Whether you are a novice HYROX athlete, training to compete, or training to win, making the 1000m row one of your strengths will be a huge asset to you. The battery of tests the HYROX circuit puts the body through is extensive, and you will only be as good as your weakest exercise in that circuit. With that in mind, here are some top tips for HYROX rowing preparation:
- Damper Setting - Make sure you're training on the same damper setting that you will compete at
- Footplate Setting - Too high or too low can have a big impact on your legs
- Refine your technique - Good technique goes along way to increasing distance per stroke
- Use HIIT sessions - HIIT session will dramatically improve your 1k time to completion
In the solo category, by default the erg will be set at 5 for women, 6 for men and pro women, and 7 for pro men. The rules state that "damper settings may be adjusted as many times as needed" (page 17).After checking HYROX support, I can confirm the damper can be adjusted so you can put it as close as possible to where you train with it. Check out my blog on Drag Factor here for more info.
Setting the footplate too high or too low can have a big impact on your drive phase. A setting too high will force glute dominant rowing. Setting it too low will force quad dominant rowing. This is especially important when your next events include farmers walks and lunges. Compromised glutes or quads will have a negative impact on your capacity to finish. This is why footplate height is important.
Make it your business to have really good technique on the rowing machine. Good technique promotes a strong posture and good force production throughout the drive phase. If you need some help with your technique, get in touch with me for video analysis of your erg technique. Send me a video of your steady state and fast rowing and I will send you back a video with coaching points for you to review powered by CoachNow.
Finally, high intensity interval training is something you should lean into for HYROX. If you need help with your HYROX 1k time then get in touch with me and see how my HIIT Sprint, HIIT Short, and HIIT Long sessions can improve your time in only four weeks of training.