Whether you’re an avid runner or frequently go to the gym, many fitness enthusiasts find they eventually get stuck in a routine – logging the same miles or doing the same workout over and over again.

What if there were a way to challenge both endurance and strength at once with an effective, varied training routine?

Welcome to Hyrox – the increasingly popular fitness race that blends endurance running and strength. Designed for everyday athletes and elite competitors alike, Hyrox offers an accessible yet competitive race format.

By focusing on functional fitness, this workout provides a structured way for people to push their limits while training for a clear goal. It also comes with many physiological benefits regardless of your skill level – including strength, endurance and power.

Hyrox is a fitness competition that started in Germany in 2017. They currently organise races worldwide.

Athletes run 8km in total, but after each kilometre they must complete a functional fitness exercise. In a Hyrox race, the first exercise is 1,000m on a ski ergometer, followed by a 50m sled push, a 50m sled pull, 80m of burpee broad jumps, a 1,000m row, a 200m farmer’s carry, 100m walking sandbag lunges – finishing with 100 wall balls.

A Hyrox race can be competed individually, in pairs, or in a team of four done in a relay-format. The difficulty of the race depends on your skill level. Athletes in the pro division work with heavier weights than the open division. Those competing as a pair split the stations but run together – adding teamwork to the race.

The average finish time of a Hyrox race is 90 minutes – though this can vary depending on a person’s age, gender and fitness level. Elite racers will aim for a sub-60 time – with current world records set at around 50 minutes.

A race of this duration and intensity puts serious physiological stress on the body – which requires a good level of overall fitness.

Transitioning between runs and exercises causes the body to shift between different energy systems during Hyrox. The aerobic system uses oxygen to steadily fuel the muscles over a period of time. This is essential for the running segments. The anaerobic system, on the other hand, provides short bursts of energy without needing oxygen. This is crucial for the high-intensity exercise portions.

The adrenaline and intensity of the race also means your endurance, explosive power and strength are put to the test simultaneously. Without adequate training and a race plan, this could leave you feeling fatigued towards the end of the race, which can affect your coordination and power.

Hyrox training

Because Hyrox is a new competition format, research on its training benefits is limited. But some early findings suggest that a successful race performance is linked to the amount of training a person puts in ahead of competition and their overall fitness levels. This aligns with what we know about endurance and strength-based training.

The combination of running and intense exercises over a long duration challenges the body’s ability to use oxygen efficiently. Training for Hyrox can lead to improvements in the aerobic capacity or maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂ max), a measure of aerobic fitness.

An improvement in VO₂max means your body can use oxygen more efficiently, allowing you to sustain higher intensities of exercise for longer periods of time. This improves endurance, helps you maintain speed throughout the race and contributes to overall cardiovascular health.

Training for Hyrox requires a balanced approach of running, strength training and Hyrox-specific workouts. This training strategy is known as concurrent training. Research shows concurrent training has benefits for strength, muscular health and cardio-respiratory fitness in people of all ages.

Regular long runs of 40-60 minutes at a low intensity help improve aerobic capacity as well. This allows your body to use oxygen more efficiently for sustained effort. Meanwhile, high-intensity interval runs – such as repeatedly running 400m to 1km with short rest periods of 30-60 seconds – improves your body’s anaerobic threshold. This means you can sustain higher intensities of exercise for longer before fatigue sets in.

The functional stations require full-body strength and muscular endurance, which will be built up gradually as you train for a race. Once you’re more familiar with these exercises, you can begin practising them under fatigue. This is essential for both performance during a race and for preventing injuries.

To maximise performance, a typical weekly training plan should prioritise endurance training over strength training to ensure you are well-prepared to finish a Hyrox race. For the best results, this structured approach should be followed for at least six weeks.

Even without signing up for a race, Hyrox training can give you fitness benefits. You can modify the exercises and how much you run depending on your fitness level.

An all-round Hyrox programme does not just improve functional fitness – it pushes athletes to new limits with a clear, goal-oriented training approach. Whether you’re an elite racer or just looking for a new fitness challenge, Hyrox offers a unique test of endurance and strength.

DENVER — Residents at Balfour Central Park in Denver have embraced a unique approach to wellness and prevention of injury and illness.

The program, provided by Ascend Performance Training, is designed to be adaptable to the individual needs of its senior participants.

For the past year, residents have participated in a variety of fitness activities, from boxing to breath work. Balfour is one of several retirement communities benefiting from the expertise of Ascend’s founders, Bret Huotari and Tripp Parks.

“From start to finish, you’re doing something. It’s active. You’re engaging,” Huotari said, emphasizing the program’s focus on movement.

The classes incorporate diverse elements of health and fitness, including core strength, dexterity drills, and even music. The goal is not just to exercise but to educate seniors on the importance of fitness in preventing hospital visits and improving quality of life.

“[For] these seniors, risk of falling, risk of injury, and making sure that we’re putting them on a program to make sure that they not only avoid the hospital overall but especially avoid repeat visits,” Parks said.

In addition to group classes, residents can receive personalized health assessments, allowing Huotari and Parks to tailor programs to individual needs. The assessments cover nutrition, appropriate supplements, sleep, and specific exercise routines designed to address personal health challenges.

The inspiration for this initiative stemmed from a personal experience in Parks’ family. When his mother suffered a stroke and subsequently dealt with dementia, he recognized the need for greater awareness and preventive care in senior health.

“We take care of our house, we take care of our car, but the last thing we do is take care of ourselves,” Parks explained.

Colin Riley, Denver7

Barbara Van Skoik, a resident at Balfour living with Parkinson’s disease, finds tremendous value in the program.

“This is the best exercise you can do for it,” she said, noting that remaining active is crucial for managing her condition.

Van Skoik has attended nearly every class over the past year and feels empowered by her progress.

“I did it again, and I’m going to continue to do it as long as I can,” she said.

Van Skoik’s friend, Penny Cody, joined the program after being inspired by Van Skoik’s dedication to fitness.

“It’s good for me to do it. So rather than doing nothing, even if it hurts a little bit, you need to just still work on it,” Cody said.

Huotari and Parks are committed to fostering a sense of community among participants, recognizing the importance of social interaction in enhancing well-being.

“It may sound cheesy, but we’re just trying to make people smile,” Parks said. “It’s amazing how much laughing and having that community can affect your life.”

Their program has seen remarkable engagement, with some residents, including a 102-year-old participant, attending every class without fail. Residents like Van Skoik view Huotari and Parks not just as trainers but as part of their extended family.

“Brett and Tripp are great. I look at them as friends, part of our family here,” she said.

As the fitness classes evolve, the founders remain dedicated to enhancing the overall wellness experience for seniors. For more information about Ascend Performance Training, visit their website.

Editor’s note: Before beginning any new exercise program, consult your doctor. Stop immediately if you experience pain.

(CNN) — Once you have embarked upon a new exercise regimen, most people hope to see results almost immediately. Yet whether you’re looking to drop a few pounds, gain muscle or fit into your favorite pair of jeans, it can seem to take forever. This is especially true if you’ve started this journey with your spouse or a friend, who may be quickly seeing positive results.

“How soon you’ll see changes really depends on the person, the type of exercise they’re doing and how consistently they’re doing it,” said Angie Asche, a registered dietitian based in Lincoln, Nebraska, and founder of Eleat Sports Nutrition, a company that helps athletes improve their performance through nutrition. “It depends on what your diet is like, too. But give it at least two to four weeks.”

For many people, changes can take more like six to 12 weeks, said Tina Fennelly, a certified personal trainer with Aviv Clinics in The Villages, Florida. That’s because so many factors are in play, including age, sex and metabolism.

Men, for example, tend to have a higher metabolic rate than women, which is the total amount of energy, or calories, your body uses per day. This is because men are typically larger than women and have more muscle mass, and bigger organs and beefier muscles require more calories to work.

While waiting a month or two to see visible results from your hard work can seem like a long time, it’s worth it because exercise brings plenty of invisible results, both experts agreed.

Regular physical activity reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, infectious diseases and even some cancers, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Exercising also strengthens your bones and muscles, improves your cognitive skills, and even enhances the quality of your sleep.

Significant reductions in resting blood pressure also occur after performing a variety of different forms of exercise, with running and wall squats being especially helpful, according to a 2023 meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Blood pressure changes can be immediate, too. “They can even occur the first day because of the improved blood flow that will happen,” Asche said. “This is regardless of whether you’re doing strength training, cardio or a combination.”

If you’re willing to work harder to see physical changes more quickly, that’s certainly possible.

“If you’re really trying to make body composition changes, focus more on higher-intensity exercises like running than, say, yoga,” Asche said, the latter being a lower-impact exercise that helps more with improving your sleep and mood.

It will also help if you move more throughout the day, not just during your exercise session. So schedule a five-minute walking break every hour, stand up at your desk or pace around your home during phone calls.

“It doesn’t seem like a lot, but this extra activity all adds up,” Asche said.

Reducing your caloric intake even a small amount — such as 250 to 500 calories per week — can help you drop an additional half a pound or pound per week, Fennelly said. Keep in mind, too, that once your body begins to build lean muscle mass, which occurs mainly from strength training, your resting metabolic rate will increase.

“That means after you leave the gym, you’ll have a higher calorie burn,” Fennelly said.

Choosing the proper foods to eat can also help you shed pounds and feel more comfortable in your clothing.

“Focus on whole foods as much as you can,” Asche said. Whole foods are unprocessed or minimally processed foods left in their natural state, or close to it. Think fresh fruits and veggies, eggs, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

“Minimally processed foods will give you the proper fiber, iron and nutrients,” Asche said. “Overprocessed foods lack nutrients, so we’re not satisfied when we eat them, and so we have a tendency to overeat.”

Another hack is to pair your new fitness routine with an activity you enjoy, Fennelly said. “I tell my clients that once you leave here, find something else you enjoy to keep you active and engaged, such as pickleball or biking.”

Just don’t give up right away if those jeans are still a little tight. “The biggest benefit from exercising is that it boosts your mood,” Fennelly said, “especially if you’re prone to higher levels of stress. It’s also the No. 1 thing you can do to increase your longevity.”

“And that’s what we want, right?” Asche said. “Increasing your longevity is the biggest reason to exercise, even more so than losing a little bit of fat.”

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Melanie Radzicki McManus is a freelance writer who specializes in hiking, travel and fitness.