A simulation is a rehearsal you execute, not a plan you follow. You set a start time, you run the whole format in order at your division load, and the point is the split data it hands back afterwards. Everything below is about doing that in an ordinary commercial gym, which is where almost everybody actually trains and where almost nothing is set up correctly for it.
- A full simulation is all 8 runs and all 8 stations in race order at your division load, clock running throughout.
- A half simulation is four runs and four stations, and it delivers most of the lesson for roughly half the recovery cost.
- The runs are not optional. A station-only circuit is a conditioning workout, not a rehearsal.
- Mark the sled lanes as 4 x 12.5 m, not one long straight push.
- The output is data. Record every split, or you did a hard workout instead of a rehearsal.
What a HYROX simulation workout actually is
A HYROX simulation workout is a full rehearsal of the race format, eight rounds, each a 1 km run followed by one functional workout station, completed in a normal gym at your division load with the clock running from the first step to the last rep. Nothing is scaled and nothing is skipped. The output is a set of splits you can act on. A finish time to be proud of is a side effect at best.
People confuse it with three other things. A workout library is where you go for a session that targets one weakness, and our HYROX workouts collection covers that. A training plan tells you what to do across months, which is the job of the four pillars in the HYROX training guide. And a race has a crowd, a judge, a queue for the sled and a bib, none of which your gym has. Treat a rehearsal as an instrument reading and it becomes the most useful session in your programme. Treat it as a personal best attempt and it becomes an expensive way to get tired.
Full simulation, half simulation, or a station block
There are three tiers, and picking the wrong one is the most common planning error in this whole area. Most athletes run too many full simulations and not enough of the other two.
The full simulation is all 8 runs and all 8 stations in the order listed in the station reference: SkiErg, Sled Push, Sled Pull, Burpee Broad Jump, Rowing, Farmers Carry, Sandbag Lunges, Wall Balls. That is 8 km of running on top of every station, at load. It is the most expensive session in any training block and it costs real recovery days on the other side. Two or three across a whole build is plenty for most people.
The half simulation is four runs and four stations in race order at race load. It rehearses pacing, transitions and compromised running, which is where the lessons live, and it leaves you able to train properly again within a day or two.
The station block is two or three stations with full run legs between them, aimed at a specific problem. If your sled pull falls apart when your heart rate is already high, a run, sled push, run, sled pull block tells you more than a full rehearsal would, and it costs almost nothing.
When a half simulation is the better session
Choose the half whenever the thing you are testing is pacing, transitions or fatigue tolerance. Save the full version for the days you genuinely want to know your total capacity. Choose the half early in a block, when you are still building and cannot afford to lose a week to one session. Choose it if you are coming back from illness or a layoff. And choose it if you ran a full simulation within the last fortnight, because a second one that soon measures your recovery, not your fitness.
The doubles variant
HYROX runs as Singles, Doubles, Team Relay (4 athletes), and Adaptive, and the doubles rehearsal is a genuinely different session. Only one partner works a station at a time while the other rests, so what you are practising is the handover: who takes which portion, how you call the swap, and how you stay warm while your partner works. Both partners still run every leg together. Rehearse the swaps deliberately, because a pair who have never agreed on a split pattern will lose more time arguing at the wall than they ever lose on the reps. The Doubles rulebook sets out the format in detail.
Set your loads before you touch anything
Decide the loads at home, in writing, before the session. Guessing at the rack is how people end up rehearsing a race that does not exist, and blog figures drift. Pull the numbers from the official standards for your division and write them on a card you carry to the floor. Note that PRO divisions use heavier loads than Open, and that wall ball repetitions are 100 for every division regardless of ball weight.
| Station | Open Women | Open Men | Pro Women | Pro Men |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sled Push | 225 lb (102 kg) | 335 lb (152 kg) | 335 lb (152 kg) | 445 lb (202 kg) |
| Sled Pull | 172 lb (78 kg) | 227 lb (103 kg) | 227 lb (103 kg) | 337 lb (153 kg) |
| Farmers Carry | 2 x 35 lb (16 kg) | 2 x 53 lb (24 kg) | 2 x 53 lb (24 kg) | 2 x 71 lb (32 kg) |
| Sandbag Lunges | 22 lb (10 kg) | 44 lb (20 kg) | 44 lb (20 kg) | 66 lb (30 kg) |
| Wall Ball | 9 lb (4 kg) | 13 lb (6 kg) | 13 lb (6 kg) | 20 lb (9 kg) |
| Wall Ball target | 2.70 m | 3.00 m | 2.70 m | 3.00 m |
The sled figures include the sled itself, which trips people up when they load a gym prowler. If you want the full set across every station and division in one place, the weight standards tool holds them, and the distance reference covers every measurement you will need to mark out.
Setting up the stations in a normal gym
This is the part nobody writes about and the part that decides whether your session resembles the race. Walk the stations in order and solve each one the week before, while you still have a tape measure and a clear head.
The two ergs
You cover 1000 m on the SkiErg and 1000 m on the rower. Set the SkiErg damper to 6 and the rower damper to 6, with the footplates at position 4, because that is exactly how you will find both machines on race day.
There is an asymmetry in the rules that almost nobody rehearses. The damper setting may be adjusted as often as you like during the race. The rowing footplate may only be adjusted before you start the station. If your habit is to fiddle with the footplate once you are seated, you will discover on race day that the habit is not available to you. Practise the preset until it feels normal. Technique detail for both sits in the SkiErg guide and the rowing guide.
The sleds, and what to do when the gym has none
Mark the lane as 4 x 12.5 m. That means 4 lengths of 12.5 m with a turn at each end, not one continuous 50 m push. The pull uses the same structure, 4 x 12.5 m. This matters more than it sounds: the turns and the restarts from a dead stop are a large share of what makes the sleds brutal, and a straight-line setup quietly deletes them. Tape two lines and count your lengths.
If the gym has no sled, be honest about what you lose. Nothing reproduces a loaded sled on turf. A prowler loaded toward your division figure on a rubber floor is the closest substitute and it is still not the same friction. Weighted sled drags on a strap, heavy carries, or a leg press block give you a fatigue cost in roughly the right place, but they do not give you the specific skill. Run the session, record what you substituted, and treat the total time as a personal baseline rather than a race prediction. Then find real sled access before race day: HYROX affiliated gyms and training clubs hold the official kit, and the official gym finder lists them. Setup and technique for both stations are in the sled push guide and the sled pull guide.
Burpee broad jumps, carry and lunges
You need 80 m of jump lane, 200 m of carry and 100 m of lunges. Very few gyms have a straight run of that length, so shuttle a measured stretch instead. Measure one length once with a tape, mark both ends with floor tape, and work out the number of lengths for each station in advance so you are not doing arithmetic at heart rate 175.
A twenty metre stretch of gym floor covers all three stations if you plan the lap counts. Keep the turns consistent, because turning is work and inconsistent turns make your splits incomparable between sessions. The station guides for burpee broad jumps, the farmers carry and sandbag lunges cover the movement standards you should be holding yourself to while you shuttle.
Wall balls, and the target-height problem
100 reps, thrown to 2.70 m for women and 3.00 m for men. Most gyms have a CrossFit target somewhere in between, and the difference is not cosmetic: a few centimetres changes the movement and the no-rep risk enormously. Measure the correct height for your division, mark it with tape, and throw to your own mark. Whatever is bolted to the rig is somebody else's standard.
Count out loud or use a counter. Miscounting late in a set is the single most common way a simulation time becomes worthless. The wall ball guide covers the depth and height standards that a judge would actually enforce.
Setting up the run legs
The run legs are the most-skipped part of a home-made simulation and the part that decides whether it is a simulation at all. You need 8 legs of 1000 m, 8 km in total, and every one of them has to happen.
In descending order of fidelity: an outdoor measured loop that starts and finishes at your kit is best, because you control the pace and the surface punishes you honestly. An indoor track is next, though tight turns at fatigue change the demand slightly. A treadmill is last, and it changes the session in a specific way: the belt sets your pace for you, which removes exactly the decision you are trying to rehearse. If a treadmill is your only option, choose your speed before each leg and commit to it. Nudging the dial down halfway through defeats the point.
Whichever you use, keep the route identical between simulations so the numbers stay comparable. Why these legs matter so much is the subject of the compromised running guide, and it is the single quality that separates HYROX from a station circuit.
Rehearsing the ROXZONE
ROXZONE is the central transition zone athletes run through between every run and station, and the clock does not stop for it. In a race those transitions add up to real minutes. In a gym they vanish, because you wander off to find a kettlebell and nobody notices.
Impose the discipline yourself. Stage every piece of equipment before the clock starts: kettlebells in position, sandbag at the lunge lane, ball at the wall, ergs already set to the presets. Nothing is fetched mid-session. Walk or jog your own transition path and keep it consistent. If a transition includes hunting for a piece of kit, the split is fiction and so is your total. The race day guide covers what the real thing feels like, which is what you are trying to approximate.
How to pace a HYROX simulation workout
A simulation is deliberately not run at race pace, at least not the first one. It is a data-gathering exercise, and a rehearsal run flat out teaches you one thing you already knew, which is that you can suffer.
Hold the opening run clearly under what feels right. Almost everyone goes out too hard, and the cost lands three stations later, which is why it feels fine at the time. Then expect a trough somewhere around the middle of the race, usually after the sleds and into the burpees. Plan to ride it out at a steady effort. If you finish still able to describe what happened, the session worked.
Once you have your first set of splits, the station-by-station model in the pacing guide tells you where to spend and where to hold back for the real thing.
What to measure, and how to read the result
Record four things: total time, each run split, each station time, and each transition. A running watch with a manual lap button handles all of it if you press it consistently. Reconstructing splits afterwards from memory produces numbers that feel precise and are not.
Then read them. The gap between your first run and your last is your compromised running problem stated numerically, and if it is large, that is the training priority regardless of how your stations looked. A station time far off what you can do fresh is usually a pacing problem, not a strength problem, so check what happened on the run before it prior to adding more strength work. Transitions summed are almost always the cheapest minutes available, because nobody trains them and everybody loses time in them.
For context on where your total sits, the average finish time data gives you a benchmark. One honest caveat: a gym simulation on substituted equipment is not directly comparable to a race time. Treat it as a personal baseline and compare it against your own previous simulations first.
How far out, and how often
There is no rule here, only coaching judgment, and anyone quoting you an exact number of days is inventing it. The general shape is that full simulations belong in the sharpening portion of a block, once your base work is done, and that the last one should sit far enough from race day for you to fully absorb it. Half simulations and station blocks fill the gaps and can run considerably more often.
Within a week, a simulation is your hard day and it needs an easy day either side. It replaces a session in your week. Where it sits in a longer build is covered in the 12 week plan, and how it fits your weekly split is covered in the training schedule guide.
Do not schedule a full simulation inside your final taper. It costs more freshness than the information is worth, and there is no time left to act on what it tells you. Keep the format sharp in that window with short station blocks and transition drills instead.
Mistakes that turn a HYROX simulation workout into a hard workout
- Skipping the runs. Station circuits train something useful and rehearse nothing about pacing or fatigue.
- Substituting the sled and reporting the time as a race prediction. Record the substitution next to the time, every time.
- Not recording splits. A total time on its own tells you almost nothing you can act on.
- Racing it in week one of a block. You will be recovering from it for the week you were meant to be building in.
- Setting the sleds up as one straight push. The turns are a real part of the station.
- Guessing the loads. Pull them from the official standards, not from memory or a blog.
- Stopping the clock for transitions. Race clocks do not stop, so yours should not either.
Set your loads from the official division standards before your next rehearsal.
Frequently asked questions
What is a HYROX simulation workout?
A full rehearsal of the race in training. You complete eight rounds, each a 1 km run followed by one functional workout station, at your division load, with the clock running from start to finish. It is the closest thing to race day you can do without a bib, and its real purpose is the split data it hands back.
How long does a HYROX simulation take?
Longer than most people plan for. You are covering 8 km of running plus all 8 stations, and transitions count. Most athletes need well over an hour, and a first attempt usually runs longer still. Block out the recovery afterwards, not just the session.
What is a half HYROX simulation?
Four runs and four stations instead of the full 8 and 8, run in race order at race load. It rehearses pacing, transitions and compromised running at roughly half the recovery cost, which makes it the session most athletes should be doing more often.
Can I do a HYROX simulation without a sled?
You can run the session, but accept what you lose. No substitute reproduces a loaded sled on turf, so a sled-free rehearsal gives you a partial read and its total time is not a race prediction. Use a prowler or heavy alternatives near your division load, and find sled access before race day.
Do I have to run between every station?
Yes, and this is the part people cut first. The runs are the race. Without 8 legs of 1000 m you have done a station circuit, which trains something useful but rehearses nothing about pacing, compromised running or the fatigue you will actually meet.
What damper setting should I use on the SkiErg and rower?
Match race day. The SkiErg is preset to damper 6 and the rower to damper 6, for all divisions, and the rowing footplates are preset to position 4. You may change the damper whenever you like during the race, but the footplate only before you start. Rehearse on the preset so nothing surprises you.
Should I use race weights in a simulation?
Use your division load, which is what you will face. Pull the numbers from the official standards rather than memory, since PRO divisions use heavier loads than Open and several stations differ by gender too. If a load stops you completing the session at all, scale it down and record that you scaled it.
How is the sled set up in a real race?
As a shuttle, not a straight line. Both sleds run 4 x 12.5 m, with a turn at each end. Setting your rehearsal up as one long push changes the demand completely, because the turns and the restarts from a dead stop are a large part of what makes the station hard.
How often should I do a full simulation?
Less often than most people think. A full rehearsal is the most expensive session in a training block and needs genuine recovery around it. Sparingly through a build, a little more often as race day approaches, and never inside the final taper. Half simulations carry most of the lesson for far less cost.
Where can I find a HYROX simulation near me?
HYROX affiliated gyms and training clubs run organised sessions, often with waves and a clock, and they hold the official kit that most commercial gyms lack. The official gym finder on hyrox.com lists affiliated facilities. A supervised group session also removes the temptation to quietly shorten your own runs.
Can I do one on my own?
Yes, and most people do. The two things to solve are honesty and logistics: stage every piece of equipment before you start so no transition becomes a shopping trip, and record splits as you go rather than reconstructing them afterwards. A running watch with manual laps handles both.
Is my simulation time a good prediction of my race time?
Treat it as a baseline, not a forecast. Race day usually brings faster running on a clear course and a crowd behind you, but also queueing, judging standards and no-repped wall balls. If you substituted equipment or shortened lanes, the gap widens further. Compare it to your own previous rehearsals first.
References
Loads and station standards on this page reflect Season 26/27. Standards change by season and by format, so confirm them against the current rulebook for your specific event before you set your loads.
- HYROX Singles Rulebook, Season 26/27: the source for every station standard, the sled shuttle structure, and the erg damper and footplate presets.
- HYROX: The Fitness Race: the official description of the race format and station order.
- HYROX Doubles Rulebook, Season 26/27: the format rules behind the doubles rehearsal, including how partners share a station.
- HYROX affiliated gym and training club finder: how to find a facility with official kit near you.
- Should I be doing full Hyrox simulations in my training?, HYROX Workouts: the coaching discussion embedded above on frequency and recovery cost.