EP46, Ready to Hyrox?

You've seen the videos. Sled pushes, wall balls, 1k runs on repeat. HYROX is the fastest-growing fitness race on the planet, and Juggernaut Fitness is now officially part of it. But what does that actually mean for you?

In this solo episode of Unstoppable by Design, Matt breaks down everything you need to know about HYROX, why it's become the gold standard test of hybrid fitness, and exactly how Juggernaut is adding it without changing a thing about the group classes you already love.

In this episode, we deep dive into:

• What HYROX Actually Is: The origin story, the standardized format, and why running 8km while hitting 8 functional workout stations has become a global phenomenon with over 5,000 affiliated gyms and 650,000 athletes last season alone.
• The 8 Stations, In Order: From the opening SkiErg to the final 100 wall balls, plus the hidden "Roxzone" that adds another 700 meters most first-timers never see coming.
• Why It's the Real Test of Fitness: A 5k measures your engine. A 1RM measures your strength. HYROX demands both, at the same time, under fatigue. This is fitness that actually shows up in your life.
• No Technical Barrier: No Olympic lifts, no muscle-ups, no handstand walks. Just pushing, pulling, carrying, running, and lunging. The race is accessible on day one.
• What This Means for Juggernaut: The group classes aren't changing. The coaches aren't changing. Head Coach Lis Rosencrum is leading the build-out of a structured, progressive HYROX service that fits alongside what we already do best.
• Who HYROX Is Great For: The lifter who's gassed walking up the stairs. The former athlete who misses competing. The person intimidated by CrossFit. Couples, friend groups, work teams, and yes, the 40, 50, and 60 year old crowd that's actually the fastest growing demographic in the sport.

Unstoppable Challenge: Go to hyrox.com, watch one race video, and ask yourself honestly if this is something you could see yourself doing in the next 6 to 12 months. If the answer is even a maybe, DM Matt or talk to any coach at Juggernaut. Let's start the conversation.

🎟️ Support the Show & Win! For as little as $3/month, you're entered into our monthly raffles AND you help keep the show going. Our next drawing is May 2nd, and we're giving away a full ride to the next Ultimate Bootcamp Challenge ($199 value). Link in the show notes.

Transcript

What Hyrox Is Exactly

Why Hyrox Is Blowing Up

What Affiliate Status Changes

Who Hyrox Is For

Who Should Skip It

Weekly Challenge And Support The Show

Matt 0:16

Let's go. Welcome to Unstoppable by Design, where we talk all things fitness mindset and what it means to truly be unstoppable inside and outside the gym. I'm Matt Terry, and today our episode is going to be something about if you've been paying attention to the fitness world over the last couple of years, you've probably heard the word high rocks thrown around. Maybe you've seen the videos, the sled pushes, the wall balls, the thousand meter runs. Maybe you've had no idea what it is and just nodded along. Well, today we're going to fix that. And I've got some news to share about what's happening at Juggernaut Fitness. So by the end of today's episode, you'll know exactly what HyRox is, why it's become the fastest growing fitness race on the planet, and what it means that Juggernaut is now an affiliate, and whether this is something you should care about. The group classes aren't changing. The thing that works isn't getting touched. This is an addition, not a renovation. So what HYROX actually is. So HYROX is a standardized indoor fitness race that started in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded by an Olympic field hockey gold medalist and a German endurance sports guy. Their idea was to build a race that anyone could train for specifically because the format never changes. Thinking about the formats, every high ROC race anywhere in the world is the same. You run one kilometer or a thousand meters, you hit a workout station, you run another kilometer, you hit the next station, you do that eight times, and by the end you've covered eight kilometers of running and completed eight functional workout stations. The whole thing takes most people about 60 to 120 minutes. The eight stations in order, and this is always the same order, but the first station is a thousand meters on the ski erg, 50 meters on the sled push, 50 meters on a sled pole, 80 meters on a burpee broad jump, 1000 meters on the rower, 200 meters farmers carry, 100 meters sandbag lunges, and then we finish off with 100 wall balls or 75 wall balls. So there's something called the rock zone. This is a cool detail to note. It's the transition area between the run and the stations, and you actually cover like an additional 700 meters or so just moving through it on the race. Why is this so popular? So over 5,000 affiliated gyms worldwide or over 650,000 athletes completed last season in Hyrux. Races are held in arenas with DJs, lights, there's crowds. It's a festival and a sport at the same time. So the key differentiator between you know a marathon or a high rox, a marathon is 26.2 miles wherever you run it. That's what makes marathon times meaningful. HYROX did the same thing for hybrid fitness. Same stations, same order, same weights by division, every race, every country. So your time in New Hampshire would be the same thing as someone's time in Berlin. This is referred to as a great test of fitness. It tests hybrid fitness, not just one thing. Most fitness tests out there measure one quality. A 5K measures your engine. A one rep max measures your strength. HyROX forces you to do both at the same time, over and over again, while tired. That's real-world fitness. That's the fitness that actually shows up in your life. The movements are functional, not technical. So there's no Olympic lifting, there's no muscle ups, there's no handstand push-ups, there's no snatches. Some of these are high skill, you know, go really, really fast, sexy movements, but the movements in a high rocks are pushing, pulling, carrying, lunging, rowing, skiing, jumping, and throwing a ball at a wall. These are things the human body is built to do. That matters because it means the race is accessible on day one. You don't need six months of skill work to even attempt it. What else makes this a great test of fitness is it rewards the right kind of work. You can't cheat your way through a high rocks race. You can't muscle it, you can't run it out. You have to have both the engine and the strength endurance. Training for it actually builds you into a more well-rounded athlete. It exposes weaknesses clearly. So every racer gets timed by station. You can look at your splits, see exactly where you fell apart. Was it the wall balls because your legs were toast, or was it the sled push because your lungs gave out? Was it the second 1K run because you paced too fast? The data tells the truth, and that's gold for someone who actually wants to improve. There's a compromised running piece. This is one people don't expect. Running on fresh legs is one thing. Running on legs that just pushed 152 kilogram sled or just did 80 meters of burpee broad jumps is a completely different skill. HIROX trains something most gym programs never touch. It also gives you a finish line. The biggest reason it's a great test of fitness is that it's a test. It's an event, it's a date on the calendar. Training without a target is like driving without a destination. HyROX gives you a reason to train harder, eat better, sleep more, show up consistently. And that's the stuff that changes people. So, what does this mean for Juggernaut? Juggernaut Fitness itself is not changing. The group classes aren't changing. If you come in Monday morning for the 5 a.m. class, it's still the 5 a.m. class. Liz is still programming for the group. Mike, Jess, Anna, the whole coaching staff, same coaches, same community, same standards. The thing that's worked for years is the thing that's going to keep working. This is in addition to what we already do. It's not a replacement for any of it. Becoming a HYROCs affiliate means Juggernaut has access to official HYROX programming. We can run official HYROX style classes. We can host in-gym HYROX physical fitness tests or PFTs. And we're listed on the HIROX Training Club Finder. Our members get exclusive discounts on race entries, and we get access to HYROX Performance Hub, which is their training and programming platform. We're plugged into the global system. You've heard Liz on the show before. She's our head coach and an athletic trainer. She's a true hybrid athlete herself, and she understands how to build programming that's structured, progressive, and beneficial. We're not rushing this out. We're working together to build high rocks into our service offerings in a way that makes sense. That means a real structure, a real progression, a real way for people to train for a high rocks race without sacrificing everything else they're doing in the gym. This is not a bolt-on gimmick. It isn't a flavor of the month. It isn't us chasing a trend. We looked at this, we looked at the growth of the sport, we looked at what our members have been asking for, and we said yes because this is a legitimate test of fitness that fits what we've always been about. Hybrid athletes, functional training, strength and endurance, real world capacity. We're rolling this out carefully. Specific class times, program details, signups, all of that is coming. But for now, the news is that we're officially affiliated and Liz and I are working on what comes next. So stay tuned to our social media and to the podcast for updates on where we are. Let's talk about who HyRox is great for. This is good for the lifter who wants to be an athlete again. If you've been lifting for years and you can squat and bench and deadlift all day, but you're gassed after walking up the stairs, Hyrox is going to humble you in the best way. You already have the strength. You're going to have to build the conditioning. The good news is you've got the foundation to do it. This is for the former athlete who misses competing. The guy or girl who played college sports, who misses the training, who misses the Saturday morning nerves, who misses having a date on the calendar that matters. HyROX gives you that back. You don't have to be a D1 athlete to line up. You just need a reason to train with purpose again. This could be the person who's intimidated by CrossFit. HYROX has none of the technical skill barrier that CrossFit has. There's no kipping pull-ups, no handstand walks, no Olympic lifting under fatigue. It's walking, running, pushing, polling, carrying. That's it. If you've ever wanted to try a fitness competition but felt like you weren't ready, HyROX is the on-ramp. This is also for the couple or the friend group or the work team. There's a doubles division where two people split the stations. There's a relay division where four people split the race. You don't have to do it alone. Some of the best HIROX stories are teams of four friends who trained together for six months and raced together. That's a real thing. And it's something we can absolutely build here at Juggernaut. HYROX also has age divisions from under 24 all the way up through 70 plus. This isn't a race for 25-year-olds. The fastest growing groups are actually in the 40s and 50s. If you've been telling yourself you're too old to compete, you're wrong. And this format proves it. Now, who is this not for? If you want a steady Tuesday morning workout and you have zero interest in testing yourself, no problem. Keep coming to group class. This is not mandatory. Nothing about it changes what you already love about training here. HyROX is there if you want it. It's not there if you don't. All right, it's time to talk about the unstoppable challenge for this week. The challenge is go to highrocks.com, watch a race video, and that's it. Just watch one. See what it actually looks like. See the energy, see the people. Then ask yourself honestly, is this something you could see yourself doing in the next six to twelve months? If the answer is even a maybe, send me a direct message or talk to Liz or any of the coaches. We'd love to start that conversation. If this episode was helpful, the best thing you can do is support the show. For as little as$3 a month, you'd be entered to win our monthly raffles, and you help keep this thing going. Links are in the show notes. Our next raffle drawing is May 2nd, and we're giving away another full ride to the next Ultimate Boot Camp Challenge. So follow along on Instagram. Come find us at Juggernaut Fitness if you're local to Laconia. And we'll talk to you next week. Until then, be well, be unstoppable.