Dr. Lisbeth Hoyt, PT, DPT, CSCS
Over the last few years (in case you’ve missed the memo), HYROX has exploded in popularity alongside the running boom. HYROX is branded as a fitness race, combining running and functional strength or workout stations. Participants complete a 1K run followed by a functional workout station 8 times. You can participate solo, in a pair or as part of a relay team. What makes HYROX so challenging, but also fun, is the combination of running with high-intensity strength work which isn’t something you find at a traditional gym workout or with a road race.
Most recreational athletes start training for HYROX with either a strength or a running background but not always both. Us runners need to layer in muscular endurance and power exercises to our current running routines. Our gym focused athletes need to add in more running to increase aerobic capacity. As a physical therapist that works with runners, I’ll never be mad when someone asks to do more strength training. But adding in HYROX specific strength is a little more detailed than just picking up some dumbbells 1-2x/week and if done incorrectly significantly increases injury risk.
So how can Custom Performance help?
Gait Analysis
Whether you’re a runner tackling HYROX for the first time with some pain, or a strength athlete starting to add in some running, a gait analysis is a great place to start. Every evaluation at Custom includes a treadmill running assessment where we look at your overall form, cadence and running efficiency to see what we can improve. A HYROX race loads your legs with both running and strength exercises and small tweaks to running form can help prevent an overuse injury from occurring during training and increase your running efficiency overall.
Movement assessment
Physical therapists are experts in body mechanics or assessing how our bodies move. An evaluation will also take you through functional movements, assess joint mobility and overall strength to identify any limitations you may have. We provide targeted strength exercises to address any imbalances as well as form corrections (if needed) to decrease injury risk with repetitive movements. We also create a progressive strength program to increase your body’s tolerance to heavier loads.
Training load management
One of the biggest reasons we see a runner for an injury is a rapid increase in training volume or intensity. Adding a HYROX race to your calendar requires some type of training intensity increase, whether it’s adding in running or higher intensity strength training. We can manage training volume week over week to make sure you aren’t increasing anything too quickly as well as structure your training into your already busy life. Everything we do is individualized not only to your goals, but takes your previous training and injury history into account. Since we see our clients on a regular basis, often weekly in a training block, we can make adjustments in real-time as soon as something isn’t working for you.
Recovery
Seeing us regularly during a training block can help us stay ahead of any potential injuries and address small aches and pains as they arise. In addition to managing overall training load for running and strength progressions, our recovery services include a lower extremity flush, compression boots and cold tub access. We also ensure all of our clients have a good pre run warm up and post run cool down/stretch routine to recover efficiently from a run or strength session.
Most people think physical therapy is only for treating an injury. At Custom Performance, we handle the entire training process. Whether you’re preparing for your first race or chasing down a PR, we can help you train smarter, reduce injury risk, and optimize performance.