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Part 2 of 3: What Hyrox Says About the Fitness Landscape (and Why CrossFit Is Still My Baseline)
Let’s get this out of the way:
Hyrox isn’t “better” than CrossFit. CrossFit isn’t “better” than Hyrox.
They’re both trademark names for strength and conditioning programs. That’s it.
Fitness has always been a giant conveyor belt of fads and trademarks.
Jazzercise. P90X. Insanity. Orange Theory. Peloton. Gold’s Gym.
Now Hyrox is having its moment.
Underneath all of it?
Strength + Conditioning.
Same ingredients, different seasoning.
Hyrox leans heavily toward conditioning.
Gold’s Gym built an empire on mostly strength.
Orange Theory is conditioning with a heart rate monitor attached.
CrossFit blends the two on purpose.
So why do I own a CrossFit gym… and then travel to Chicago to compete in a Hyrox?
Because here’s the truth I believe with my whole coaching heart:
CrossFit’s methodology is the best baseline of fitness ever created.
Not the brand.
Not the Games.
Not the YouTube videos of superhumans snatching your bodyweight with one pinky.
The methodology — constantly varied, functional movements, performed at relative intensity — supports:
- mobility
- strength
- conditioning
- body awareness
- longevity
- the ability to do life
Better than anything else I’ve ever tried.
And I’ve tried a lot.
Hyrox leans into conditioning. So… I trained that.
My actual training for Hyrox?
Mostly the same CrossFit group classes I always do at Fountain City Fitness.
Plus a little extra conditioning because that’s the bias Hyrox leans toward.
If you’re training for a marathon? Go run.
Every running coach in the world will still tell you to do some strength work — which sounds a whole lot like CrossFit.
If you’re training for a bodybuilding show? Awesome.
Go chase the pump. But sprinkle in conditioning and mobility so you can move well into your 60s and 70s — again, CrossFit principles.
CrossFit is the baseline. The bridge. The thing that makes everything else easier.
If you’re not training for anything specific, you should be doing CrossFit.
If you are training for something specific, CrossFit makes that thing better.
And yes — I own a CrossFit gym and will still openly say:
CrossFit is also a trademarked fad.
But the underlying methodology will outlive every brand name slapped on it.
Call it whatever you want.
Strength + Conditioning + Mobility + Consistency.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet… and keep your knees happy into your 70s.
My personality will always chase the next shiny event.
Ultras. Hyrox. Olympic lifting meets.
I love competing. I love trying new things.
But between all those chapters, one thing keeps me durable and adaptable enough to jump into the next adventure:
CrossFit is my baseline.
It’s my anchor.
It’s the thing that makes aging feel optional and new challenges feel exciting instead of scary.
Part 3 coming soon:
The biggest lesson I took away from the Hyrox weekend.
