I stopped training like a rugby player and got fitter because I traded heavy lifting and short high-intensity conditioning for a large aerobic base and specific endurance work, and my capacity for sustained effort transformed. As of 2026, that swap is the single most reliable upgrade I see for former team-sport athletes chasing HYROX fitness.
- Rugby training maximises strength and repeated-sprint power; HYROX rewards aerobic endurance.
- Cutting lifting volume and adding easy running raised my sustainable output dramatically.
- "Fitter" for endurance means a bigger engine, not a bigger squat.
How was I training like a rugby player?
I was training for power and collisions, because that is what twelve years in rugby had wired into me. My weeks were built around heavy strength work, short brutal conditioning circuits and sprint efforts. The toolkit of a sport decided by explosive intermittent output. Coming from Wales U18, two professional years and a senior cap for Canada in rugby league, I genuinely believed that was what "fit" looked like. When I first took on HYROX I simply did more of it: more lifting, harder intervals, more suffering. My finish times barely moved, because I was pouring effort into qualities I already had in abundance while ignoring the one the sport actually rewards. I was training hard, but I was training wrong.
What did I change, and why did it work?
I cut my strength volume to maintenance and made easy aerobic running the centre of my week, and my sustainable output climbed. It worked because HYROX is an aerobic event, sixty to ninety minutes of continuous effort, and the limiter for a strong ex-rugby player is almost never strength but the size of the aerobic engine. When we built THETA BLUEPRINT and analysed how the sport is actually raced, this was unmistakable: the race is decided by compromised running and the ability to hold effort, not by peak power. Redirecting my training towards that quality meant the improvements finally came. The lifting I kept protected what I already had; the running built what I lacked.
| Element | Rugby-style training | What I switched to |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | Heavy, high volume | Two short maintenance sessions |
| Running | Short sprints | Mostly easy aerobic volume |
| Conditioning | Brutal short circuits | Compromised running off stations |
| Intensity balance | Mostly hard | Polarised: mostly easy, some sharp |
| Main target | Power | Aerobic endurance |
Why did easy running make me fitter than intervals?
Because the aerobic base is built primarily at low intensity, and that base is what determines how much work you can sustain. Elite HYROX training is heavily polarised. The large majority of running is easy, with only small sharp doses of race-pace and above, and for good reason: easy volume grows the mitochondrial and cardiovascular capacity that everything else sits on top of. As a rugby player I had almost no experience of this, because my sport lived in the hard middle and the explosive top. Learning to run slowly, consistently and often felt counterintuitive and even lazy, yet it raised my heart-rate-at-pace, my fatigue resistance and ultimately my finish time far more than the intervals I was used to grinding out.
How would I retrain a rugby player now?
I would flip the emphasis and be patient about it. This is the order I would set.
- Reduce strength to two short maintenance sessions a week.
- Make easy aerobic running the bulk of the training week.
- Add compromised running so the legs learn to run well when fatigued.
- Include only small, sharp doses of race-pace work, not endless intervals.
- Judge progress by pace-at-heart-rate and finish time, not by soreness.
"I spent my first HYROX block training exactly like the rugby player I used to be, lift heavy, suffer hard, repeat, and got nowhere. The moment I cut the lifting back and built a proper aerobic base, everything moved. Building BLUEPRINT only confirmed it: the engine is the thing," says Michael Snook, CTO, THETA.
Did I lose strength by training this way?
Barely, and it did not matter for the race. Two short maintenance sessions a week held onto the strength I had built over years, because strength is far easier to maintain than to acquire, and I already had more than the HYROX station weights demand. What I gained in aerobic capacity vastly outweighed the tiny amount of maximal strength I let slip. This is the reframe former team-sport athletes need: you are not abandoning strength, you are stopping the pursuit of more of something you already have in surplus, and spending that freed-up training on the quality that actually limits you. Trained that way, I got fitter in every sense that mattered for the sport: not weaker, just better balanced.
Common questions
Why did training like a rugby player not work for HYROX?
Because rugby training maximises strength and short-burst power, while HYROX is decided by sustained aerobic endurance. Doing more lifting and intervals pours effort into qualities you already have and neglects the engine the sport actually rewards.
Should ex-rugby players stop lifting for HYROX?
Not stop, but reduce to maintenance: two short sessions a week hold the strength you have. Most team-sport athletes already exceed the station weights, so extra strength rarely improves a finish time.
Why is easy running better than intervals for HYROX?
Because the aerobic base is built mainly at low intensity, and that base determines how much work you can sustain. Elite training is polarised, mostly easy with small sharp doses, precisely because easy volume grows the underlying engine.
Will I lose strength by training for endurance?
Very little, because strength is far easier to maintain than to build, and two short weekly sessions preserve it. The aerobic capacity you gain far outweighs any small loss of maximal strength.
What makes you "fitter" for HYROX?
A larger aerobic engine and better fatigue resistance, not a bigger squat. Fitness for HYROX is the ability to sustain a hard effort for 60–90 minutes, which is built through aerobic volume and specific compromised running.
How do I know the new approach is working?
Track pace-at-heart-rate and your finish or benchmark times rather than soreness. When a given pace feels easier and your heart rate at that pace drops, your engine is growing. That is the signal that matters.
Sources
- HYROX official race format and public results (hyrox.com)
- THETA's analysis of publicly logged elite training (Strava, race splits, published programs), 2023–2026
- THETA coaching data, 2024–2026
- Established exercise-physiology principles on aerobic development and polarised training
Want this programmed for you? THETA BLUEPRINT balances strength maintenance with the aerobic work a team-sport athlete is missing, built from a 2-minute assessment, with the first week of every block free. Build my plan.