10 Hard-Earned Lessons from Vegas Hyrox

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Welcome to The Movement Memo, a bi-weekly newsletter where I share actionable tips to help you live your best day ever, every day.

Today's Programming 

• Movement: 36-minute AMRAP

• Quote: Confucius on focus

• Lesson Learned: 10 hard-earned lessons from Hyrox Vegas

• YouTube: A full day of training in Colorado

• Optimization: The 1st app to track and optimize your supplement routine

Today's Movement 

Complete as many rounds as possible in 36 minutes (AMRAP):

• 80 cal echo bike 

• 25 wall ball 

• 12 burpee box jumpovers

Today's Quote

Trying to do everything means mastering nothing.

The man who chases two rabbits catches neither—not because he isn’t fast, but because divided focus leads to diluted results. Progress demands a choice. You can dabble, or you can compete.

But you can’t do both.

Today’s Lesson Learned:

10 Hard-Earned Lessons from Hyrox Vegas

Standing at the start line in Vegas, I felt ready.

The energy was electric. Music pumping. The crowd was buzzing. Months of training had led to this moment.

I had a plan—pacing, strategy, effort targets.

Then the race started.

And within minutes, I realized: Hyrox doesn’t care about your plan. It only cares about your preparation.

I walked away with a world championship spot and a hard-earned education in what it takes to truly excel in this race. Some lessons were painful. Others were humbling.

Each one will change how I train for the Hyrox World Championships—and they might help you, too.

Lesson #1: Hyrox is a running race. Period.

I trained like a hybrid athlete—10-15 miles per week, mixed with CrossFit-style strength and conditioning. I felt strong, explosive, and well-rounded.

But every time I hit the pavement, my legs felt heavy. My heart rate spiked. My speed wasn’t there.

I wasn’t race-ready.

My mistake: Assuming general fitness = race fitness.

The reality: Hyrox is not a CrossFit workout. It’s not a strongman event. It’s a running race with functional obstacles.

Without the running base, you’re just a strong guy struggling to keep up.

The fix:

• 20-30 miles per week—a mix of track sessions, tempo runs, and long efforts.

• At least one zone 2 session per week to build endurance.

• Prioritizing efficiency over effort—running isn’t just about speed, it’s about economy.

Lesson #2: Strength helps—until it doesn’t.

At 183 pounds, I felt strong.

The sled push moved well. The farmer’s carry was solid. But the weight I carried on the stations was the same weight I carried on the runs.

Every extra pound is a tax on speed. A debt you pay with every step.

My mistake: Thinking I could maximize both strength and endurance without making trade-offs.

The reality: The best Hyrox athletes aren’t the biggest. They’re the ones who have found the optimal balance between power and efficiency.

The fix:

• Drop 8-10 pounds to optimize strength-to-weight ratio.

• Retain power through explosive training rather than unnecessary bulk.

• Prioritize speed over raw strength—because in this race, speed wins.

Lesson #3: The first 1000 meters will lie to you.

The gun goes off. Adrenaline surges.

Everything feels easy. Then it doesn’t. I planned to start at a 4:00/km pace but went out at 3:40/km—way too fast.

The moment I hit the SkiErg, my heart rate was already spiking.

I spent the rest of the race trying to recover from that mistake.

My mistake: Believing how I felt in the first three minutes was how I would feel in the last thirty.

The reality: The race isn’t won in the first 1000 meters, but it can be lost there.

The fix:

• Start slower than feels right.

• Let the field go—trust your pacing.

• Negative split your effort—hold back early so you have more to give later.

Lesson #4: Running efficiency beats running effort.

You can grind through stations.

You can’t grind through running.

Every wasted movement and every inefficient stride costs energy, costs time, costs placement. I felt slow, heavy, and inefficient. My form broke down. My cadence was off.

My mistake: Assuming “just running more” would be enough to get faster.

The reality: Speed is a skill and running efficiently is a competitive advantage.

The fix:

• Dedicated running form work. The technique isn’t optional.

• More strides, more cadence drills, more posture awareness.

• Strength work that supports running—not just lifting.

Lesson #5: Your heart rate is the real opponent.

Hyrox isn’t just about how fast you can go.

It’s about how much you can sustain. I planned to keep my heart rate at 152-154 bpm. But the sled push and burpee broad jumps pushed me into the 160-162 bpm range—and from there, I was in a fight to recover.

My mistake: Treating Hyrox as a series of separate events instead of one continuous threshold effort.

The reality: Your heart rate is king. If it spikes early, you’ll spend the rest of the race trying to get it back under control.

The fix:

• Train heart rate threshold under fatigue.

• Practice recovery while moving.

• Make efficiency a priority—the goal isn’t to suffer, it’s to sustain.

Lesson #6: The sled isn’t about strength—it’s about efficiency.

I improved my sled push and pull this race—not by getting stronger, but by getting smarter.

Instead of brute force, I focused on:

1. Shorter, controlled pushes.

2. A deadlift-to-backward-walk technique on the pull.

My mistake: As fatigue set in, I tried to muscle through it instead of maximizing mechanics.

The reality: The best Hyrox athletes aren’t the strongest. They’re the smartest.

The fix:

• Dial in the most efficient movement pattern.

• Treat strength as a tool, not the solution.

Lesson #7: Strategic breaks beat forced breaks.

I planned to go unbroken on everything.

That was a mistake. On the sled push, I took a short break halfway through the first 25 meters—and was able to stay in control. On the last 25 meters, I tried to push through—and it crushed me.

My mistake: Thinking “no breaks” means a faster race.

The reality: Short, planned rests prevent catastrophic, unplanned ones.

The fix:

• Take small, controlled breaks when you decide—not when your body forces you to.

Lesson #8: The mental game starts when the body wants to quit.

At the burpee broad jumps, I was gassed.

Legs fried. Heart rate maxed. Everything screamed to slow down. That’s when the real race started.

My mistake: Thinking the race was just physical.

The reality: Your mind will give up before your body does—unless you train it.

The fix:

• Train fatigue resistance. (A.K.A. just under lactate threshold).

• Push effort beyond comfort.

Lesson #9: Recovery isn’t passive—it’s a skill.

Flying home immediately after the race was a bad call.

By Tuesday, my legs were wrecked. By Wednesday, I finally felt human again.

My mistake: Treating recovery as an afterthought. (I should know better).

The reality: Recovery starts the moment the race ends.

The fix:

• Post-race hydration, active recovery, light movement.

• Treat recovery like training.

• Traveling home the day after the competition.

Lesson #10: Choose your focus—or accept mediocrity.

Now that I’ve qualified for Hyrox Worlds, I have a tough choice to make.

1. Go all in on Hyrox. 

2. Stick with hybrid training and balance CrossFit.

Both are appealing. But chasing two masters means excelling at neither.

The fix:

• Make a decision. Go all in. Commit to being world-class at one thing.

Hyrox exposed my weaknesses. That’s the best gift it could’ve given me.

Now, I know exactly what I need to do.

The work starts now.

Today’s YouTube:

Today’s Optimization

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Now, I know a lot about supplements, we talk about them on here all the time.  

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SuppCo is currently in beta, but my community can get 100% free access today. It won't be free forever — so check it out now.

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Publisher: Eric Hinman

Editor-in-chief: Bobby Ryan