Hyrox training plan for German athletes: a 15-week build from base to taper

Hyrox was born in Germany (Hamburg, 2017) and the German race calendar is among the densest in the world: Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Hamburg. If you live in Germany or DACH and you've signed up for your first race (or your fifth), this is the 15-week structure that fits both the official station weights and the way the German race season actually runs.

Why 15 weeks (not 12)

Most online Hyrox plans are 8-12 weeks because they're written for English-speaking markets where most athletes register 3 months out. The German Hyrox market books faster: races sell out 4-5 months in advance, especially Berlin and Munich. The extra 3 weeks let you build a proper aerobic base before the strength-endurance phase starts beating you up.

15 weeks splits as:

• Weeks 1-5 — Base: aerobic foundation, station technique, light volume
• Weeks 6-10 — Build: compromised running, increased station volume, race-pace intervals
• Weeks 11-13 — Peak: full simulation sessions, brutal threshold work
• Weeks 14-15 — Taper: reduce volume 40-60%, sharpen intensity, race-day prep

Division and weights

Hyrox is identical worldwide so German races use the same kg-based weight standards as everywhere else. Pick your division before you start:

Station	Men Open	Women Open	Men Pro	Women Pro
Sled Push	152 kg	102 kg	202 kg	152 kg
Sled Pull	103 kg	78 kg	153 kg	103 kg
Farmers Carry	2× 24 kg	2× 16 kg	2× 32 kg	2× 24 kg
Sandbag Lunges	20 kg	10 kg	30 kg	20 kg
Wall Balls	100 × 6 kg	75 × 4 kg	100 × 9 kg	75 × 6 kg

First-time German Hyrox athletes should default to Open. Pro is unforgiving and the heavier sled push alone has a 25% extra failure rate at most German events compared to Open. If you're targeting sub-90 and you've done at least one Open race, then Pro is the next step.

Weeks 1-5 — Base phase

The goal here is unglamorous: build the engine. Most German athletes coming to Hyrox from a gym background under-prepare here because the strength stuff feels familiar and easy. Skip it and you'll blow up at station 5 every time.

Weekly structure (4-5 sessions/week):

• 2× long aerobic runs (45-75 min, conversation pace — should be able to talk in full sentences)
• 1× station technique session (light weights, focus on form: sled push body angle, wall ball depth, sandbag lunge stride length)
• 1× strength session (squats, deadlifts, rows, pulls — 4 sets of 8, heavy enough to feel but not max effort)
• 1× optional easy mobility / yoga / hike (50-90 min)

No race pace work yet. No compromised running. The temptation in week 3 is to start "training Hyrox" specifically. Resist. The base is what lets you absorb the Build phase later without injury.

Weeks 6-10 — Build phase

Compromised running comes in. This is the single most important type of Hyrox-specific work: running with your legs already trashed from a station. Most non-Hyrox runners think they can pace the 8 × 1km runs based on their fresh 1km time. They can't. The legs come into the third run already heavy.

Compromised running formula (do this 2× per week in Build):

1. Station effort: 2-3 minutes of one of the 8 official stations at race-pace intensity
2. Immediate transition: walk 30 seconds (your race-day roxzone target)
3. Run 1 km at race pace — and feel exactly what the legs feel like
4. Recovery 2 minutes
5. Repeat 4-6 times, rotating stations

By week 8 the typical German Open Men athlete should be holding 5:00 to 5:30 per km on the compromised running. If you're 30+ seconds slower, your base wasn't deep enough — drop intensity, add an extra easy run.

Weeks 11-13 — Peak phase

Full or half simulations. This is what scares people off written plans, but it's non-negotiable: you must do a 4-station or 8-station simulation at least twice in the Peak phase to know what your race-day pace actually feels like.

A typical Peak week:

• Week 11: half sim (runs 1-4 + stations 1-4) at race pace + bricks of station-run-station-run drills the other days
• Week 12: full sim time-trial at goal pace (or 95% of goal pace), then easy recovery week
• Week 13: half sim again, focusing on the weak stations identified in week 12

The half-sim in week 11 is where most athletes discover their actual race-day finish time projection is 5-15 minutes off the one they thought they had. Plan for this — the discovery is the point.

Weeks 14-15 — Taper

Volume drops 40-60%. Intensity stays. Most athletes screw the taper up by going too soft entirely — race-day legs feel flat, not fresh. The right model: shorter sessions, same paces.

Taper week structure (e.g. week 14):

• Mon: 25-min easy run
• Tue: 20 min — 3 × 800m at race pace, full recovery between
• Wed: rest
• Thu: 15-min station tune-up (light weights, 1-2 reps per station, just to feel the movements)
• Fri: rest or 20-min walk
• Sat: race day (if Saturday race)

German-specific race day notes

• Indoor venues run warmer than you expect. Berlin Velodrom hits 26-28°C during big events. Bring an extra pair of dry socks for after run 4 — sweat-soaked socks are blister-prone.
• Sled push surface at most German venues is high-friction artificial turf. Practice on this surface if you can; gym sleds on rubber feel different.
• Wall ball target height is the official Hyrox standard (3 m for men, 2.7 m for women) but lighting at some German venues makes the target hard to spot from below — hit the brightest part of the target, not the centre.
• Hydration: water stations between station 4 and run 5 are typical. Use it. Most German athletes have a 60-90 second window here.

Goal time benchmarks (Men Open, German race average)

Tier	Finish Time	Per-Run Pace Target
Elite	Sub-60	~3:50/km
Competitive	Sub-75	~4:30/km
Intermediate	Sub-90	~5:15/km
Finisher	Sub-2:00	~6:30/km

Tracking your build

The reason most athletes miss their goal time isn't the plan — it's not knowing where they actually are in the build. The Hyrox Race Planner auto-fits this 15-week structure to your race date, tracks per-station PBs, and projects your race-day finish time as you log sessions. The diagnostic engine tells you which 3 stations are costing you the most seconds so you train the gap, not the strength you already have. Race in 15 weeks. Plan once. Train.

FAQ

I'm coming from a CrossFit / Hyrox background — do I still need 15 weeks?

If you've done one race and your finish was over 90 minutes, yes. If you've done multiple races and you're targeting sub-75, you can compress to 10-12 weeks because your base is already there. The structure is the same; the Base phase just gets shorter.

What about Singles vs Doubles vs Relay?

This plan is for Singles. Doubles cuts station volume per athlete in half so the strength sessions can be lighter; the running stays the same. Relay is a different animal — each athlete only does 2 runs + 2 stations, so it's almost a sprint workout.

Hyrox season in Germany — best races for first-timers?

Munich and Düsseldorf typically have the most beginner-friendly atmosphere and best sled-push surfaces. Berlin is the biggest event but also the most crowded, which makes pacing harder. Hamburg (where Hyrox started) has the strongest local community.