Imagine achieving a world fitness record without even intending to. That’s exactly what happened to 28-year-old Lucy Davis last week, when she became the fastest-ever female HYROX finisher in an Open race, crossing the line in 59 minutes and three seconds.
‘It was my first solo HYROX race. I didn’t even know what the world record was, I wasn’t going for that,’ she tells me. Granted, Davis is a former international swimmer and a hybrid athlete with five marathons, two ultra-marathons and four Doubles HYROX races (with her sister) under her belt – she’s one of the most impressive sportswomen I’ve ever spoken to, but I’d wager that this is one of her biggest victories.
For context, the average solo finisher time last season was one hour 32 minutes, but some people take up to three hours. When my husband and his friend competed in Doubles last year (splitting the exercise stations between two), it took them one hour and 15 minutes. It’s almost unfathomable that Davis did the whole race alone – completing all eight exercise stations herself, plus the eight 1k runs – 16 minutes faster. She could hardly believe it herself. ‘I was in absolute shock when someone pulled me aside to tell me the news. I was like, “That can’t be real, no way.” Once the shock had subsided, I was just really, really, really proud.’
To the watching world, Davis probably appears superhuman, but does she have training and time-saving tips for all? ‘Absolutely,’ she replies. Read on for her advice, from how to train and eat during taper week, what to do on the morning of the race, her race strategy, and her top pointers for every exercise station, including the SkiErg, sled push and wall balls.
How to train on HYROX race week
‘I was actually in Texas on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and I flew home on Thursday. I also had two really, really horrific and hard training weeks before the race, and one of those was one of the weeks in Texas. After that, I tapered it off. Wednesday was a full rest day because I was flying for 14 hours, which wasn’t part of the taper plan, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel at all.
‘I was thinking “I’m going to be really jet lagged,” because it was a six-hour time difference in Texas, and usually it takes you, like, six or seven days to recover from jet lag. So, I took Wednesday as a rest day, flew home, landed Thursday at midday, unpacked my suitcase and got on the bike for an hour in the evening. Friday was a complete rest day.
‘On Saturday morning, I did a small HYROX simulator (spending a short amount of time on each of the HYROX exercise stations) and a 4k shakeout run. And then Sunday, I competed. I wasn’t lucky with the jet lag. It really, really hit me hard, like getting to sleep, but I managed to sleep in and try and still get a good amount of sleep, because that, for me, is so important.’
Read on for more of Davis’ recovery tips
- Monday: AM run + PM HYROX-focussed lifting session – ‘I usually do double training days; my coach plans the HYROX sessions for me’
- Tuesday: AM run + PM HYROX-focused lifting session
- Wednesday: Full rest day
- Thursday: 1-hour indoor cycle at an easy, consistent pace
- Friday: Full rest day
- Saturday: 4k shakeout run + mini HYROX simulator [read on for details below]
- Sunday: Race day
What to eat during HYROX race week
‘I’ve had a really difficult past couple of months. I lost quite a lot of weight, so I’ve been aiming to put that back on as much as possible as I dropped around 5-6kg. I’ve now managed to put it all back on as my nutrition has been really good for the past three weeks; very nutritionally-dense, getting all my protein, carbs and fats in, and I’ve been really hot on supplements.
‘I always take my creatine, my electrolytes, and I have my greens. I also have energy gels when I’m doing long runs. A couple of days out of a race, I’ll double my electrolytes – taking two servings, but I don’t carb load for HYROX, because it’s not like a marathon where you’re out there for three hours, you’re out there for an hour. But I still focused on getting the right amount of carbs in.
‘I’ve never loaded creatine. I just take 5g every single day consistently, because that’s one supplement you do have to be really consistent with, so that it gets saturated into your cells.’
Davis completed 100 unbroken wall balls
- Breakfast one: ‘A massive bowl of oats with protein, fruit, peanut butter or Biscoff and honey. My oat bowl is excessive, it’s probably around 700-800 calories.’
- Breakfast two: ‘After my morning run, I’ll have G.1.M, which is electrolytes and carbs in a mix, and a Go Bar or a bagel. That will fill me up until lunchtime.’
- Lunch: ‘Pasta or rice with meat or fish, and veggies. I’m very busy and not the best cook, so I sometimes have prepped meals, too. They’re really helpful.’
- Afternoon snack: ‘A bagel, yoghurt bowl or another Go Bar.’
- Dinner: ‘Some kind of red meat, with rice, pasta or potatoes, and veggies on the side.’
- Pre–bed snack: ‘A massive granola bowl with berries and nut butter, plus a mug of Peak Sleep from BPN. It’s like a hot chocolate sleep supplement that I have with hot water, and it sends me straight to sleep.’
- Daily supplements: 5g BPN creatine, BPN G.1.M electrolytes and carbs (‘I take this twice daily a couple of days out from a race’), BPN Strong Greens. ‘I also take energy gels when doing long runs.’
How to train and eat the day before a HYROX race
‘I always do my mini HYROX simulator the day before a race, where I spend a small amount of time on each station, and that’s what I did before my first solo event. It’s basically where you just spend a small amount of time on each station, so for example, I do a few burpees, a 500m row, a 400m ski and a 4k shakeout run. It’s about going through the motions and getting yourself used to the movements, so that you’re more confident the next day, which is why I don’t make the day before racing a rest day – I take this two days prior to the race.
‘On the Friday that I took a full rest day, I went big on recovery with 45 minutes of hot and cold therapy; three rounds of 15 minutes in my sauna followed by two minutes in my ice bath. I also used my calf compression sleeves and doubled up on my electrolyte servings. I then went to bed at 9pm – admittedly, I didn’t fall asleep until around 1am because of jet lag from Texas, but I also made sure I didn’t use my phone past 9pm and read my book instead. Blue light exposure really affects my sleep, and I’m very vigilant with cutting back on my screen time around every fitness competition.’
How to train and eat the morning of a HYROX race
Davis says she consistently takes creatine to help with performance and recovery
‘My race was at 10.40am which was actually a really good time. I’ve had previous race times at midday and 3pm – when I knew this, I started training on afternoons to preempt how I would feel on the day. I’d recommend doing this if you know your race isn’t until later in the day. 10.40am was definitely the best time I’ve had.
‘I got up at 6am and had two bagels with honey and peanut butter – I have this before every race, and it’s something I eat often during training, too. I wouldn’t recommend eating anything new on race day, as you never know how your body will react. I then had two electrolyte servings and a black coffee and headed off to the venue, which is about an hour away from my house. By the time I arrived at the venue, I had about an hour before the race started, so I had BPN’s G.1.M carbohydrate electrolyte mix and a banana, and then 30 minutes before the race, I had a Nocco energy drink.
‘In terms of movement, I went into the warmup area about 40 minutes before the race. You should go on every single station, and on the SkiErg and the treadmill, intentionally get your heart rate really, really high – for me, that’s around zone 4 as my heart rate is naturally quite low as I’m fit.
‘The goal is to get your heart rate to spike before the race starts, because as soon as you enter the HYROX pen, the adrenaline is insane and your heart rate will skyrocket, so try to get your heart rate ready in the warmup. I also do – and would recommend – leg swings and a few dynamic stretches. Going through every station is very helpful psychologically – it’s a reminder that “Okay, you can still lunge, you can still do the sled”, and then you can go into the race confident.’
HYROX race strategy
Davis was joined by her coach and friend
‘I knew I wanted a sub-61 or sub-62-minute finish, so I knew what pace I needed to hit on the stations where I would have the numbers in front of me, like the SkiErg (you can work this out if you have a time in mind). But there are videos from the race where you can see me talking to my coach during the Ski and she’s telling me to slow down because I was going too hard.
‘The thing is, the first half of HYROX is the hardest and I was really pushing myself because I knew that once I got to the row, it would feel a bit easier; you can get your breath back, your legs will hurt a little less. So yeah, I went really hard in the first half because I knew I could get a good pace on the row while also recovering a little. This can work well; just remind yourself that once you reach the row, you’re halfway.’
Time-saving tips per HYROX exercise station
SkiErg:
- Control your breathing
- Find a pace that you can maintain consistently – don’t push yourself to your max
- Keep your breathing nice and slow
- Ease off and slow down in the last 100-150m to get your breathing back before your run – you want your first couple of runs to be really fast
Sled push:
- Aim to do a full length push every single time you push
- Don’t give yourself time to wait around before you push again – I would count to two and go again, because it’s really hard to set off again if you give yourself too long to rest
- Lean your whole body right over the sled so that you’re not just pushing with your legs – this will give you more power
Sled pull:
- Get into a rhythm and stick to a consistent ‘step, step, pull’ pattern
- Try to look over your shoulder as you pull backwards to avoid stepping over the back line as this will incur a penalty
Burpee broad jumps:
- Place your hands on the floor exactly in line with your feet – not doing this will incur a penalty
- Maximise rest by taking a breath when you’re on the floor and your body is relaxed, then step back up, as opposed to resting while you stand
Rowing:
- Use the row as a recovery station – don’t go to your max and keep your breathing slow and steady
- Really stretch your chest forward before you pull back to your chest as this will increase the watts and metres that you pull
- Keep your grip as loose as you can to save grip strength for farmer’s carries
Farmer’s carry:
- Always chalk up – take two seconds to just whack your hands in the chalk
- Keep your chest up and don’t look down as this will impact your breathing by compressing your lungs
- Don’t panic if you drop the weights – drop them for two seconds, rotate your wrists, then grab the weights and go again
- Know that you can probably hold on for longer than you think
Sandbag lunges:
- Aim for continuous steps
- Keep your chest up and don’t look at the floor to encourage you to sit back into the lunge as your back knee must touch the floor – you’ll get penalised if not
- You probably won’t be able to run, but try to keep a consistent pace as your legs will get stiff if you slow down or stop – I got serious quad cramps
Wall balls:
- One of the worst things you can do is to lean over when you catch the ball, because then you need to use energy to pull your upper body back up as well as pushing your lower body out of the squat
- Keep your chest up and your arms back, and catch the ball in front of you rather than below you, so that you don’t have to fold over and bend over to catch the ball
- You must squat below 90 degrees – HYROX is super strict on this
- Keep your arms as close together as possible so that the ball can’t slip through as you catch it
Running:
- The most important part of running is the training, and HYROX is essentially a running race. You need to do one interval run, one easy aerobic run, and one compromised run per week. Compromised runs are most important – this is where you split your run between HYROX stations, so you’ll weave lunges, SkiErg and wall balls in between your runs, for example. This is to mimic the runs on race day and help you practice the transitions.
- I’d recommend trying to keep your breathing steady on the first lap on race day, then go quicker on each lap. The first lap is there to ease yourself in.
Davis says that while she put pressure on herself to perform, she managed to remind herself to enjoy the race
‘Know that the crowd and atmosphere at HYROX will make a huge difference to your motivation. It was my birthday when I secured the world record at this race, and I felt so supported and lucky. There’s a photo of me smiling on the wall balls and I don’t even remember smiling.
‘You get so into the zone. Just enjoy it. I put a lot of pressure on myself beforehand because I didn’t want to let anyone down, but I kept reminding myself to enjoy it during the race. It’s one of the best competitions because anyone can do it. It’s really special. I loved doing the solo race, but I’m excited to do Doubles again in January with my sister, because how special is that? She wants to go for the world record, and we’re going to give it a good go.’
Read now: How to practise self-compassion and become more confident
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Bridie is Fitness Director at Women’s Health UK. She spends her days sweating over new workouts, fitness launches and the best home gym kit so you have all that you need to get fit done. Her work has been published in Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and more. She’s also a part-time yoga teacher with a habit of nodding off mid savasana (not when she’s teaching, promise).
