HYROX divisions explained: Open vs Pro weights, Doubles, Relay and age groups

Every HYROX division races the same format: eight 1km runs and the same eight stations in the same order. What changes is how heavy the kit is, who does the work, and whether your result can earn a World Championships slot. Those three things should decide your entry, not which name sounds toughest.

Here are the HYROX divisions explained, straight from the current official HYROX rulebooks (Season 26/27): the weights for every division, how Doubles and Relay actually work on race day, the age groups, Adaptive, and an honest way to pick yours. Some guides still quote 9ft and 10ft wall ball targets or a qualifying time for Pro. Neither is in the rulebooks.

HYROX divisions at a glance

HYROX has four formats, each with its own rulebook. Singles has four divisions, Doubles has five, Relay has three and Adaptive has 13.

Format	Divisions	Who does the work	Loads
Singles	Women, Men, Women Pro, Men Pro	You do all 8km and all eight stations	Open or Pro
Doubles	Women, Men, Mixed, Women Pro, Men Pro	Two partners run every kilometre together and split each station	Same as singles, never halved
Relay	Women, Men, Mixed	A team of four, each racer doing two runs and two stations	Open loads only
Adaptive	13 divisions, by impairment	You, with adapted loads, reps or movements	Set per division

The rulebooks call the singles divisions Women, Men, Women Pro and Men Pro. hyrox.com calls the first two Open, and so does this article.

The race format is the same in every division

Strip the labels away and every HYROX race is identical: eight 1km runs, each followed by one workout station, in a fixed order.

1. SkiErg, 1,000m
2. Sled push, 50m
3. Sled pull, 50m
4. Burpee broad jumps, 80m
5. Row, 1,000m
6. Farmers carry, 200m
7. Sandbag lunges, 100m
8. Wall balls, 100 reps

Outside Adaptive (more on that below), the running distance, station distances and reps are the same in every division. Three stations are identical regardless of division: the SkiErg, the row and the burpee broad jumps. Both ergs are Concept2 machines, and the Single Rulebook presets the damper to 6 for every division (you can change it as often as you like). The other five stations are where your division shows up.

Venue layout can split each run into laps, but the rulebooks balance any short lap so the total is always 8,000m. A London course and a Chicago course are the same race on paper.

HYROX weights by division (Season 26/27)

Here's the full breakdown of station weights. Outside Adaptive, there are only three sets of loads in HYROX, which makes this simpler than it looks.

Station	Women (Open)	Men (Open) and Women Pro	Men Pro
Sled push, 50m (including sled)	102kg	152kg	202kg
Sled pull, 50m (including sled)	78kg	103kg	153kg
Farmers carry, 200m	2 × 16kg	2 × 24kg	2 × 32kg
Sandbag lunges, 100m	10kg	20kg	30kg
Wall balls, 100 reps	4kg	6kg	9kg
Wall ball target height	2.70m	3.00m for men, 2.70m for Women Pro	3.00m
Kettlebell, sandbag and wall ball colour	White	Grey	Black

Which column are you in?

• Lightest loads (white): Women, Doubles Women, Relay Women, and the women in a Mixed Relay team.
• Middle loads (grey): Men, Women Pro, Doubles Men, Doubles Women Pro, Doubles Mixed (both partners), Relay Men, and the men in a Mixed Relay team.
• Heaviest loads (black): Men Pro and Doubles Men Pro.

Three details catch people out.

The sled weights include the sled. 152kg is the total on the lane, not the plates on top.

The wall ball targets are 2.70m and 3.00m. You'll still see 9ft and 10ft quoted (2.74m and 3.05m), but the Season 26/27 rulebooks give the metric heights. Women Pro throw the heavier 6kg ball at the women's 2.70m target.

You pick up your own kit. Kettlebells, sandbags and wall balls are colour coded, and choosing the right one is your job. Use the wrong weight on the farmers carry or the sandbag lunges and you have to repeat the whole station at the correct weight. Don't, and you're disqualified.

Open vs Pro: what actually changes

Pro is the same race with heavier loads at five stations: the sled push, sled pull, farmers carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls. Same 8km, same SkiErg, row and burpee broad jumps, same 100 reps.

For men, Pro adds 50kg to both sleds, 8kg to each kettlebell, 10kg to the sandbag and 3kg to the wall ball. For women, Pro means the men's Open loads at every weighted station. The wall ball target doesn't move: it stays at 2.70m.

Do you need to qualify for HYROX Pro?

No. The rulebooks say HYROX is open to everyone and no qualifications are required. HYROX's own Find my Level questionnaire says its result is only an indication and you can enter any division you choose. There is no qualifying time for Pro.

Pro is the route to the World Championships

This is the part that's easy to miss. For Season 26/27, every Pro division and the Doubles Mixed division at every HYROX event offers at least one World Championships qualification spot per age group. For the 60+ age groups, the slots go to the Open divisions instead.

So if you're under 60 and an age-group slot is the goal, that points you to Pro singles, Pro Doubles or Mixed Doubles. At the World Championships everyone races Pro weights, except Mixed Doubles and athletes aged 60 and over, who race Open weights. Season 26/27 events up to the weekend of 16 May hold slots for the 2027 World Championships in Hong Kong.

Pro is not Elite

Pro is a division anyone can enter. The Elite 15 is an invitation-only race series for the top-ranked Pro athletes, decided on points. You need a HYROX Athlete Licence before you race for those points to count, and your ranking comes from your best five singles results (best three for a doubles pair) over a rolling 365 days, per HYROX's qualification rules. New this season, a Challenger Division gives athletes ranked 16 to 30 a race of their own, and its winner earns a place in the next Elite 15 race. Only the Elite 15 race for the overall world title and prize money.

When to make the jump from Open to Pro

There's no rule, so here's how I'd think about it. Pro rewards strength that survives running. A 202kg sled push after a kilometre at race pace is a different job from the same push fresh in the gym. Two honest questions:

• Have you raced Open, and were the stations not where you lost time? If your runs fell apart, heavier sleds won't fix that.
• Can you move the Pro loads in training when you're already tired? Fresh doesn't count.

Two yeses and Pro is a fair test. Otherwise, another Open race will probably teach you more. Pick deliberately, because you probably can't switch later. The UK and Ireland FAQ is blunt: race and division transfers aren't available.

HYROX Doubles: how it works

Doubles is two racers sharing one race. There are five doubles divisions: Women, Men and Mixed (the Open Doubles), plus Women Pro and Men Pro. A Mixed team is one man and one woman. The Doubles Rulebook sets the rules that matter:

• You race together. Both partners run every kilometre side by side. If one runs ahead, it's a 1-minute penalty, and more than three penalties for not staying together puts the team out of competition.
• You split the stations however you like. The rulebook's example is "you go, I go" on the row: one partner rows, you swap after a distance you choose, and repeat until the 1,000m is done. You enter each station together and leave together.
• Nothing is halved. One sled push, one 1,000m row and 100 wall balls between you, at the same loads as the matching singles division.
• The resting partner stays on their feet. No kneeling, sitting or lying down during any station.
• Your finish time is the second partner's. The clock stops when both of you have crossed the line.
• Your age group is your average age. A 50-year-old and a 49-year-old race in the 45 to 49 group.

Mixed Doubles is the one to read twice. Both partners work at the middle loads: 152kg sled push, 103kg sled pull, 2 × 24kg kettlebells, a 20kg sandbag and the 6kg wall ball. So the woman's stations are heavier than in Women's Doubles. The wall ball target follows whoever is throwing: 2.70m for her, 3.00m for him. Mixed Doubles keeps those weights at the World Championships.

Pro Doubles uses the Pro loads, so Women Pro Doubles race the middle loads and Men Pro Doubles the heaviest. If you want to race with a partner, who you pick matters more than the division. We cover that in choosing a HYROX doubles partner.

HYROX Relay: the four-person format

Relay is a team of four sharing one race. There are three relay divisions: Women (four women), Men (four men) and Mixed (two women and two men). There is no Pro relay.

Each racer covers 2km of running and two stations: a 1km run plus the station that follows it, twice. The Team Relay Rulebook leaves the order to the team, so you can do your two legs back to back or split them up. How the relay format works on race day:

• Only one racer is active at a time. The other three wait for their turn.
• Hand-overs happen in the transition zone with a high five. If you're doing two legs back to back, you still run through the zone after your first station so your chip is read, or you take an automatic penalty.
• Loads follow the racer. Relay uses Open loads only, so in a Mixed team the women race the women's loads and the men race the men's.
• The team finishes together. Once your last racer starts the wall balls, the other three enter at a marked relay entry point, stand under the rig to support them, and all four run to the finish together.
• Age groups are Under 40 and 40+. They're based on the team's average age.

Relays don't run on every day of an event. At most of the events in our race guides they sit on a Friday, so check London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow or Dublin before you recruit your relay team.

HYROX age groups

Age groups change how you're ranked, not what you lift. At regular races, your division sets the loads.

Singles and doubles use the same age groups: Under 24 (16 to 24), then five-year bands from 25 to 29 all the way up to 85 to 89. Your age on race day decides your group, and doubles use the pair's average age. Relay has just two groups: Under 40 and 40+.

If you're 60 or over, three rules apply. You can race Pro at regular races, up to and including the 80+ age groups, with age-group rankings and podiums as normal. Your World Championships slots come through Open, not Pro. And at the World Championships, the 60+ age groups race Open weights. The UK and Ireland FAQ says Pro has no 60+ age groups, which doesn't match the rulebooks, so if your event's ticket page doesn't offer one, ask the organiser.

You must be at least 16 on race day. Younger athletes have their own format, HYROX Youngstars, for ages 8 to 15. Official rankings use sex at birth; the rulebooks let anyone racing recreationally register under their gender identity, outside the official rankings.

Adaptive divisions

HYROX Adaptive has 13 divisions for athletes with permanent impairments:

• Lower limb major and lower limb minor
• Upper limb major and upper limb minor
• Short stature
• Vision impairment
• D/deaf or hard of hearing
• Neurological major, moderate and minor
• Seated with hip function, seated without hip function, and seated without core function

You have to be classified into one to be eligible. The Adaptive Rulebook adjusts loads, reps, movements and, for some divisions, the running or pushing distance. Two examples: Short Stature racers lunge 50m with a 5kg (women) or 10kg (men) sandbag, and the seated divisions swap lunges for sandbag lifts and wheelchair pushes. You can race with a guide runner or support person for orientation (you appoint them, HYROX doesn't), but they can't help with the stations. World Championships places go to the three fastest in each division across the adaptive season.

A temporary injury doesn't make you an adaptive athlete. If you need modified loads for an injury, contact HYROX before race day. You'll still get a finish time, but the rulebooks mark the result Out of Competition, so it isn't ranked.

How to choose your HYROX division

There's no wrong answer, only mismatches. Start with what you want from the day, not with what sounds hardest.

• You want to know what you can do on your own. Open singles. It gives you a clean HYROX time to measure everything after it against, which makes it the obvious first race.
• You're new to HYROX and the stations worry you more than the running. Doubles shares the station work, but not the running: you both run all 8km, at a pace the slower runner can hold.
• You want the experience with friends, your gym or colleagues. Relay. With 2km of running and two stations each, it's the smallest share of the race any division asks of one person.
• You've raced Open and the stations weren't your limiter. Look at Pro, and get time under the Pro loads before you book.
• You want an age-group World Championships slot. Under 60: Pro singles, Pro Doubles or Mixed Doubles. 60 and over: Open.
• You're entering Mixed Doubles. Both partners lift the men's Open loads, so whoever usually trains at the women's weights needs time at the heavier ones.

Whatever you pick, train for the format you entered. A doubles team needs to practise its splits together. A Pro racer needs time on a heavier sled. A relay racer can run 2km far harder than 8km. Our HYROX training plan guide covers the structure, our explainer on what hybrid training is covers the bigger picture, and if you're coming from running, strength training for runners is where the sled and lunge strength comes from. If you'd rather have the programming done for you, RYVOLVE is a HYROX training app: you give it your race date and it builds the plan towards race day.

When you're ready to book, our race finder lists upcoming HYROX events, and each race guide (try Amsterdam, Paris, Chicago or Melbourne) lists that event's divisions and relay days. Packing is covered in what to bring to HYROX, and if HYROX isn't the only race on your radar, we've compared races like HYROX.

Frequently asked questions

How many divisions does HYROX have?

The Season 26/27 rulebooks list four singles divisions (Women, Men, Women Pro, Men Pro), five doubles divisions (Women, Men, Mixed, Women Pro, Men Pro), three relay divisions (Women, Men, Mixed) and 13 adaptive divisions. The Elite 15 and Challenger races are a separate, invitation-only series.

What is the difference between HYROX Pro and Elite?

Pro is a division anyone can enter at any regular HYROX race: the same race with heavier loads. The Elite 15 is an invitation-only series for the top-ranked Pro athletes, ranked on points from their best results over a rolling 365 days. You need a HYROX Athlete Licence for those points to count.

What weights do women use in HYROX Pro?

Women Pro race the men's Open loads: a 152kg sled push and 103kg sled pull (both including the sled), 2 × 24kg kettlebells for the 200m farmers carry, a 20kg sandbag for 100m of lunges and a 6kg wall ball. The wall ball target stays at the women's 2.70m.

What are the HYROX Mixed Doubles weights?

Both partners use the middle loads: 152kg sled push, 103kg sled pull, 2 × 24kg kettlebells, a 20kg sandbag and a 6kg wall ball. The woman throws to the 2.70m target and the man to 3.00m. The weights stay the same at the World Championships.

Do HYROX Doubles partners split the running?

No. Both partners run all 8km together, side by side. Only the stations are split, and you can split them however you like. If one partner runs ahead, the team takes a 1-minute penalty.

How does the HYROX Relay work?

A relay team of four (four women, four men, or two of each for Mixed) shares one race. Each racer runs 1km and completes the station that follows it, twice, so everyone covers 2km of running and two stations. The team chooses who does which legs, and all four cross the finish line together.

Does the HYROX sled weight include the sled?

Yes. The rulebook weights are totals including the sled: 102kg, 152kg or 202kg on the sled push and 78kg, 103kg or 153kg on the sled pull, depending on division.

Do HYROX weights change by age group?

Not at regular races. Your division sets the loads and your age group only affects rankings. The exception is the World Championships, where the 60+ age groups race Open weights.

Can I change my HYROX division after booking?

Plan on no. The UK and Ireland FAQ says race and division transfers aren't available, including moving to a different day. With a Flex add-on, a Doubles or Relay ticket allows one partner name change, but division changes are prohibited. Check your region's FAQ before you buy.

What is the minimum age for HYROX?

16 on race day, in every division. HYROX Youngstars is a separate youth race for ages 8 to 15, with its own rulebooks.