In this episode of the HYROX Coaching Podcast, Aaron and Chris dive into one of the most misunderstood areas of HYROX performance: energy systems.

Despite the heavy sleds, lung-burning stations and repeated high-intensity efforts, HYROX remains an overwhelmingly aerobic event. The lads break down the three energy systems, explain how they work together during a race, and discuss why so many athletes end up training the wrong qualities after focusing on the parts of the race that hurt the most.

Using practical race examples, including the sled push, they explore how aerobic fitness influences not only running performance but also recovery between stations, fatigue management and the ability to repeatedly produce force throughout the race. The conversation also covers pacing, threshold training, oxygen kinetics, doubles strategy, cross-training and why strength only remains useful up to the point where you're strong enough.

If you've ever wondered why strong athletes still blow up, why some competitors seem to recover while running and others never get their breathing back under control, or why coaches keep banging on about aerobic development in a race that includes a 202kg sled, this episode is for you.

Topics covered:

• The three energy systems and how they contribute during HYROX
• Why aerobic contribution arrives earlier than most athletes realise
• How the sled push demonstrates energy system interaction
• Why pacing mistakes often show up later in the race
• The importance of oxygen kinetics and recovery between stations
• Why doubles is still predominantly aerobic
• How threshold training transfers to HYROX performance
• The role of cross-training in building aerobic capacity
• Why strength matters until you're strong enough
• Managing fatigue versus simply producing more fatigue
• Recovery as a key performance metric
• Practical training takeaways for HYROX athletes

As always, if you enjoy the episode, please leave a review, share it with a training partner and follow the podcast for future episodes.