more useful.
6. Log everything. Edge’s advice: record every run, station and transition, find the one or two biggest time losses and build training around them.

Kit that helps

A watch with lap tracking makes logging easy: a Garmin Forerunner 265 or the Amazfit Balance 3, which has built-in HYROX race simulations. At home, a Concept2 RowErg covers station five and stands in for the SkiErg. Our Amazon links are affiliate links; see our affiliate disclosure.

New to HYROX? Start with our 12-week first HYROX blueprint, and check what is a good HYROX time to set your goal.