Trainer's Simple Tips for Controlling Heart Rate During HYROX
HYROX is a race-style competition that combines functional workout stations with roughly five miles of running, so it's safe to assume your heart rate is going to spike and stay elevated for the bulk of it. Add in the adrenaline-fueled atmosphere and motivating energy, and it becomes easy to hit your peak heart rate zones too early. In turn, this makes it difficult to endure the entire race at max capacity.
Most athletes tend to fall into one of two categories: strength or endurance-focused. Strength-focused athletes often struggle with maintaining sustained output, while endurance-focused athletes aren't used to carrying fatigue from resistance work into engine-based efforts, says Ayo Falae, a strength and conditioning coach and founder of Rise Fitness. In turn, many athletes overshoot early, misjudge pacing, and burn out before they even reach the halfway point.
"Pacing is a skill," Falae says. "If athletes haven't intentionally trained via zone 2 runs, tempo runs, simulations, or intervals, they haven't consistently exposed themselves to different stress levels and are defaulting to racing by feel. Racing by 'feel' is highly unreliable when adrenaline is high."
It may be easier said than done, but athletes should focus on controlled early output. Getting lost in the hype is bound to happen, but early stations should feel sustainable and repeatable over impressive. If you're accumulating fatigue faster than you can actually recover from, you're effectively capping your performance for later in the race.
Related: HYROX Trainer Shares the Simplest Technique Fix to Improve Your SkiErg Time
How to Control Heart Rate During HYROX Race
If you find yourself tanked early, focus on regaining control of your breathing while staying in motion. Shorten your stride, relax the upper body, and maintain a consistent cadence during the runs. If breathing hasn't settled within the first minute, that's usually a sign you're still pushing too hard.
"Count every five steps as one, work up to 20 or 30, then reassess," Falae suggests. "It helps you stay focused, regulate effort, and makes it easier to ease back into a sustainable pace without stopping."
Think about matching movement with breath. Take two to three steps per inhale and the same per exhale when running. Focus on full, controlled exhales to help regulate intensity and keep yourself from drifting into an unsustainable effort.
"If you can't control your breathing, you can't control your pace. And when fatigue sets in, the goal isn't to push harder, it's to stay organized and composed," Falae says.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Health & Fitness section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
2026 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 10:17 AM.