1 · Aerobic capacity
Maximal sustainable aerobic output. Tested by your reliable 5–10 km run pace. Athletes with a low aerobic ceiling collapse in the second half of HYROX regardless of strength.
The cycle, visualized
How the methodology works.
Eight stages. Every week, the system loops through them, assessment or check-in input → diagnosis → plan generation → execution → logging → analysis → re-generation. Honest weekly data is what makes the loop adaptive.
The 10 limiter categories
What we actually score.
HYROX performance is the sum of running, station execution, transitions, conditioning under load, and mental durability. We split it into 10 specific limiter categories. Most athletes have one obvious primary limiter and 2–3 secondary ones.
2 · Lactate threshold
The pace you can hold for 30–60 minutes. The closest analogue to HYROX work intensity. Athletes who can't sit at threshold for long miss minutes in the running.
3 · Run economy + form
How much oxygen you burn per minute at race pace. Two athletes can have the same VO₂ max but very different finishing times because of running economy.
4 · Strength endurance
Repeated submaximal force production: sled push, sled pull, wall balls. The "Frankenstein" of HYROX. Pure strength + pure endurance both fail here, you need the hybrid.
5 · Grip + carry
Farmer's carry, kettlebell carry, sandbag lunges. Often the silent limiter, athletes who can run + lift fail because grip gives out, then everything else cascades.
6 · Anaerobic capacity
Short-burst high-intensity output. The cost of the ski erg, the row, the burpees. Athletes weak here have to slow down disproportionately on those stations.
7 · Station technique
Inefficient form costs energy. A sloppy wall ball burns more than a clean one. A bad sled posture loses meters. Technique can move 3–5 minutes for the same fitness.
8 · Transitions + pacing
The cost of switching modes, from a station back to running. Athletes who run too fast off a station blow up. Athletes who walk too long lose time.
9 · Recovery + readiness
Sleep, life stress, training load tolerance. The athlete who trains the program perfectly but sleeps 5 hours gets less out of every session.
10 · Mental durability
The willingness to keep moving when it hurts. The least quantifiable limiter and often the truest. Improved by repeated controlled exposure to discomfort.
How the scoring works
What happens when you take the assessment.
The assessment asks 29 questions across the 10 categories. Each question targets specific evidence, your 5 km time, your sled push 100 m time, your grip status at minute 45 of HYROX, your sleep average. We avoid asking "rate your strength 1–10" because self-rating is noisy. We ask for performance numbers and lived experience.
Each answer contributes weighted points to one or more limiter categories. We sum the weighted points, normalise per category (because some have more questions than others), and rank them. The lowest-scoring category becomes your primary limiter. The next two become secondary limiters. The rest are already adequate for your current performance level.
Your result is a coaching estimate, not a precision instrument. The same athlete answering on a tired day vs a fresh day will get a slightly different ranking on borderline categories. The primary limiter is usually unambiguous; the secondary limiters can drift.
How plans are constructed
From limiter to weekly plan.
Once we know your primary limiter, a plan is generated that rebalances your training week:
- ~50% of training volume goes to the primary limiter's adaptation work. If your primary is aerobic capacity, that means high-volume zone 2 + zone 3 running. If it's grip + carry, that means weighted carries + sandbag work.
- ~30% of training volume maintains the secondary limiters. We don't ignore them, we hold the line.
- ~20% of training volume covers race-specific work: station-to-run transitions, full HYROX simulations, pacing practice.
The split adjusts based on how close you are to a race. With 12+ weeks to a race, we keep the limiter focus high. With 4 weeks out, we shift toward more race-specific work and less single-limiter focus. With 0 races on the calendar, we treat the season as a build, primary limiter gets even more emphasis.
Every session has a target RPE (rate of perceived exertion), a target time, and a "what to do if you're cooked" modification. We don't expect every session to be hit perfectly. Adherence over perfection.
What's measured well
Where the methodology is most accurate.
Most accurate: aerobic capacity, lactate threshold, strength endurance, grip + carry. These are well-described by performance numbers (run times, station times) and have low subjective noise.
Less accurate but still useful: station technique, transitions + pacing. These depend partly on technique cues we can't see. Members who add video review get better refinement.
Most subjective: mental durability and recovery + readiness. These come from self-report (sleep average, RPE on training days, racing experience). Self-report is honest but variable.
Take the assessment
Six minutes to your primary limiter.
Free. No signup. The result shows your primary limiter + the training direction that would shift it most. You can come back any time to see if your limiter has changed.