Chris Stanton, master trainer at Third Space, has revealed a new training programme designed to prepare members to compete in Hyrox events.

The move follows growing interest from members in taking on the Hyrox challenge.

“We noticed that a lot of our members were preparing for the events and were starting to talk to our trainers about support, so we tapped into that need”, Third Space CEO, Colin Waggett told HCM.

All the programming has been developed in-house by Stanton and is bespoke to Third Space. Programmes will run from 16 January for a 12 week period and will culminate with an in-house competition on 17 April.

Hyrox events will then take place in London on 30 April and 1 May, with the World Championships being held in Manchester in May.

“We spoke to Hyrox who were pleased to cooperate providing entries for qualifying Third Space members,” said Waggett, “so we’ll be officially using their name in relation to this programme.

“It’s fantastic to be able to lead the charge and offer members the chance to follow a fully scheduled training programme and get the support they need ahead of competitions,” he said. “We’re excited to be introducing a new category of training to the Third Space clubs. This launch is just one example of how we help members train for life, whether competition-based or a more general ongoing health and fitness target.”

A Hyrox event requires each competitor to complete 8 x 1km runs with a functional workout between each. Every competition has the same set-up which facilitates a global rankings system.

The format is: 1km run; 1km ski erg; 1km run; 50m sled push; 1km run; 50 m sled pull; 1km run; 80m burpee broad jump; 1km run; 1km row; 1km run; 200m kettlebell farmer’s carry; 1km run; 100m sandbag lunges; 1km run; and 75 or 100 wall balls.

The Third Space programme is designed to optimise a member’s training for the events by providing strength, endurance and cardio classes. Weekend classes will also run for those members who wish to go the extra mile.

Weeks one to three focus on strength and skill-based training; weeks four to nine are based around speed, power, muscular strength and endurance development; and weeks ten to 12 will be dedicated to specific competition training. A weekly running class helps prepare individuals for the 1km runs and weekly classes will share Third Space’s WOD – Workout of the Day – concept by challenging members with ski ergs, air bikes, farmer’s carry and wall balls.

“It’s been a privilege to create a unique strength and endurance programme exclusively for Third Space,” said Stanton. “As well as creating a supportive environment for people to increase their personal bests in cardiovascular activities and strength training, it will bring a sense of community, with participants seeing each other up to three times a week, reaching new goals together and then crossing the finish line together at our in-club competitions.”

Hyrox is a “fitness racing” concept, co-founded by former Ironman exec, Christian Toetzke.

As the company’s global race schedule has increased – from 28 races in 2021 to 45 races in 2022 – so has its gym affiliation programme. Third Space is one of 120 gyms in the UK now affiliated with Hyrox, but Third Space is the only club so far to take this partnership to a new level with this dedicated in-house training programme.

Gym affiliate partners generally enjoy a number of benefits, including financial kick-backs on member entry fees to events, the right to host Hyrox-branded events and training days and visibility on a gym-finder portal run by Hyrox.