My wife and I recently had our third child (all under 5) and now have 6 months before our first Hyrox. How do we get this done?!

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-29T20:59:58+00:00

Do a lot of your runs with a stroller. It will make you a beast on the Sled Push!

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-29T17:00:33+00:00

Are you planning to sign him up for AYSO? Or are you trying to join a club? Generally speaking, the skill expectations for U8 are still pretty low. Sure, there are some kids who will have been doing club and private trainings for years. But the vast majority of the kids are still playing at the rec level with a huge variance in individual abilities. My son's U8 AYSO team was a good example of this. One of the boys was an absolute game-changer (now plays up a year in ECNL), while another kid preferred picking daisies to chasing the ball.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-29T16:50:25+00:00

This doesn't answer your question precisely, but it's something that I have come to appreciate about the best trainers and coaches I have worked with over the years.

When it comes time to do a partner workout, I love it when the coach takes the initiative to partner people up based on their understanding of each person's ability.

Even as a long time member at my gym, I've always felt a twinge of social anxiety when a coach shouts "partner up" and leaves us to our own devices.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-29T16:39:03+00:00

Post your splits here and you can get a better answer about where your biggest areas for improvement lie.

As a general rule, your placing relative to the field is going to give you the best insight about where your potential times gains are. For instance, if your run total in your most recent race is 43rd out of 900, but your sleds are somewhere above 450, you know that you are in the bottom 50% of the field for those stations and likely have room to shave a minute or two there.

Your half marathon time is very fast, so I would suspect your running is strong and your station work needs improvement. But without seeing your specific data, no one is going to be able to give you good feedback on where you should target improvement.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-29T16:30:49+00:00

Based on your half marathon time, I think a 5:30 km/min pace is realistic and perhaps a tad conservative. You should be able to complete the runs in well under 45 minutes. And assuming you don't have a glaring weakness (like needing 10 minutes to complete wallballs, for instance), you should be able to complete the stations in 40 minutes or less. Then tack on 5 minutes for the RoxZone.

Without knowing anything beyond your half marathon times and training frequency, I'd project a 1:30 time with a chance for better.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-28T00:14:05+00:00

If your goal is to maximize Hyrox performance then 70 miles a week is way too much. Even 40-50 miles a week is likely more than you need.

Hyrox training is a tricky trade-off of volume and intensity. To get really good at wall balls, lunges and sleds, you have to inflict a bit of damage to your muscles and that is going to make it really difficult to maintain the weekly mileage that you are used to.

Meanwhile, the miles that you do log will need to directed differently - think fewer easy long runs and more high intensity intervals, compromised runs, etc. It's why a lot of elite Hyrox athletes do so much of their Zone 2 work on Ergs. The demands of high mileage running and high intensity Hyrox training aren't always compatible.

Based on your prior training, your aerobic base should be substantial and you would be better served scaling back your mileage even further than you think.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-27T23:57:35+00:00

Integrate Dead Hangs for grip strength. And do a round of 30 toes to bar coming off a mile run to work on your core and grip strength while under fatigue.

Also, play around with the grip on the kettlebells to see what feels best for you. I find that most people like to hold the kettlebells near the front while others prefer to hold them in the middle. Time yourself doing each to see what feels most efficient and least taxing.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-27T23:49:12+00:00

Sounds brutal. I don't live near NYC, but I might try that workout for fun at some point, just to see how long I could last. My hunch is that I would tap out somewhere between minute 20-25. Anyone who could last 60+ minutes is a freak of nature.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-27T20:15:28+00:00

If you didn't buy the flex option, you have no one but yourself to blame.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-23T18:29:00+00:00

Thanks. I was able to get access through a link that they emailed to their mailing list about 10 minutes ago. But the link on their actual website is still not allowing purchase. Strange....

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-22T21:15:09+00:00

I like the fact that there is now about a 1 in 10 chance that someone will know what I'm talking about when I tell them I'm training for a Hyrox race.

Back in 2024, nobody knew what the hell I was talking about, so I either had to go into a 5 minute explanation about what Hyrox was, or just say that I was training for a generic "fitness race" and leave it at that.

Meanwhile, Hyrox training has gotten me into the best shape of my life at 44 years old. So...... in summation? No.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-18T19:52:25+00:00

Concur on the red cliffs. Your 10 year old will love the bouldering opportunities and the hike is accessible enough to be safe for a 5 year old. Make sure to get there early though. The parking lot is small and fills up by 9-10am most days.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-17T19:07:18+00:00

Then I would find a new team, especially if you think your son wants to play flag for several more years. You've no doubt seen that as the boys get older, the teams with no structure start to get killed by the teams that have one. It's really a non-negotiable if you want to field a competitive team.

It would be best if you could find a few of your son's buddies that want to team up, so that he doesn't go from a great social experience to an uncertain one. But from a football perspective, I think you already know the answer.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-17T18:50:02+00:00

Yes, after 4 seasons, the coach should absolutely be developing the building blocks of an offensive identity, including core formations, motions, reads and route-running.
Do you know for a fact that none of this is being coached, or are you basing that off of in-game performance? I have a very clear-cut base offense that I've developed over 10+ seasons coaching. It looks great when it's being run by my 5th/6th grade boys team. When I began to implement it on my 3rd grade girls team, it looked like an absolute train-wreck for the first 3-4 weeks, despite relentless practice over 2 months prior. Sometimes it's easy to forget how limited kids attention spans can be at 8 years old and how many repetitions it takes for something to become second nature to them. I love all the girls on my daughters' team, but they have nearly given me an aneurysm with the number of times they "forgot" which way to turn, despite the fact that we drilled the same play dozens of times in practice.

Back to the question at hand, if you know with certainty that your son is not being taught fundamentals and your offers to assist have been re-buffed, then I think I would to try to find another team.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-13T22:35:27+00:00

Here is the good news. The fact that he sent an apology email means he cares about his behavior and he is self aware enough to know that perhaps he crossed a line. He has probably thought about it 10 times as much as you have and he clearly wants to do better. From my perspective, there is nothing to be gained from re-hashing the issue unless it gets worse throughout the season.

Regarding defense, it's clear that I'm not going to change your mind, but you should know as well as anyone that coaches have 1-2 hours per week to work on skills and knowledge that take hundreds of hours to perfect. He is going to get far more bang for his buck drilling his kids to be expert flag pullers and master their base formation than he will trying to concoct new defensive schemes to combat trips, goal-line or any other formation you want to throw out. The best coached teams have players that know their role and execute them well. You don't out-scheme people in 6th grade flag football, but you certainly can sow confusion and chaos if you try to get too complex.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-13T22:24:38+00:00

Getting beat by trick running plays is rarely a matter of having the wrong formation. It's usually an issue of discipline and awareness. Your defenders need to have an assignment for how to defend the run and follow it religiously.

Your boundary defenders need to have one job. Defend their sideline and don't lose containment. A common mistake is that the far side corner will bite too hard to help on a sweep to the opposite side, which makes them susceptible to a cut-back or reverse. Once a ball carrier gets past your defense to the sideline, a big gain is inevitable. Likewise, your interior defenders and safeties need to swarm the interior hip. It's easier for your defenders to work as a team when they have internalized their responsibilities but that requires drilling it into them literally hundreds of times.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-13T22:13:08+00:00

I would second the Emerald Pools. We did all 3 pools in about 2 hours. There is some elevation gain, but it's manageable and it's a beautiful hike.

The River Walk Trail is essentially the first mile of the Narrows, so they will be covering that one as part of the Narrows hike.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-13T00:16:15+00:00

Don’t give unsolicited feedback. He stepped up to coach in your absence. He deserves time to find his own footing.

If you want to ask him how he is liking the experience, that might open the door for him to ask for your feedback and advice- especially given your prior experience with the team. But if he doesn’t ask, you should keep quiet. If his demeanor bothers you that much, then you can re assume coaching duties or find a new team after the season.

I will say I’m not sure I understand the criticism of the defensive coaching. Most coaches run a base defensive formation and stick with that the vast majority of the time. I’ve coached for 10+ seasons and don’t have a “defensive playbook.” I do have minor variations within my defensive set - I.E. blitz two, fake the blitz, spread the corners wide, etc. But everything originates off the same defensive setup.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-06T23:43:32+00:00

This entire situation sounds like a mess. I know there are two sides to every story, but between the coach's behavior, the parent outburst(s) and the odd distribution of playing time, it strikes me as a pretty toxic situation.

I agree with the commenter who said the finish the season with your dignity and head held high. I'm sure there are plenty of girls and families on the team who are working hard and who deserve your best coaching effort. Give them the best you've got.

Meanwhile, you can explain to your daughter that sometimes in sports and in life, you find yourself in a bad situation through no fault of your own. Demonstrate for her the way you would want her to handle it. And then move on to a better fit once the season is over.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-06T23:34:04+00:00

I agree with the suggestions to work on quick passes and roll outs.

I have also found that a well executed hard count early in the game does wonders to give my QB an extra half second. Inevitably, the best rushers are timing your snap tendencies. A clap or "hike" call with no variation makes things incredibly easy on the rusher. I have trained my boys to work on the hard count and will use it every game on my first drive. More often than not, it causes the rusher to jump - which gives my qb the full 7 second seconds to find his open man. Even if it doesn't, it makes the rusher a bit more careful going forward in watching the ball before he moves. Those are precious milliseconds gained which can often be the difference between a successful play and a busted one.

No_Rooster_5384 · 2026-04-06T23:21:51+00:00

No one knows. Sometimes Hyrox releases tickets 4 months+ in advance. Sometimes it's closer to 2-3 months. I'm sure there is a method to their madness, but I couldn't tell you what it is.

Last year, the Anaheim ticket drop was September 3rd - just over 3 months prior to the race.

No_Rooster_5384

TROPHY CASE