@Rhyss Murty Exactly that!

@Eric Boles Hi Eric...apologies for my late reply on this. Rhyss has sent me this message. This week is exceptionally busy. I am travelling back to US next week and I will return to this question. Thank you for sharing. I do not like to rush these replies so will provide detailed feedback when I return to US.

I went through your HYROX HR file and the big headline is simple: you spent about 81% of the race sitting in what your watch labels the “VO2max” zone. That does not mean you raced at true VO2. It means you got above your sustainable threshold early and then stayed in a state where your muscles were paying a very high price for a very long time. Here is what that actually means and what we want to change. What your current HR profile tells? Answer: In this race, your HR sat at a level where your muscular contractile speed and force output were already compromised. Once HR is elevated beyond what your aerobic system can comfortably clear and you never get real micro-recovery between stations, three things show up every time. 1.⁠ ⁠Muscular firing rate slows When HR sits above threshold and stays there, motor unit recruitment gets less efficient, peak force drops and contraction speed slows. In race terms, your run pacing starts to flatten, your acceleration into and out of stations disappears and the sleds feel sticky instead of responsive. This is why athletes who redline early almost never get their “pop” back later in the race. 2.⁠ ⁠Local muscular endurance fails before your lungs HYROX is limited more by local muscular endurance than by oxygen supply. Living in that “VO2max” HR band for most of the race accelerates hydrogen ion buildup, drains phosphocreatine and limits your ability to clear metabolites between stations. The result is heavy legs and fading grip while breathing still feels manageable. That lines up with slowing wall ball cadence, heavier lunges, reduced sled push force, longer transitions and a clear loss of running mechanics. All of that comes from racing too close to your limit too early. 3.⁠ ⁠Running economy deteriorates At threshold saturation you lose stride stiffness, elastic return, braking control and cadence consistency. You can still hit the target speeds, but the cost goes up. So a HR like 151 bpm, which should feel like strong tempo, behaves more like a high-threshold effort. That is why your HR never really drifted down after the big stations. The muscular cost kept HR inflated and your aerobic system could not pull it back.

Hi Ryan...thank you for your question. I like Gus' explanation above and I agree with him. Elite Hyrox athletes could get by with 30km / week for sure. It is important to train specifically for the event your are preparing for. Specificity is often the forgotten component in programming and it is one of the most important!

You are welcome Ryan.

There is a great buzz in London...it has been a busy week but we are loving it!

Another great event with Hybrid Racer!