'INTIMIDATING BUT FUN'

Why Hyrox is swiftly gaining a big following in S'pore

- Kolette Lim

Videos of peers pushing sleds, doing burpees and running flooded Mr Tay Hui Hong's social media feeds in June.

The clips were taken on June 29 at the National Stadium, where a fitness event called Hyrox was held, the 26-year-old information technology graduate analyst soon found out.

"I first got curious after seeing the various Instagram stories," he said. "Then my friend asked me to try, and I was quite keen to compete to find out my fitness level."

So, even before he lifted a sandbag or heaved at the handle of a rowing machine to train for it, Mr Tay signed up for the next Hyrox race, which will be held from Aug 31 to Sept 1 at the Singapore Expo.

Hyrox may be relatively new to the fitness scene, but it is swiftly gaining a substantial following in Singapore.

About 3,500 participants competed in Hyrox's inaugural race in Singapore in October 2023, a Hyrox spokesperson told The Straits Times. Almost double 6,500 took part in the second, on June 29.

As at Aug 23 and with over a week still to go, more than 6,000 competitors have signed up for the upcoming race, said the spokesperson.

Hyrox combines running and eight functional workout stations: 1km SkiErg (indoor skiing machine), 50m sled pull, 80m burpee broad jumps, 1km rowing, 200m farmer's carry, 100m sandbag lunges and 75 or 100 wall balls. Each station is interspersed with 1km of running.

Participants can race in pairs, quartets or fly solo. It costs from $114 to $181 to enter the race, depending on the category chosen.

To prepare for the race, Mr Tay, who previously focused primarily on weight training, curated a new workout routine which includes Hyrox stations.