Hyrox Coaching Podcast

From Prison Officer To Elite 15: Liam McCrory’s Rise Through HYROX

This week is with Scottish HYROX athlete Liam McCrory, who’s gone from a 1:02 first pro race to running 53:47 in an Elite 15 major in just over two years. We dig into how a background in football, years of disciplined S&C work, and balancing full-time work as a prison officer has shaped the way he trains and races. We chat about: * Moving from football into HYROX and why the sport completely hooked him * The difference between “training” and just “working out” * How he structures training around full-time shifts and limited recovery time * Why he trains mostly alone and how he manages motivation and discipline * Sled strategy, pacing conservatively, and building strong second halves in races * Burpee broad jump technique and how plyometric work has helped his efficiency * Why he doesn’t bother with long runs anymore and instead uses bikes, ergs and controlled running volume * RPE, threshold training, race strategy and learning to race rather than chase times * Handling bad races, penalties, disappointment and missing qualification by seconds * What it’s actually like racing in the Elite 15 environment against the best in the world * Thoughts on the future of HYROX, world championships, doubles racing and where the sport is heading A really good conversation around progression, consistency, balancing life with training, and what it actually takes to keep moving up in the sport without living like a full-time athlete. Humans do love voluntarily paying money to drag sleds around convention centres on industrial carpet. Strange species.

From Prison Officer To Elite 15: Liam McCrory’s Rise Through HYROX

This week is with Scottish HYROX athlete Liam McCrory, who’s gone from a 1:02 first pro race to running 53:47 in an Elite 15 major in just over two years. We dig into how a background in football, years of disciplined S&C work, and balancing full-time work as a prison officer has shaped the way he trains and races. We chat about: * Moving from football into HYROX and why the sport completely hooked him * The difference between “training” and just “working out” * How he structures training around full-time shifts and limited recovery time * Why he trains mostly alone and how he manages motivation and discipline * Sled strategy, pacing conservatively, and building strong second halves in races * Burpee broad jump technique and how plyometric work has helped his efficiency * Why he doesn’t bother with long runs anymore and instead uses bikes, ergs and controlled running volume * RPE, threshold training, race strategy and learning to race rather than chase times * Handling bad races, penalties, disappointment and missing qualification by seconds * What it’s actually like racing in the Elite 15 environment against the best in the world * Thoughts on the future of HYROX, world championships, doubles racing and where the sport is heading A really good conversation around progression, consistency, balancing life with training, and what it actually takes to keep moving up in the sport without living like a full-time athlete. Humans do love voluntarily paying money to drag sleds around convention centres on industrial carpet. Strange species.

Episode 17: HYROX Nutrition, Supplements, Race Fuelling

In this episode, we get into one of the most asked-about areas in HYROX training: nutrition. We’re not pretending to be dietitians, because that would be weird and also legally questionable, but we do cover the practical side of what we see with athletes every week. The main theme is pretty simple: nutrition should support performance first. If body composition changes happen as a by-product of good training, fine. But chasing weight loss aggressively while trying to train hard for HYROX is usually a fast route to poor recovery, worse sessions, injury risk, and feeling like death for no obvious reward. We talk through body fat loss, weight gain for lighter athletes moving towards pro weights, caffeine, creatine, bicarbonate, beetroot juice, Nomio, carb loading, race-day meals, early morning training, fasted cardio, and whether you actually need gels during a HYROX race. The answer to most of it, annoyingly for anyone who wants a magic protocol, is: it depends. Practise it, test it in training, and do not decide to reinvent your entire digestive system on race day because some bloke on Instagram said something was “science-backed”. We also cover the weekend’s racing from Hong Kong and Helsinki, including strong performances across solo and doubles fields, and then finish with a fairly predictable rant about people selling absolute answers, miracle workouts, and pretending one session is the reason someone got good. HYROX Hong Kong and Helsinki race recap Why cutting weight for HYROX performance can be risky RED-S, low energy availability, injury risk, and poor recovery Why body composition should usually be a by-product, not the main goal When weight gain might make sense for lighter athletes moving towards pro weights Why “junk weight” probably will not help your sled push enough to justify carrying it for 8–9km Caffeine before HYROX races and why 100–200mg is often enough Why more caffeine is not always better unless you enjoy starting races like a panicked squirrel Creatine for HYROX athletes and why it is one of the simplest useful supplements Bicarbonate, buffering, and the very real risk of digestive disaster Beetroot juice, nitrates, and marginal gains Nomio and why newer supplements need a bit more caution before everyone throws money at them Why the basics matter more than the supplement drawer Carb loading for HYROX and why it does not need to look like a marathon binge What to eat the day before a race How long before a HYROX race your final proper meal should be Fuelling early morning easy sessions Why starting fasted is not always the same as staying fasted How carbs during morning training can protect your second session of the day Whether fasted training has any real place for HYROX athletes Intra-race gels and whether they are physiologically necessary The psychological benefit of taking carbs late in a race Why you should never try new nutrition on race day Why good programming repeats effective sessions instead of chasing novelty Why “science-backed” does not mean “this is the only way” Nutrition for HYROX does not need to be complicated, but it does need to match the demands of the sport. Eat enough, recover properly, fuel the hard work, keep race-week food boring, practise your race-day plan, and stop searching for a supplement to fix a training and recovery problem. How to fuel HYROX training without overcomplicating it Which supplements are actually worth considering Why aggressive dieting and high-output training do not mix well How to approach race-day eating without ruining your stomach Why consistency beats novelty in both training and nutrition

Episode 16 – Strength vs Strength Endurance in HYROX

This week we’re back on a topic that keeps coming up… because people keep getting it wrong. We start with a quick recap of the weekend’s racing in Cardiff and Lisbon, including some strong performances despite less-than-ideal course setups, before getting into the main discussion. Strength in HYROX. More specifically… how much of it you actually need. We break down the difference between max strength, strength endurance, and what Chris calls “threshold strength” — the point where you’re strong enough for the sport, and anything beyond that starts to give you less back than it costs. From there, we get into why chasing bigger numbers in the gym doesn’t necessarily translate to faster race times, how the aerobic system plays a much bigger role in repeated efforts than people realise, and why stations like the sled push aren’t really strength tests in the way most people think. We also talk about: • Why HYROX is still an endurance race, not a strength competition • How fatigue and energy management decide performance more than raw strength • The recovery cost of max strength work and how it impacts the rest of your training • Why stronger athletes don’t always perform better on stations • How poor pacing on one station affects everything that comes after it On the practical side, we cover how we actually programme strength for HYROX athletes, including: • Why two full-body strength sessions per week is usually enough • How to maintain strength without chasing it • Using sled work, tempo lifting and EMOMs to build strength endurance • Simple ways to apply progressive overload without overcomplicating things We finish with a breakdown of one of the most effective ways to improve wall balls using EMOM work, and answer a few listener questions around recovery and how strong you really need to be. As always, this isn’t about saying there’s only one way to train — it’s about giving you a clearer idea of what actually matters, so you can make better decisions with your own training. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to follow and share it with someone who’s still trying to squat their way to a faster HYROX time.

Episode 15 - Mastering the Ergs with James Hall

In this episode, we explore elite erg athlete James Hall's journey, training strategies, and insights into high rocks performance. Discover how technique, efficiency, and targeted training can elevate your race times and optimize performance.