Aerobic Decoupling: The Number That Tells You Base Is Working
Aerobic decoupling is the drift between your heart rate and your pace over a steady run: if you hold the same effort but your heart rate creeps up as the run goes...
HYROX Intel
Perspectives on the sport. Written by our Athletes, and our Founders.
Hyrox Intel — Tagged "Blueprint"
Why Engine Beats Strength for 90% of HYROX Athletes
For the large majority of HYROX athletes, aerobic engine beats raw strength, and the reason is structural, not motivational. The station loads are fixed and moderate, which puts a hard ceiling on...
The Race Block: Converting Engine Into HYROX Speed
The Race block is the final 2-3 weeks before your HYROX, where you cut training volume substantially while keeping short, sharp doses of race-pace work. Its job isn't to add fitness (that's...
Zone 2 Myths: What the Internet Gets Wrong About Easy Training
The internet gets Zone 2 wrong in three big ways: it treats a precise heart rate number as sacred when the zone is a range, it implies Zone 2 alone makes you...
How Long Should Your Base Block Last? The Honest Answer
Your base block should last 6-12 weeks for most HYROX athletes: nearer 12 if you're new to endurance training or building from a low base, nearer 6 if you already have years...
Lactate, Thresholds and Zones: The Science Made Usable
Lactate isn't a waste product that "burns" your muscles: it's a fuel your body produces and reuses constantly. Your thresholds mark the intensities where lactate production starts outpacing clearance: the first threshold...
The Talk Test: Zone 2 Without a Heart Rate Monitor
The talk test tells you you're in Zone 2 when you can speak a full sentence out loud without gasping, but not comfortably sing or chat effortlessly. If you can only manage...
From Couch to Engine: The First 12 Weeks of Base Training
The first 12 weeks of base training take you from couch to a genuine aerobic engine by building easy running volume progressively: starting with 3 short sessions a week and reaching 4-5...
Why the Best HYROX Athletes Jog Between Stations (and You Sprint)
The best HYROX athletes jog the transitions and controlled runs between stations while amateurs sprint them because the elites have a deep enough aerobic base to hold a smart, even effort, and...
Zone 2 and Fat Adaptation: Fuelling the Second Half of Your Race
Zone 2 training improves fat adaptation, your ability to burn fat for fuel at higher intensities, which is what spares your limited carbohydrate stores and stops you fading in the second half...
How BLUEPRINT Sizes Your Zone 2 Volume to Your Life
THETA BLUEPRINT sizes your Zone 2 volume to your life by taking your available training days, current fitness and recovery capacity from a 2-minute assessment, then prescribing the largest amount of easy...
Heart Rate vs Feel vs Pace: Three Ways to Police Zone 2
There are three reliable ways to keep your easy runs genuinely easy: heart rate (roughly 65-75% of max), feel (the talk test: full sentences without gasping), and pace (a set margin slower...
Why Zone 2 Makes Your Hard Sessions Harder (in a Good Way)
Zone 2 makes your hard sessions harder in a good way because a bigger aerobic base lets you produce more power before you tip into anaerobic territory, so your intervals hit higher...
Can You Build a HYROX Engine on Three Runs a Week?
Yes, you can build a genuinely competitive HYROX engine on three runs a week: provided each run has a clear job and you use ergs and strength work to fill the aerobic...
Zone 2 on the SkiErg and Row: Engine Building Beyond Running
You can build a HYROX engine on the SkiErg and rowing machine as well as on your feet: Zone 2 aerobic work transfers between modalities because it develops the same central adaptations:...
Why Your Easy Runs Are Too Hard (and It's Costing You Minutes)
Your easy runs are too hard because you are running them in the grey zone, too fast to build the aerobic base, too slow to sharpen anything, and it is quietly costing...