If Running, CrossFit, and a Midlife Crisis Had a Baby (Hyrox)

June 15, 2025 | By DLake

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The moment my partner said, “I kind of want to do Hyrox,” I opened a blank doc and drew a Venn diagram.

Hyrox SZN is approaching here in Sydney so it’s fitting I did this.

I haven’t done Hyrox, but I’ve thought about doing Hyrox. Which, in fitness circles, is basically halfway to buying the shoes.

It started innocently. You know, just a few reels here and there on Instagram. Then I went to YouTube and saw a hype video. The sled push looked doable… I’m pretty good at that. Those wall balls look brutal, but I’m kinda good at that. Oh no… lunge walks with super heavy weight? Ah – Not so good at that as I’ll be super sore the next day, but I’m a runner so I can make it up.

I stayed strong, but then I Googled “Hyrox training gyms near me.” You know, just research, right for a friend, right?! Then my runner friends started doing it. Then the non-runners started talking about it and throwing up memes!

Then my partner casually said, “I kinda wanna try Hyrox.” And that’s when I freaked. Not emotionally, but graphically.

I opened a blank doc and made a Venn diagram based on all the people that I know who somehow end up doing Hyrox.

Just four circles:

• Runner
• Triathlete
• CrossFit/Spartan/Tough Mudder (aka Obstacle Course Junkie)
• Hybrid Athlete & Gym Bruh/Brah

And in the center? Hyrox.

A Frankenstein’s monster of endurance and ego. It was the only way I could make sense of it all. Because Hyrox isn’t a sport. It’s a glitch in the matrix. It’s what happens when a runner starts lifting, a lifter starts jogging, and a CrossFitter gets bored of doing those really weird pullups where they violently fling their bodies up and down (Kipping Pullups?!).

And then I wasn’t just curious…I was obsessed. Obsessed with the overlap, obsessed with the chaos, and even obsessed with the compromise. That weird middle ground where everyone is slightly undertrained and super overconfident.

And to keep it 100 — I think that might be the most real fitness vibe out there, even though I love being a specialist, there is something to being a generalist that is just pushing their body to the limit for as long as their glycogen stores can take it (60-90 minutes).