Hyrox Heart Rate Zones, Pacing by Zone, Not by Pace
Hyrox is a Z3-Z4 race for 70 minutes straight. Here's how to use heart-rate zones to pace your race, your training, and avoid blowing up in stations 5-7.
Hyrox is fundamentally a Zone 3-Zone 4 race. You will spend ~70 minutes hovering between 87-92% of your max heart rate. The sled push, burpees, and final wall balls push you briefly into Z5. The runs are where most athletes ruin their race by accidentally going Z5 too early.
This guide covers how to find your zones, how to train them, and how to pace your race by zone instead of by pace.
The 5-zone Hyrox map
| Zone | % of HRmax | Hyrox application |
|---|---|---|
| Z1, Recovery | 50-60% | Cool-down, between training days |
| Z2, Aerobic | 60-70% | Long runs, base building (most weekly running) |
| Z3, Tempo | 70-80% | Run 1-3 of Hyrox; aerobic capacity work |
| Z4, Threshold | 80-90% | Stations + run 4-7; race-pace intervals |
| Z5, VO₂max | 90-100% | Sled push, burpees, final wall balls only |
If you spend more than 5-8 minutes total in Z5, you’ll cook your race. Most Open athletes who blow up at station 5 do so because they spent 12+ minutes in Z5 before they got there.
Average Hyrox heart rate
Across hundreds of Garmin / Apple Watch / Polar uploads from the public r/Hyrox community, typical averages look like this:
| Athlete profile | Average HR (% of HRmax) |
|---|---|
| Elite (sub-60) | 88-92% |
| Top 25% (sub-70) | 85-90% |
| Median (sub-90) | 80-86% |
| First-timer (sub-100) | 75-82% |
Counter-intuitively, slower finishers have lower averages: because they’re walking and pausing. Faster finishers stay near threshold the entire race.
How to find your true HRmax
The 220-minus-age formula is wildly off for trained athletes. Use one of these instead:
Option 1: 5 km running TT
Run a flat 5 km all-out. Your peak HR in the final 800 m ≈ HRmax. Common to be 5-10 bpm above the formula.
Option 2: 2 km row TT
Row 2 km all-out on a Concept2. Peak HR in final 500 m ≈ HRmax. Many Hyrox athletes get a higher HRmax on the rower than running, use the higher number.
Option 3: Hyrox simulator
If you’ve done a full or half Hyrox sim, your peak HR during burpees or wall balls = HRmax (or very close).
Race-day HR pacing strategy
This is the protocol most experienced Hyrox athletes use:
| Phase | HR target |
|---|---|
| Run 1 (km 1) | Cap at Z3 (75-80% HRmax). Resist the urge to go faster. |
| SkiErg | Z4 (85-88%) |
| Runs 2-3 | Z3-Z4 (low end of Z4) |
| Sled push | Z5 (90%+), unavoidable |
| Sled pull | Z4 |
| Run 4 | Hold Z4, don’t recover too much |
| Burpee broad jumps | Z4-Z5 |
| Runs 5-6 | Z4 (you’re committed) |
| Row | Z4 |
| Farmers carry + Run 7 | Z4-Z5 |
| Sandbag lunges + Run 8 | Z4-Z5 |
| Wall balls | Z5, empty the tank |
If your HR exceeds 90% in run 1, you’ve already lost. Slow down, even if it feels easy.
Heart-rate zone training for Hyrox
A typical Hyrox-prep week from a zone perspective:
| Day | Session | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Tempo run 5×800 m | Z4 |
| Tue | Long aerobic run 60-90 min | Z2 |
| Wed | Strength + station block | Z3-Z4 |
| Thu | Threshold rower 4×1 km | Z4 |
| Fri | Easy recovery | Z1 |
| Sat | Hyrox simulator | Z4-Z5 |
| Sun | Long run 90-120 min | Z2 |
Rule of thumb: 80% of weekly volume in Z1-Z2, 20% in Z4-Z5. The Hyrox simulator is the only Z5-heavy session. Skipping Z2 and going always-hard is the #1 reason amateur athletes plateau in Hyrox.
Wearable-specific guides
The exact HR zone setup varies by device. For step-by-step setup:
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