How Elly, over 20 HYROX podium finishes in the Over-40 division, structures a race block. This is the same five-phase shape we write for members training 1:1, dated backwards from your race.
You raced the HYROX World Championships in Stockholm this year. What is next for a personal trainer who races?
The World Championships are always on my radar. At the moment I am actually taking a break from HYROX to reset my body. After that, I will probably aim for one of the overseas races rather than immediately jumping back into competition.
What does it actually take to reach a HYROX podium, as an athlete and a personal trainer?
For me it is really two things: endurance and strength. You need to be able to outlast the competition with your running endurance, but at the same time you need to be strong enough to attack the stations efficiently.
These two qualities have to go hand in hand, especially if you are aiming for a podium. Being a good runner alone is not enough, and being strong on the stations alone is not enough. You need the ability to maintain your running performance while still having enough strength and endurance to execute the stations well.
Which HYROX station catches first-timers out the most, in your personal training experience?
Definitely the wall balls. As a first-timer you can practise wall balls in training, but you can never really understand what they feel like when you have already run several kilometres and completed all the previous stations.
Race pace is also completely different from training pace. Even if you have hit a certain pace comfortably in training, there is an added pressure when you are racing. You have the adrenaline, you are trying to beat your previous PB, and sometimes you end up pushing harder than you intended. That is why race experience matters. You cannot completely replicate that feeling in training.
Walk us through how you structure a 16-week HYROX personal training plan.
I break my 16 weeks into different phases.
Weeks 1 to 4: I concentrate more on building my aerobic capacity, strength and movement capacity.
Weeks 5 to 8: I am still building, but I will start increasing my running volume and working more on strength endurance.
Weeks 9 to 12: this becomes much more HYROX-specific. I will work more on the engine, erg work, station skills and HYROX-specific workouts.
Weeks 13 to 15: this is where I want to push myself to my maximum in training. I am making sure all the work we have built up over the previous phases is being expressed.
Week 16: taper. At that point the work is done. There is no point trying to gain more fitness in the final week. I reduce the volume but maintain intensity, because I want to arrive at the start line feeling fresh.
What is the biggest mistake people make when they train for HYROX without a personal trainer?
They rely too much on doing HYROX station workouts without building their cardiovascular and aerobic base first.
People see HYROX as eight stations and think they just need to practise those movements. But you are running 8km around those stations. If your aerobic engine is not developed, it does not matter how good you are at the stations, because you will struggle to maintain your running once fatigue sets in.
How do you make personal training actually transfer to race day?
I like to progressively make the training harder than what they will experience on race day in certain areas. For example, I will push heavier sleds during training.
I will also make sure that when I finish a station, I practise jogging straight out rather than strolling or walking. The goal is to teach the body that the station is not the end of the effort. You have to recover while you are already running.
Most people in Singapore do not have daily access to a race sled. How does a personal trainer train the sled push and pull without one?
The sled push and pull require a lot of strength through the posterior chain and hinge pattern, so I do not rely solely on sled work.
I will incorporate movements that mimic the demands of the sled, such as standing cable rope rows, as well as strength exercises targeting the areas involved in the movement. The idea is to develop the underlying strength and movement pattern, then transfer that strength to the sled when you have access to one.
How many full HYROX simulations do you do with a personal trainer before a race?
I am probably not the best person to ask if you are expecting lots of full simulations. I have actually never done a full HYROX simulation leading into a race. I prefer half simulations.
I will normally do one full simulation close to race day, probably about a week before the race, and that is it. I do not feel the need to repeatedly put my body through an entire HYROX just to prove that I can complete one. By that stage I want to have already built the fitness, and then use the simulation to assess how everything is coming together.
How do you set personal training targets for an athlete starting a race block?
That depends on whether the athlete is a first-timer or an experienced racer.
For running, I will look at how fast their threshold pace is and use that as one of the reference points when setting their race pace.
For the stations, I like to keep the total station work below around 10 minutes for a first-timer and under 5 minutes for an experienced racer, depending on the individual and the station.
Interestingly, I use similar targets for myself. I do not want to set standards for my clients that I would not also challenge myself to achieve.
Walk us through your race week as a personal trainer, taper, food, kit, warm-up.
Taper week is about reducing volume while maintaining intensity. But the most important thing is making sure I do not get injured before race day.
For a HYROX lasting around 90 minutes or more, I do not think you necessarily need to carb-load to the same extent as a marathoner, but maximising glycogen storage can still help performance. I will aim for around 7 to 10g of carbohydrate per kg of bodyweight over the 24 to 36 hours before the race, depending on the individual and what they tolerate well.
For race kit, I am very simple. I will wear comfortable tights and socks that I have already used in training. I do not like experimenting with new clothing on race day and discovering that something is uncomfortable.
For my warm-up, I will normally do about five minutes on the bike or treadmill, followed by some mobility drills. Sometimes I will even run out of the expo area just to calm my mind and get moving.
How many personal training days a week does HYROX preparation take?
I do not think there is one number that applies to everyone. It depends heavily on the person's current fitness, training history and, importantly, how quickly they recover from training.
For me, around five training days per week with two recovery days is a sweet spot, but I would not prescribe that blindly to everyone. Someone who is already fit and experienced will need a very different preparation period from someone who is completely new to endurance training.
What changes about racing HYROX over 40, and how does personal training adapt?
Recovery becomes much more important. Sleep and nutrition are huge, but I also feel that as we get older, we need to spend more time getting the body properly warmed up before training. I would rather take a little longer warming up and prepare the body properly than rush straight into hard work.
The training does not necessarily have to become easier because you are over 40. It is more about being smarter with recovery, warm-ups, training load and how you manage fatigue.
For me, longevity is important because I do not just want to perform well in one HYROX race. I want to be able to keep competing for years to come.
