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What are the 8 Exercise Stations in HYROX?

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What are the 8 Exercise Stations in HYROX?
HYROX is a unique fitness race that combines running with functional exercises, testing both endurance and strength. Rapidly growing in popularity, HYROX is now a truly global phenomenon, with half a million athletes expected to compete, worldwide, in the 2024/25 season.

One of its defining features is the 8 workout stations, each designed to challenge different aspects of your fitness. Despite the physical demands, these stations require minimal technical skill, making HYROX a “sport for everyone” – from weekend warriors to elite competitors.

HYROX competitor, coach and commentator Greg Williams of Rox Lyfe takes us through the eight stations including descriptions of the exercises, required distances or reps, and the weights used.

After completing your initial 1km run, the SkiErg is the first station you are faced with. The requirement here is to cover a total of 1km on the Concept2 SkiErg machine. Competitors pull the handles of the SkiErg downward, mimicking the motion of ski poles. It’s a steady, controlled movement, requiring rhythm, endurance and a good technique to keep a strong pace without burning out early on in the race.

While it’s easy to look at this and assume it’s a workout primarily for the arms and shoulders, when completed efficiently, it’s very much a full body workout which also incorporates the core and lower body muscles.

HYROX competitions involve burpees, sled pushes, sandbag lunges and beyond

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© Hyrox

Following your second 1km run, it’s on to the sled push. One of the most physically demanding stations, the sled push tests your leg strength and full-body power. Participants push a weighted sled down a track, using leg drive and core engagement, to cover a total distance of 50 metres.

This station can often catch athletes out, especially if they don’t pace the station sensibly. It’s easy to tire your legs out here very early on in the race and make the remainder of the event a huge struggle. The run immediately after this station too, on tired heavy legs, can be difficult for some athletes who aren’t used to it. A mistake I personally made in my first race was not taking enough short pauses during the push and even though my time on the station itself was reasonably quick, I really struggled to run afterwards!

When training for this station, if you haven’t done a HYROX before, it’s difficult to know how it will truly feel on race day. This is because the sled you’re using, the surface you’re pushing on, the humidity in the room etc can all affect how well the sled moves. You can’t assume that a 152kg sled weight in your gym will feel the same as on race day.

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Distance: 50 metres (4 x 12.5-metre pushes)

  • Men’s Pro / Men’s Pro Doubles: 202 kg

  • Women’s Pro / Women’s Pro Doubles / Men’s Open / Men’s Open Doubles / Mixed Open Doubles / Men’s Relay: 152 kg

  • Women’s Open / Women’s Open Doubles / Women’s Relay: 102 kg

  • Mixed Relay: 102 kg for Women and 152 kg for men

After your 3rd 1km run, it’s on to the sled pull, another test of strength. Competitors drag the sled backward using a rope, for a total of 50 metres. At the end of each lane, you have a small box you are able to work within which is about 1.7 metres in depth. This means that rather than the sled pull being purely an upper body exercise, you do have a small amount of space you can step back into to help move the sled. Therefore, it’s an exercise which tests the posterior chain (back, glutes, and hamstrings).

One element to be careful of on this station is technique, and rope management. The further you pull the sled the more rope starts to build up around your feet which becomes easy to trip over if you aren’t careful.

Both the sled and participant must be behind the line when you start this station. You then pull the sled the length of your lane (which is 12.5 metres in length), past the line, walk back to the other end of your lane and pull the sled back. You then need to repeat this process to make up the 50 metres. Resting at any point is fine if you need to. You will receive a penalty if you step outside of your designated area at the end of your lane.

Distance: 50 metres (4 x 12.5-metre pulls)

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  • Men’s Pro / Men’s Pro Doubles: 153 kg

  • Women’s Pro / Women’s Pro Doubles / Men’s Open / Men’s Open Doubles / Mixed Open Doubles / Men’s Relay: 103 kg

  • Women’s Open / Women’s Open Doubles / Women’s Relay: 78 kg

  • Mixed Relay: 78 kg for Women and 103 kg for men

Run 4 is followed by 80 metres of burpee broad jumps (BBJ). Combining two brutal movements, burpees and broad jumps, this station challenges cardiovascular endurance and leg explosiveness.

You must start with your hands placed behind the line and your chest touching the floor. You then step or jump up, ensuring your feet don’t pass your hands, and perform a broad jump (ensuring you take off and land with parallel feet – no staggered take offs are allowed). You then drop, placing your hands no further than one foot length in front of your feet, and your chest back to the floor.

This cycle repeats until the distance is covered. It can be a brutally tough station which, if possible, you should look to maintain an efficient, steady rhythm on throughout (easier said than done!).

After your 5th 1km run, you finally get a chance to sit down! However, there’s no rest to be had as you must cover a total of 1km on the Concept2 rowing machine. The rowing machine provides a full-body cardiovascular workout that tests both endurance and muscular stamina. A good efficient technique can be very critical here and is something that many athletes get wrong (which costs them time and energy).

Appropriate pacing is important throughout HYROX, but especially so on this station. What you put into the rower doesn’t always pay you back with a significantly faster time. For example, if you row too fast, you may finish the station, say, 10 seconds quicker, but cause yourself a huge amount of fatigue for the remainder of the race.

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Ida Mathilde Steensgaard competes at Hyrox Denmark 2024 in Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark on March 23., 2024.

Ida Mathilde Steensgaard at Hyrox Denmark

© Jesper Gronnemark/Red Bull Content Pool

The farmers carry is the 6th station in HYROX. Participants carry two heavy kettlebells, one in each hand, while walking / running as fast as possible to cover a distance of 200 metres.

You are allowed to place the kettlebells down on the floor as often as needed but obviously if you can complete the whole thing unbroken it will likely mean you save time. It’s a station that tests grip strength, shoulder stability, and core endurance, and is generally one of the quickest stations in the race.

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  • Men’s Pro / Men’s Pro Doubles: 32 kg per hand

  • Women’s Pro / Women’s Pro Doubles / Men’s Open / Men’s Open Doubles / Mixed Open Doubles / Men’s Relay: 24 kg per hand

  • Women’s Open / Women’s Open Doubles / Women’s Relay: 16 per hand

  • Mixed Relay: 16 kg for Women and 24 kg for men

The penultimate station is the Sandbag Lunges. The end of the race is approaching but you’re likely extremely fatigued at this point and must now face 100 metres of walking lunges with a weighted sandbag on your back!

Athletes knee must touch the floor with every rep. It very much tests the quads and glutes, but there is also an element of strain on the arms and shoulders as you aren’t allowed to place the sandbag down on the floor at any point.

  • Men’s Pro / Men’s Pro Doubles: 30 kg

  • Women’s Pro / Women’s Pro Doubles / Men’s Open / Men’s Open Doubles / Mixed Open Doubles / Men’s Relay: 20 kg

  • Women’s Open / Women’s Open Doubles / Women’s Relay: 10 kg

  • Mixed Relay: 10 kg for Women and 20 kg for men

Jake Dearden performs at the Hyrox World Championship in Nice, France, on June 9, 2024.

Jake Dearden digging deep at the Wall Balls station

© Baptiste Fauchille/Red Bull Content Pool

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Nearly there! The final station is the wall balls. Here competitors must squat down with the ball, then explode up, throwing the ball to hit a target for a total of 100 reps. After the ball is caught, the motion is repeated. The height of the target, and the weight of the ball, differs depending on gender and division.

Proper squat form / depth, and accuracy with the ball throw (to the centre of the target), are crucial here as judges will ‘no rep’ if necessary which results in not just added time but also added fatigue.

It is very much a station that tests not just your physical abilities (challenging the legs, shoulders, and cardiovascular system all at once) but also your mental strength and concentration.

Repetitions: 100 Wall Balls

  • Men’s Pro / Men’s Pro Doubles: 9kg ball, 10 ft / 3.048 m target

  • Women’s Pro / Women’s Pro Doubles / Men’s Open / Men’s Open Doubles / Mixed Open Doubles / Men’s Relay: 6 kg ball, 9 ft / 2.743 m target

  • Women’s Open / Women’s Open Doubles / Women’s Relay: 4 kg ball, 9 ft / 2.743 m target

  • Mixed Relay: 4 kg for Women and 6 kg for men

Yes, I know I said there were 8 stations but consider this one a bonus!

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There is also the Roxzone to consider – an incredibly important section of the race that often doesn’t get the attention from athletes that it perhaps deserves.

The Roxzone is the transition area between the running course and the workout stations. The size will vary by event but on average you need to cover a total of 700 metres across the duration of your race within the Roxzone. Therefore, you can’t afford to slow down more than necessary (i.e. look to maintain your running speed) or get lost in the Roxzone (looking for the workout station you’re meant to be doing) if you want to go as fast as possible.

Each of these stations presents its own unique challenge, targeting different muscle groups and testing your endurance, strength, and mental toughness. To succeed in HYROX, athletes need to master not just running but also the ability to perform these exercises efficiently, whilst under fatigue. By preparing for each station individually, you’ll build the all-around fitness needed to conquer the entire race (while having fun in the process!).

Love HYROX? Watch the highlights from the 2024 HYROX World Championships where the fittest people on the planet went head to head for free on Red Bull TV.

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25 min

HYROX World Championships highlights – Nice

Discover what makes HYROX – the indoor fitness competition – a test of strength, endurance and determination.

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Fitness

Living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Is it good to exercise?

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Living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Is it good to exercise?

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome makes you extremely tired and affects your sleep quality. So, can exercising help to manage the symptoms? Let’s find out on World Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day.

Exercise is not just meant to manage a healthy weight, but also to reduce stress, as well as to keep bones and joints in top shape. Some moves may also be recommended to manage health conditions such as osteoporosis, diabetes and hypertension. But what if you feel too tired to do any kind of physical activity? Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a condition that leads to extreme fatigue. Even after resting, you will feel too tired to do anything. It also has an impact on the quality of your sleep and your ability to concentrate. So, is exercising the solution? On the occasion of World Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day on May 12, we tell you how exercising may help people with this long-term condition.

What is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic encephalomyelitis is a condition that can lead to extreme tiredness. It can affect anyone, including children. According to the UK’s National Health Service, this long-term condition can make you feel so tired that it can make daily activities like going to work or taking a shower difficult.

Chronic fatigue syndrome affects your sleep quality. Image courtesy: Adobe Stock

It can cause sleep problems, including insomnia. Sometimes, people with this condition sleep too much, and still feel like they have not slept properly. It can also lead to brain fog, and make it hard to think and concentrate properly. Due to disabling fatigue, which is unpredictable, it can disrupt personal, professional and social life of the person with this condition.

Can exercising help people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Physical activity may help to improve the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome symptoms along with muscle strength and cardiovascular endurance. But exercises should be done with supervision, according to The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Exercising with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome must be approached very carefully. “Gentle and well-paced physical activity can offer certain benefits if done correctly,” says physiotherapist Neha Gill.

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Here are some of the benefits:

  • Improves circulation: Gentle movement supports better blood and oxygen flow to tissues, which can help reduce brain fog.
  • Prevents muscle deconditioning: Long periods of rest can lead to muscle weakness and joint stiffness. “Light activity helps maintain basic strength and mobility without overexertion,” says the expert.
  • Supports better sleep: Calming movements like stretching, or even deep breathing may improve sleep quality, which is often poor in people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
  • Eases pain: Gentle stretching and mobility exercises can reduce muscle aches and stiffness.
  • Boosts mood: Movement, even if it is light, can increase the production of endorphins and serotonin, the feel-good hormones. “Exercising can help manage anxiety and depression that often accompany chronic illness,” says the expert.

Exercises for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

There are benefits of exercising, but it doesn’t mean you engage in high-intensity workouts or push through fatigue. Also, many people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are prone to dizziness, especially while standing, as per the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So, exercises that involve standing, especially without any support, should be avoided. Instead, try these exercises for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:

1. Diaphragmatic (Belly) breathing

  • To try this technique, sit or lie comfortably.
  • Place one hand on your chest, the other on your belly.
  • Inhale through your nose so that your belly rises followed by ribcage.
  • Exhale slowly through your mouth and feel your belly fall gradually.
  • Repeat the steps for 5 to 10 breaths.

2. Seated marching

  • Sit upright in a sturdy and comfortable chair with your feet flat.
  • Lift your right knee a few inches, then lower.
  • Alternate to your left knee.
  • Do 10 to 15 repetitions slowly on each leg.

3. Seated shoulder rolls

  • Sit tall with your arms relaxed.
  • Roll your shoulders forward in small circles 5 times.
  • Then roll them backward 5 times.

4. Wall push-ups

  • You can try standing with support. Stand facing a wall, your arms stretched out and hands on the wall.
  • Bend elbows to slowly bring your chest toward the wall.
  • Push back to the starting position of wall push-ups.
  • Do 5 to 10 reps, and rest as needed.

5. Ankle pumps

  • Sit or lie down with your legs extended.
  • Flex your toes toward you then point them away.
  • Flex your ankle towards you then move it away.
  • Repeat the steps 15 to 20 times slowly.

6. Cat-cow yoga pose

  • Get on your hands and knees. You can use a cushion if you feel the need.
  • Inhale then arch back and look up.
  • Exhale, round your spine and tuck your chin.
  • Repeat about 5 to 8 times.
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Yoga may be beneficial. Image courtesy: Adobe Stock

7. Seated side bends

  • Sit in a chair with your hands by your sides.
  • Raise your right arm over your head and lean to the left.
  • Hold for 5 to 10 seconds, return, and switch sides.
  • Repeat 3 to 5 times per side.

Tips for exercising with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

You need to be extremely careful while engaging in physical activity if you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Here are a few tips:

  • Start with just 1 to 2 exercises per session if needed.
  • Rest between these exercises.
  • No pain no gain doesn’t work, so never push through your pain or fatigue.
  • Practice exercise in good posture, as doing any exercise correctly is far more important than repetitions.
  • Use support props like pillows, chairs or walls.
  • Understand your limits, and stay within your energy boundaries.
  • Drink water before and after doing exercises for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. “Also, eat a small, energy-supportive pre-workout snack like a banana if needed before light movement,” suggests Gill.

You need to be cautious while exercising with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The goal is to gently support your health without worsening the symptoms. High-impact exercises or strenuous workouts can trigger crashes in people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. So, choose gentle moves and breathing instead. Talk to a doctor or physiotherapist before working out.

Related FAQs

How to resolve chronic fatigue syndrome?

There is no cure for chronic fatigue syndrome. But lifestyle changes, medication, and cognitive behavioral therapy and physical therapy may help to manage the symptoms.

Can you live a normal life with chronic fatigue syndrome?

Mildly impaired people with chronic fatigue syndrome may be able to go to work. However, careful planning and management of activities are needed.

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The 20-minute home workout this expert trainer used to tone her lower body

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The 20-minute home workout this expert trainer used to tone her lower body

Keeping your lower body strong and capable has many benefits, particularly for maintaining your mobility and independence into old age. Many of us also like having a muscular, toned lower body for the way it looks.

The good news is that whatever motivates you, you get both benefits, and this workout will improve strength and build lean muscle in your legs, all in just 20 minutes.

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Doing these six simple things will make you fitter than the vast majority of people

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Doing these six simple things will make you fitter than the vast majority of people

I recently witnessed an online melee as people debated the best way to perform a press-up: an exercise with an instruction booklet built into its name. Sure, there are nuances you can use to manipulate muscular engagement, but for the vast majority of people, simply pressing themselves away from the ground (kneeling or otherwise) will deliver most of the benefits.

This isn’t an isolated event either. Everywhere I look, people are seeking incremental health and fitness progress through (often expensive) hacks, shortcuts and supplements, all while leaving potentially huge gains on the table by overlooking the basics.

Regular sauna sessions in lieu of a good night’s sleep, a huge stack of pills where fruit and vegetables might suffice, and some new-fangled bosu ball exercise when a simple squat would deliver more bang for your buck.

I’m not saying these things are ineffective, but for the greatest impact on your health, you’re better off laying strong foundations first. Having interviewed some of the top researchers, coaches, trainers and athletes from across the fitness industry, I’ve identified the common denominators they all recommend for general good health.

From these, I have created six accessible, expert-led and actionable tips which you can use to become fitter than the majority of the population.

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Lesson one: Aim to be consistently good rather than constantly perfect

“Most of us have this mindset that more is better and we have to be absolutely perfect in everything,” says Sally Gunnell, former Olympic champion and founder of Life’s Hurdle. “But you can’t be perfect every day. That’s where exercise programmes and diets often go wrong.”

When people slip up and miss a day of their exercise plan, they often pack it all in. Failing to follow a diet’s strict rules regularly ends in a similar fate.

Gunnell likens this “all or nothing mindset” to getting a flat tyre, then slashing the other three. Instead, she recommends fixing the one that is broken by finding small ways to move your health and fitness in the right direction.

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Most people can make significant improvements to their health and fitness without needing to spend an hour at the gym (Getty/iStock)

“If you miss a workout or overeat on one day, don’t throw the week away and say, ‘I’m going to start again on Monday’. Just go back to your normal [healthy] routine. Progress isn’t about perfection,” she says.

“I always think about red, amber and green days. Your green days are your good days, but often you might have a red day where you don’t feel like doing anything. On those days, is there one thing you can do that makes it an amber day?”

This might mean a short walk when you would otherwise have been scrolling on your phone, or a quick five minutes of movement (such as the short resistance training routine below) while taking a break from your desk.

A few minutes of effort might not seem significant enough to have an impact, but doing these activities regularly will quickly rack up compound interest for your fitness.

“It’s about being consistent, doing something when you can, and having a mindset where you’re not beating yourself up [if you don’t do everything perfectly],” Gunnell says. “That’s the key to long-term health and building it into your life.”

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If we apply this to walking, step-based activity expert Dr Elroy Aguiar says the “ideal” baseline to hit for most health benefits is around 7,000-8,000 steps per day, with 20 to 30 minutes of walking at 100 to 130 steps per minute or faster.

However, he echoes the World Health Organisation’s sentiment that “every move counts towards better health”.

“If that means walking a little bit more quickly to your car, the train station or a bus stop, just to elevate your heart rate and your metabolic rate a little bit for those brief periods which you can accumulate throughout the day, those things count as well in terms of exercise,” Dr Aguiar says.

The benefits of regular bouts of movement, however small, will add up over time

The benefits of regular bouts of movement, however small, will add up over time (Getty/iStock)

Lesson two: Vary your movements

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Broadly speaking, the body operates on a use it or lose it basis. If you do something regularly, it will adapt to do it better. If you stop doing something, it will gradually discard the strength, mobility and cardiorespiratory fitness required to do so. Therefore, if you want to be able to move freely, moving frequently is a non-negotiable.

Top strength coach Dan John identifies the five basic human movements as push, pull, hinge, squat and loaded carry.

Movement mechanics expert Ash Grossmann also highlights the importance of moving in all three planes of motion; sagittal, meaning up, down, forward and backward motions; frontal, meaning side-to-side actions such as bending; transverse, meaning twisting or rotational movements.

If you can cover these eight bases each week, whether that’s via strength training, pilates or any other activity you favour, your body is likely to feel more supple than most.

“We want to maintain as many movement options as possible, so that means moving as many joints as possible in as many directions as possible,” says Grossmann. “Doing things like side bends and rotations will all contribute to a body that feels limber and loose.”

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Movement mechanics expert Ash Grossmann says the body works on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis when it comes to movement, so it pays to move your body in a variety of ways on a regular basis

Movement mechanics expert Ash Grossmann says the body works on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis when it comes to movement, so it pays to move your body in a variety of ways on a regular basis (Getty/iStock)

Lesson three: Do resistance training in some form

Resistance training is the golden goose for health, fitness and longevity, offering an invariably cheaper entry fee and far greater return on investment than most biohacking options.

“In my opinion, the benefits of maintaining healthy muscle are highly underrated,” says Well To Lead founder Ollie Thompson, a trainer who specialises in longevity. “Consistent resistance exercise enhances metabolic function by improving insulin sensitivity, supports cardiovascular health by reducing blood pressure and inflammation, helps maintain hormonal balance to combat age-related decline, preserves bone density to reduce fracture risk and strengthens the immune system to help fight off disease.”

But resistance exercise doesn’t have to mean spending an hour in the gym every day.

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Your muscles don’t know the difference between a dumbbell, barbell or bodyweight workout, they just recognise the need to overcome resistance. As long as an exercise is adequately challenging, it will prompt positive adaptations to strength and size, so time-savvy home workouts will serve most people just fine. And beginners can see significant improvements from minimal input.

“This is because any type of resistance training is a new stimulus to the body,” explains Amanda Capritto, a personal trainer who specialises in minimal equipment workouts. “A previously unstimulated neuromuscular and musculoskeletal system will respond quite dramatically to lower total training volumes and less intense stimuli, compared to the more advanced lifter [who will likely require more weight, intensity and volume in their workouts to see progress].”

To prove this point, a new 2025 study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that a five-minute resistance training workout comprising five beginner-friendly bodyweight exercises “significantly improved physical fitness and mental health in sedentary individuals” when performed daily for four weeks.

Fancy trying something similar? Then, every day or two, complete one round of the equipment-free circuit below:

  • Knee press-up x 8-12
  • Single-arm bent-over row with rucksack x 8-12 each side
  • Squat x 8-12
  • Suitcase carry with rucksack x 10-20m each side
Home workouts, with or without weights, can be an effective way to build strength, muscle and more resilient joints, as long as the exercises provide an adequate challenge

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Home workouts, with or without weights, can be an effective way to build strength, muscle and more resilient joints, as long as the exercises provide an adequate challenge (Getty/iStock)

Lesson four: Apply progressive overload to your training

One of the most common training mistakes is stagnation. People get stuck in a loop of doing the same exercises at the same weights for the same number of sets and reps every week.

But given the Said (specific adaptations to imposed demands) principle, in which the body only adapts to better handle the tasks we consistently ask of it, this is one-way traffic to a progress plateau. Instead, you need to gradually increase the challenge of your workouts via a process called progressive overload to continue to see benefits.

Take the five-minute workout above as a case study. For some people, it will present a challenge as written. For others, it may feel like a breeze.

If you’re in the latter camp and it requires less than a seven out of 10 effort, it’s time to increase the difficulty if you want to see progress. You can do this by performing the circuit multiple times, increasing the number of reps you perform of each exercise, increasing the weight you’re lifting (by adding items to the rucksack, and wearing it for the squats and press-ups) or switching to similar but more challenging variations of each exercise.

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For example:

  • Press-up x 10-15
  • (Heavier) single-arm bent-over row with rucksack x10-15
  • Bulgarian split squat x 10-15 each side
  • Romanian deadlift with rucksack x 10-15
  • (Heavier) Suitcase carry with rucksack x 20-30m each side
Improving your sleep quantity might not be an option, but there are steps you can take to bump up your sleep quality

Improving your sleep quantity might not be an option, but there are steps you can take to bump up your sleep quality (Getty/iStock)

Lesson five: Tweak your routine to improve sleep quality

Nearly every fitness professional I’ve spoken to swears by the same first pillar for feeling better: improve your sleep. Dan Lawrence, a performance coach to elite athletes such as boxer Conor Benn, is the latest to lend weight to the argument.

“Sleep is the number one recovery tool, and it costs absolutely nothing,” he tells me. “If an athlete had a poor night’s sleep, we identify why. Have they eaten too late? Is their brain going at too fast a rate? Do we need to regulate autonomic status and breathing work? What’s gone on that’s led to poor sleep?”

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The problem is, most of us aren’t elite athletes. We have early morning alarms, social commitments and unforeseen interruptions which impact our nightly slumber. However, Lawrence’s points still stand: the aim is to optimise the time we do spend in bed.

He recommends keeping your room cool and finding a sleep set-up that works for you – during Conor Benn’s training camp before his Chris Eubank Jr fight, Lawrence sprang into action after identifying a “pillow issue” which was hampering the star’s sleep.

The Sleep Scientist founder Dr Sophie Bostock also prescribes prioritising consistent sleep and wake times where possible. This will help keep you in sync with your circadian rhythm, helping your various bodily systems run smoothly.

Accessing bright natural light first thing in the morning, leaving a few hours before dinner and bedtime, and finding a way to destress before bed (such as meditation or journaling) can also improve your sleep quality.

Author, trainer and fat loss expert Ben Carpenter says focussing on eating nutritious foods can displace 'high-calorie ultra processed foods' in your diet

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Author, trainer and fat loss expert Ben Carpenter says focussing on eating nutritious foods can displace ‘high-calorie ultra processed foods’ in your diet (Getty/iStock)

Lesson six: Build positive nutrition habits and improve your food environment

The final step when building the base of the fitness pyramid is nutrition. But again, we’re not elite athletes, so you don’t have to weigh everything you eat and take all the fun out of food.

Instead, a few sustainable habits are likely to push the nutrition needle in the right direction, with dramatic carryovers to how you feel and perform.

“Picking some solid nutritional foundations to get better at is a good place to start, even if it’s just one or two things,” says Everything Fat Loss author Ben Carpenter. “Hopefully, they should become easier over the next few months, rather than you following a strict diet for four weeks, then stopping.”

The first foundation he recommends is “focusing on [consuming] nutritious foods rather than high-calorie, ultra-processed foods”.

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“If you focus more on nutritious food, it’s building a habit rather than severing one,” he explains. “A lot of diets are focused on restriction and avoidance: you’re not allowed to eat certain things, or you have to reduce your intake of xyz.

“I like focusing on nutritious foods you can add in. They tend to have a habit of displacing other foods out of your diet because appetite is finite.”

Another thing you can do is create a favourable food environment which promotes positive nutrition choices. This can benefit everyone from office workers to elite athletes, as Manchester City Women’s physical performance lead Dan McPartlan explains.

“The eating environment is really important; trying to make the right foods appealing to the players, and buying food that they really want to eat.

“We’ve had a big focus on post-match food over the last few years. When I first arrived, we had little boxes of food that we would put in the microwave at the back of the bus after a game. We now have one of the chefs from the academy who travels with us, and he will cook fresh pasta at the back of the bus.”

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If a private pasta specialist isn’t an option, Carpenter says there are easier ways to achieve this.

Try keeping nutritious food options in more accessible spots than less nutritious options. For example, boiled eggs instead of snack bars or fruit on your desk, rather than a communal high-calorie treats like biscuits.

It’s far from a straight swap, granted, but you’re more likely to make positive choices if it is easier to do so.

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