8 best warm-up moves before a Hyrox race
Most Hyrox warm-ups are a jog and some arm swings. Then the gun goes, the first kilometre goes 20 seconds faster than planned, and the SkiErg feels like it's fighting back.
A good pre-race warm-up raises your core temperature, opens up the ranges the race asks for and gets your nervous system ready for the first hard effort. That structure comes from the RAMP model (Raise, Activate, Mobilise, Potentiate), introduced by Ian Jeffreys in 2007 and now standard in strength and conditioning.
Here are 8 moves worth 15 minutes of your race morning, in the order to do them.
1. Easy jog, 5-8 minutes
Boring, and you have to do it. You're raising core temperature, heart rate and muscle temperature so everything after it works properly. Warm muscle produces force faster and handles range better.
Keep it conversational. If you can't hold a sentence, you're already racing.
2. Leg swings, 10 each direction per leg
Front to back for hip flexion and extension, then side to side for adduction and abduction. This is the hip prep the sled push and the lunges will ask for later.
Hold something for balance and keep the swing controlled. You're finding the range you already have and moving through it a few times.
3. World's greatest stretch, 5 each side
Step into a lunge, reach your forearm to the floor inside the front foot, then rotate and reach the same arm to the ceiling.
It covers hip flexors, adductors, hamstrings and upper back in one movement. For a race with 100m of sandbag lunges and 200m of farmers carry, that's a good return on 60 seconds.
4. Bodyweight squats to depth, 15 reps
Slow, full range, hip crease below the knee on every one. You're rehearsing the depth the wall ball judges will hold you to, and warming up the pattern before you need 100 of them at the end.
If depth feels limited on the first few, sit at the bottom for a breath and let your hips open.
5. Scapular pull-ups or band pull-aparts, 15 reps
The SkiErg and the sled pull both start at the shoulder blade. Getting your scapula moving before the first 1,000m ski lets you drive the pull from your back for the full 4 minutes.
Bands are easier to bring to a venue. 15 slow pull-aparts, elbows soft, squeezing at the back.
6. Walking lunges, 20m
Practice for a station that catches people out. The 100m sandbag lunges come at station 7, and they punish anyone who hasn't rehearsed the pattern under load.
Use the warm-up to check your step length and knee tracking. Long steps burn your quads and short steps burn time, so find the length that suits you.
7. Two build-up runs, 60m each
Start easy, speed up over 40m, ease off. Cap it around 80% effort so it stays a rehearsal. You're opening your stride and reminding your nervous system what quick feels like.
After these, the first kilometre stops feeling like a shock.
8. One short potentiation effort
10-15 seconds of near-maximal work, then 5 minutes of rest before the start. A hard SkiErg burst, a heavy sled push or 10 explosive squat jumps.
This is the potentiate phase, and it has decent evidence behind it. Post-activation potentiation studies keep finding short-term improvements in explosive output after a heavy or fast preload, though the timing window matters a lot. Too soon and you're still tired. Too late and the effect has gone. 4-6 minutes is a reasonable target.
Skip this one if it's your first race or you know you go out too hard. It sharpens a controlled start and makes an uncontrolled one worse.
What to leave out
Long static stretching before a race is the main thing to cut. Holding stretches for 45 seconds or more reduces force output for a while afterwards, which is the last thing you want 10 minutes before the start line. Save them for the evening.
Cut anything that adds fatigue without making you readier. A set of 20 burpees to "get the heart rate up" spends energy you'll want later.
Timing it
Work backwards from your start. Moves 1-6 sit in the window from 30 to 15 minutes out. Build-ups at 12 minutes. Potentiation effort at 8 minutes. Then keep moving, stay warm and get to the corral.
If the venue is cold, keep a layer on until the last moment. Losing your warm-up to a 10-minute wait in a draughty hall happens a lot.
Common questions
How long should a Hyrox warm-up be? 15-20 minutes of activity, finishing 5-8 minutes before your start. Any longer and you're spending energy you'll want on the sled.
Should I take pre-workout before a Hyrox? If you use caffeine, take it about 45-60 minutes before your start so blood levels peak around the first station. Pre-Shot is £10.99 for six 60ml shots with 200mg caffeine each and needs no mixing, which helps when you're queuing for the bag drop. There's more in our guide to caffeine timing before training and racing.
Do I need to warm up every station? Prime the main movement patterns (hinge, squat, pull, lunge) and the first station. The race warms up the rest.
What about static stretching? Leave it until after. Use the pre-race window for dynamic work.
Should I do the same warm-up in training? Yes, that's the point. Race day is a bad time to try a new routine. Run this in the 6 weeks before so it's automatic, and pair it with the pacing plan in our Hyrox pacing mistakes guide.
All you need is 15 minutes and a band. It's the cheapest time you'll find in a Hyrox.