Two years ago hardly anyone in Middlesbrough had heard of HYROX. Now I get asked about it every week: what is it, do I need to be fit already, and can a normal person do it? The short answers are: a fitness race, no, and yes. Here is the longer version.
What HYROX actually is
HYROX is a fitness race held in big arenas in cities around the world, including Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and London. Everyone does the same course: run one kilometre, do a workout station, run another kilometre, do the next station, and so on until you have done eight runs and eight stations. The stations are always the same and always in the same order: ski erg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls.
That predictability is the clever part. Because the race never changes, you can train for it properly, measure your progress, and compare your time with anyone else in the world. You can enter on your own, as a pair, or as a relay team of four, and there are different weight categories so the sleds and sandbags match your level.
Why Mas Body Gym became an official HYROX affiliate
Mas Body Gym was the first gym in Teesside to become an official HYROX affiliate. That is not a sticker on the door. It means we train on the official equipment, in the official formats, and our coaching follows the HYROX training system. I am a Level 1 HYROX coach and Ashleigh is a fully qualified HYROX instructor. When you do a sled push in our class, it is the same sled, the same weight and the same distance you will meet on race day.
I went for it because HYROX solves the problem most people have with the gym: they do not know what to do when they get there. A HYROX class gives you a plan, a coach, a group and a clock. You cannot drift.
What a class looks like
A class at Mas Body runs for about an hour. We warm up together, then work through a session built around the race stations. Some nights are strength biased, with sleds, sandbags and farmers carries. Some nights are engine biased, with running intervals, the ski erg and the rower. Most nights are a mix. Everything is timed and everything scales, so the person next to you might be pushing a heavier sled or running further, and that is fine.
The music is loud, the coaching is constant, and the room backs each other. Debbie, one of our members, put it well in her Google review: even in a full class it feels like a personal training session, because the coach is on you the whole way through.
Do I need to be fit first?
No. This is the question I get most, and the honest answer is that the class makes you fit, you do not turn up fit to do the class. A complete beginner and someone chasing a sub-90-minute race time can train in the same session because every station has a scaled version. Beginners push a lighter sled, row for less time, and lunge without the sandbag until they are ready. Nobody is watching the clock except the coach.
If you are worried about walking into a new gym, tell me it is your first session. I will set you up, explain each station, and you will leave knowing exactly what you did.
Do I need a race booked?
No. Most people in our HYROX classes are not racing. They come because it is the most effective hour of training they have found: strength, cardio and mobility in one session, with a coach and a group to keep them honest. Some of them get the bug and enter a race six months later. Plenty never do and still turn up every week.
How to start at Mas Body Gym
You can try a HYROX class without joining the gym. A class is £12 for non-members. Book through our ClubRight system, turn up ten minutes early in trainers you can run in, and bring water. If you want to train more than twice a week, the Gym + Unlimited Classes membership is £54.95 a month and includes every HYROX class, every fitness class and full use of the gym, with no contract and no joining fee.
HYROX classes run four evenings a week: Monday and Tuesday at 6.30pm, Wednesday at 5pm and Friday at 5.45pm. The full timetable is on the HYROX and classes page.
Fuelling HYROX training
HYROX burns through carbohydrate. If you train on a low-carb diet you will feel it in the second half of a session, and definitely in the second half of a race. My rule for people training three or more times a week is simple: carbohydrate around training, protein at every meal, and enough food overall to recover. Macro Based Diet, our meal prep kitchen on the same site as the gym, cooks high-carb performance meals for exactly this, and Mas Body members get 15% off. I wrote more about eating for HYROX on the Macro Based Diet blog.
Where to find us
Mas Body Gym is at Unit 29 Metcalfe Road on the Skippers Lane Industrial Estate in Middlesbrough, about ten minutes from the town centre and twenty from Stockton, Thornaby, Ingleby Barwick and Redcar. If you have been searching for HYROX classes in Teesside, this is the place. Book your first class and come and see for yourself.
Mike Hind MBE