Guide
Four sessions a week and a 1:15 goal time: what comes first?
Your own gap comes first. If it is in the runs, threshold work and a long easy run are your fixed sessions; in Brandt et al. (2025), endurance training volume was related to finish time (ρ −0.68, 11 athletes). If it is on the stations, train strength twice a week; if it has to share a session with running, do the strength first. Keep one threshold session either way. Polarised or pyramidal training made no difference to VO2max or time trial in a meta-analysis.
In short
- First find where you lose time, runs or stations. That decides how you split your four sessions.
- If the gap is in the runs, keep the threshold session and the long run. Endurance training volume was related to finish time in Brandt (2025).
- If the gap is on the stations, train strength twice a week. In Zanini (2025), runners then ran more economically after 90 minutes of running.
- Separate strength and running if you can; in one session, do strength first. In an umbrella review that was better for strength.
- Polarised or pyramidal made no difference. Choose the split you can keep up.
Where do you start with four sessions a week?
With your own gap: the difference between predicted and goal time, and where it sits. Four sessions is enough for one extra focus, not for two.
Take the Benchmrk example profile with goal 1:15:00 (Open Men, threshold pace 4:25/km, 35 km per week). The app expects 1:16:42. So the gap is 1:42, or 102 seconds. If it raced today, the prediction would be 1:19:17, a gap of 257 seconds.
| Where do you find 102 s? | Per part |
|---|---|
| Only from the 8 runs | 102 ÷ 8 = just over 12 s per km |
| Only from the 8 stations | 102 ÷ 8 = just over 12 s per station |
| Half and half | just over 6 s per km and just over 6 s per station |
The gap is small enough to pick one side. Unsure about the number of sessions? Read how often to train per week.
Is your gap in the runs?
Look at the drop-off between run 1 and run 8 and at your average running pace. In the HYScience study (Gutiérrez-Hellín et al., 2026), 24 PRO men ran run 1 at 3:43/km on average and run 8 at 4:25/km, 42 seconds per kilometre slower. One race, and we only read the abstract, so use it as a comparison.
If your drop-off is much bigger, or you do not even reach your required running pace in run 1, your gap is in the runs. How to work out that pace is in run pacing.
Is your gap on the stations?
Put your station times side by side and see which two cost you the most time. Rappelt et al. (2026) looked at 39,696 results from PRO and ELITE. The ranking shifted most on the sleds and the wall balls, and slower athletes were more sensitive to station time, especially on the strength stations. That is the top 100, in results without physiology. As a direction it is useful: if you lose time on sled push, sled pull or wall balls, prioritising strength makes sense.
What comes first if your gap is in the runs?
Your threshold session and a long easy run. Brandt et al. (2025) had 11 recreational athletes run a simulated race. Endurance training volume was related to finish time (ρ −0.68), as was VO₂max (ρ −0.71). Station times were not significantly related to finish time. Eleven people is few and correlation is not cause, but it fits a week where running gets the most room.
You don't cut strength: keep one session, combined with an easy run. Train running under fatigue in a compromised session. That is our choice based on research; Brandt did not measure running under fatigue itself. More in compromised running.
What comes first if your gap is on the stations?
Two strength sessions a week, next to your threshold session. Zanini et al. (2025) had 28 well-trained male runners do maximal strength and plyometrics twice a week for 10 weeks alongside their running. After 90 minutes of running their oxygen cost fell by 2.1%, against a rise of 0.6% in the control group. Their time to exhaustion after that fatiguing run rose by 35%, against a fall of 8%. They were runners, men only, not HYROX. For these runners strength cost their running nothing, and they ran more economically after a long effort.
If you can put strength and running a few hours apart, do so; with explosive work that helps (see how often to train per week). If it has to be one session, start with strength. Held et al. (2026) summarised 17 meta-analyses. Strength before endurance in the same session was better for strength gains, with a large effect. For muscle mass the order made no clear difference. There were few highly trained athletes in the studies.
Two example weeks of four sessions
Two example weeks for the example profile (threshold pace 4:25/km). Days and content are examples, not a prescription from a study.
| Day | Gap in the runs | Gap on the stations |
|---|---|---|
| Tue | Threshold: 5 × 1600 m at 4:25/km | Threshold: 4 × 1600 m at 4:25/km, then compromised finisher |
| Thu | Strength and jumps (40 min), then 40 min easy running | Station strength: sled push, sled pull, wall balls, then 30 min easy running |
| Sat | Compromised: 4 × (1 km at goal pace + one station) | Sim with your two weakest stations as a block |
| Sun | Long run 80 to 90 min easy | Maximal strength and jumps (40 min), then 50 min easy running |
| Strength per week | 1 session | 2 sessions |
In both weeks strength comes before running. If you have time, move the run a few hours later or to another day. Building the sim is covered in build a HYROX simulation.
What changes with three or five sessions?
With three sessions, the focus that fits your gap least drops out. With five, easy volume or a second strength stimulus comes in.
| Sessions | Gap in the runs | Gap on the stations |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Threshold, strength + easy run, long run. Compromised every other week instead of the long run | Threshold + compromised finisher, station strength + run, strength + jumps + run |
| 4 | See the example week | See the example week |
| 5 | Extra easy run of 45 to 60 min | Extra easy run, or the sim every week and the compromised finisher more often |
What you don't do with five sessions: put all the extra time into hard intervals. Rosenblat et al. (2025) compared polarised and pyramidal training in 13 studies with 348 athletes and found no difference in VO₂max or time trial. Only in competitive athletes did polarised do slightly better for VO₂max in a subgroup. None of the studies was about HYROX. Choose the split you can keep up.
When do you switch focus?
When your prediction shows the gap has moved. A few weeks on one focus makes that visible in your benchmarks and splits. If the chance stays low, adjust your goal rather than squeezing in a fifth and sixth session. The bigger plan, with build-up, benchmarks and taper, is in the HYROX training plan. Why you need both running and strength is covered in our Dutch guide on fitness or strength first.
How Benchmrk does it
The app predicts your time per run, station and Roxzone, plus your chance of hitting your goal time. That shows your gap. The plan puts strength for your weakest stations next to your running, and if there is no sim day, you get a compromised finisher after the threshold run. Five benchmarks recalibrate the prediction, and the plan adapts to what you log.
Frequently asked questions
What should I cut first if I only train four times a week?
Cut what does not fit your gap. Keep your threshold session either way and split the rest between running and strength by where you lose time.
Can I do strength and running in the same session?
Yes, though a few hours apart is better for jumps or explosive work. In an umbrella review by Held et al. (2026), strength before endurance in the same session was better for strength gains; for muscle mass the order made no clear difference.
How do I know whether my gap is in the runs or on the stations?
Compare your last race splits with your goal time. If your pace drops a lot from run 1 to run 8, or your average running pace is too slow, the gap is in the runs. If you mainly lose time on sleds or wall balls, it is on the stations.
Should I train polarised or pyramidal?
A network meta-analysis by Rosenblat et al. (2025) found no difference between the two in VO₂max or time trial. Choose the split you can keep up week in, week out.
Does strength training help your running too?
In a study of 28 well-trained runners (Zanini et al., 2025), oxygen cost after 90 minutes of running fell by 2.1% after 10 weeks of strength and plyometrics, twice a week. They were male runners, not HYROX athletes.
Sources
- Held et al. (2026), Maximizing Adaptations in Concurrent Training, an umbrella review of meta-analyses, Sports Medicine 56(6) – Abstract. 17 meta-analyses, 144 studies, 1,492 healthy participants. (accessed on 13 November 2026)
- Zanini et al. (2025), Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 57(7) – Abstract. RCT, 28 well-trained male runners, 10 weeks. (accessed on 13 November 2026)
- Rosenblat et al. (2025), Sports Medicine 55(3) – Abstract. Network meta-analysis, 13 studies, 348 athletes. (accessed on 13 November 2026)
- Brandt et al. (2025), Acute physiological responses and performance determinants in Hyrox©, Frontiers in Physiology (accessed on 13 November 2026)
- Gutiérrez-Hellín et al. (2026), The HYScience Study, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance – Abstract. 24 PRO men, HYROX Madrid 2025. (accessed on 13 November 2026)
- Rappelt et al. (2026), Longitudinal performance development in PRO and ELITE HYROX competitions, Frontiers in Physiology 17 (accessed on 13 November 2026)