HYROX is the rare race you can train for exactly, because the course never changes: 8 × 1 km of running around 8 fixed stations, same order in every city. That means a proper plan is not "get fitter" — it is 12 weeks of work pointed at a known set of demands. Here is the structure I train on and build RoxDuo's plans from: what each block does, what a week looks like at 3, 4, or 5 training days, and where the data says your minutes actually hide.

What a proper plan periodizes

Twelve weeks divides into three four-week blocks, and each block has one job. Skipping straight to race-pace simulations in week 1 — the most common self-coached mistake — burns you out precisely when the plan should be building you up.

Weeks 1–4: Base

The job: build the aerobic engine and the movement patterns, separately. Running and strength live in different sessions so each gets trained properly.

• Running — two runs a week minimum: one easy 40–60 minutes, one with strides or short tempo blocks. Volume before speed; the race needs you to repeat kilometres, not win one.
• Strength — squat, hinge, carry, press. Not bodybuilding: these are the parent patterns of the eight stations, loaded heavier than the race will ever ask so race loads feel submaximal.
• Machines — one session learning to pace the SkiErg and rower. A 1000 m erg done 5 seconds too fast costs you the next run; base block is where you learn your sustainable split.

Weeks 5–8: Build

The job: weld the pieces together. This is where the plan becomes HYROX-specific — station work at your division's loads, and the first compromised-running sessions (below). Intensity rises, easy volume holds. One longer run stays in every week of the block: whatever else changes, the race is still half running.

The build block is also where you start measuring, because a plan without benchmarks is a diary. Track three numbers: your repeatable 1 km pace off station work, your sustainable 1000 m splits on the SkiErg and rower, and a station PB for each of the eight. When those move, the plan is working; when one refuses to move for three weeks, that station earns a bigger share of your week. Every weight and standard you should be training against is in the weights & standards reference.

Weeks 9–12: Peak and taper

The job: rehearse, then rest. Two or three race simulations — a half-race of 4 runs and 4 stations at goal pace beats a heroic full dress rehearsal that costs you ten days of recovery. Practise the exact station order, your Roxzone routine, where you drink. Then the final 7–10 days cut volume hard while keeping short intensity touches, so you arrive at the start line fresh instead of fit-but-flat.

The compromised-running principle

The defining stimulus of HYROX training, and the one generic programs miss entirely: in this race you never run on fresh legs after the first kilometre. Every run starts with something — a sled, an erg, 100 m of lunges — already in your legs. Runners who ignore this find their 5k pace means nothing by run 4; gym athletes who ignore it discover that strong legs still cannot run.

From week 5, at least one session a week pairs station work directly with running: sled push → 1 km at goal race pace, wall balls → 1 km, repeat. Start with two or three pairings and build toward four or five. The point is not to bury yourself — it is to teach your body to clear station fatigue while holding compartment pace, which is the actual skill the race scores.

Where the race clock goes — so that's where training goes

Training time should be distributed roughly where race time is spent. Here is how a solo race divides, from RoxDuo's split model, with each segment's target for a 1:30 finish — a solid first solo goal:

Modeled on typical solo split distributions. Decompose your own goal time — solo, Pro, or doubles — in the race time calculator.

Three things the data says about your training week:

• Running is 48% of the clock — near enough half. No station session substitutes for run volume, which is why every template below keeps at least two runs regardless of how few days you train.
• Wall balls are the biggest single station at 8.5% of the race — and they come last, on your worst legs. The two sleds together take 11.5%. Those three stations deserve the largest share of your station-specific work; the farmers carry, at 3%, deserves the least.
• The Roxzone is 7% — comparable to a whole station, and most first-timers never train it. Rehearsing transitions in your simulations is the cheapest time you will ever buy.

Bias the ratio toward your weaknesses — a runner needs more sled work than this table implies, a gym athlete more kilometres — but start from the race's proportions, not your preferences. Your favourite station is usually your best one, and your best one needs you least.

The weekly template, by training days

Same 12-week structure, three honest versions of the week. Pick the one you will actually complete:

3 days: everything is a hybrid

With three sessions, nothing gets a day to itself. Every run touches stations, every strength session ends with running. You will not maximise any single quality — you will build exactly the blended fitness the race rewards, and the plan stays completable around a real life. Recovery is rarely the limiter at this frequency; consistency is.

4 days: the sweet spot for most athletes

Four days buys separation: running quality and strength each get a clean session, the hybrid session carries the race-specific load, and the long run protects the aerobic base. This is the default RoxDuo prescribes for someone with a job, a family, and a start line.

5 days: separation and specialisation

Five days adds a second strength session, which lets you split lower-body sled work from upper-body and erg work — meaningful from the build block onward, when heavy sled sessions need their own recovery. Do not add a sixth hard day; add sleep. Above five sessions the constraint is recovery, and the plan that ignores recovery writes cheques race week has to bounce.

Racing doubles? Same skeleton, different emphasis

The 12-week structure holds for a doubles pair — the physiology of base, build, and peak does not care how many people share a sled. What changes is the emphasis:

• Running matters even more. Station work per athlete is roughly 55% of solo (both partners run every metre while station work is shared), so the run share of a doubles race is even larger than the table above — and the pair moves at the slower runner's pace on all eight kilometres. The weaker runner's aerobic base is the single highest-return investment a pair can make.
• Station work gets sharper, not longer. Your half of a shared station is closer to a max effort with rest behind it — train repeatable hard intervals on your assigned stations rather than long grinding solo sets.
• Train apart, rehearse together. Each partner runs their own plan; every one to two weeks you share a session practising swaps at race intensity. Full split strategy is in the doubles guide, and turning two sets of PBs into a race plan is the Team Sheet's whole job — it is also exactly what the RoxDuo doubles training page covers.

When to start: count back from your race

Pick the race first, then subtract. Twelve weeks back from race day is your week-1 Monday; if you are not yet running or lifting at all, add a 4–8 week on-ramp before that. The 2026/27 race calendar lists every event with dates — racing in late autumn means your first session lands in the height of summer, which surprises people every single season.

Already inside 12 weeks? Compress the base block, never the taper — arriving slightly undertrained but fresh beats arriving fit and fried. Inside 8 weeks with no training history, the honest answer is to pick a later race: the calendar is deep enough that there is always another start line one block of training away.

New to the sport entirely? Read the beginner guide first for the format, divisions, and race-day basics — then come back here and put dates on it. And before week 1, set the goal: run your target through the race time calculator so every block of this plan points at real per-station numbers instead of a vibe. When race week arrives, run the race day checklist so nothing is left to chance.

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