Hyrox World Record Holder Describes His Training in 53 Minutes

Описание: Elite 15 Hyrox athlete describes his Hyrox training in obsessive detail.

Episode breakdown:
00:00 – Meet Pelayo Menéndez Fernández
Elite HYROX athlete, world record holder & endurance innovator

01:00 – Why Most HYROX Training Misses the Mark
High intensity vs real race demands

02:20 – The HYROX Endurance Session Explained
Zone 2, pacing, and 90–150 minute station work

04:10 – Why Athletes Rest Too Much (or Too Little)
Learning controlled fatigue inside stations

05:40 – What “Efficiency” Really Means in HYROX
Minimum energy, maximum speed

06:45 – The Lunge Technique Nobody Talks About
Why hitting the ground HARD makes you faster

07:15 – Burpee Efficiency Secrets from the Elites
Momentum, bounce, and saving massive energy

08:40 – Why Some Techniques Only Work at High Level
Beginner vs elite movement strategies

10:05 – How Pelayo Discovers New Techniques
Trial, intuition, and movement experimentation

11:35 – Teaching Athletes to Find Their Own Inefficiencies
Drills, awareness, and movement principles

13:10 – Why Drills Matter More Than Workouts
Lessons from running and swimming efficiency

15:15 – The Wall Balls Problem (And Why It’s Mental)
Elite struggles, pressure, and race psychology

17:40 – Why Training Wall Balls ≠ Racing Wall Balls
The missing fatigue and mental component

20:05 – Strength vs Endurance Trade-Offs in HYROX
Why more muscle isn’t always better

21:00 – Pelayo’s Philosophy on Strength Training
Supersets, safety, and race-specific strength

22:30 – How He Thinks About Running Intensity
Threshold, VO₂ max, and race transfer

25:15 – The Training Block That Led to a World Record
Glycolytic + threshold running explained

27:05 – Building the Ideal Weekly HYROX Training Plan
The two non-negotiable sessions

29:15 – The Brutal Bodyweight + Running Session
Why it works and how to pace it

30:55 – Strength Sessions That Actually Transfer to Racing
Eric machines, threshold work, and fatigue control

33:25 – High Days vs Low Days Explained
How Pelayo structures recovery

36:00 – How Beginners Should Scale This Training
Same structure, lower intensity

38:10 – Can Anyone Break 60 Minutes in HYROX?
Potential vs commitment

40:50 – Coaching Athletes from Strength Backgrounds
How to build endurance without breaking them

44:30 – What Running Feels Like After Each Station
Accepting discomfort and settling fast

46:15 – The Mental Tricks Pelayo Uses in Racing
Reframing pain as confirmation

47:15 – Why Race Day Is a Privilege
Holding back in training to unleash performance

49:20 – Racing Without Looking at the Watch
Pure effort, instinct, and confidence

50:45 – How Racing Changes Your Identity
Confidence beyond fitness

52:30 – What Pelayo Is Most Curious About Right Now
Transferring mindset to athletes

53:25 – Final Thoughts & Closing

Some of my takeaways:

1/ Triathlon is a great background for Hyrox. Pelayo is a well accomplished triathlete. One of the hardest parts of Hyrox is developing an aerobic base that can handle 60-minutes of high intensity output. Triathlon provides a great foundation for this.

2/ Traditional strength training is overrated for Hyrox. Pelayo strength trains 2x per week. This strength training involves an hour of fast moving super-setted exercises, followed by roughly 20-30 minutes of “threshold” muscular endurance training. There’s very little that resembles classic body-building or power-lifting.

3/ Pelayo saves his top intensity for race day only. He describes how his training sessions would not appear very impressive compared to many others. But he can race extremely fast. This is because he’s consistent in his training, and he lets his fitness shine when it really matters.

4/ Many people can achieve a sub-60 Hyrox. A sub-60 Hyrox is an aspirational achievement for many Hyroxers. Roughly 2-5% of finishers achieve this time. Pelayo believes that with good training, this is achievable for most individuals in their 20s and 30s.

5/ Station efficiency is critical for Hyrox. Pelayo spends hours a week trying to become more efficient at movements like lunges, sled push, rowing, and burpees. Moving fast, with less energy is one of the critical features of racing well at Hyrox. This is often overlooked!

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📝 Show Notes
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