Former competitive CrossFit athlete Kristi Eramo O’Connell and her husband, Patrick O’Connell, have incorporated hybrid training to prepare for their HYROX debuts. HYROX is a fitness race that features athletes completing eight stations of various exercises interspersed with one-kilometer runs for time.

On Jan. 7, 2024, Kristi Eramo O’Connell published a video of her hybrid training on YouTube in preparation to compete in the fitness race event. Check it out below:

[Related: 2024 HYROX World Championships Set for Nice, France on June 7-9 With $150,000 Prize Purse]

Patrick O’Connell’s WOD

Patrick O’Connell completed five rounds of the following WOD: 

Row 500 meters

Dumbbell Bench Press x 20

Strict Pull-Ups x 10

Cable Curls x 15

O’Connell built his own workout to showcase his hybrid training. He uses the cable machine to rep out bicep curls, adding small increments of weight to pinpoint his training.

Kristi Eramo O’Connell’s HYROX Hybrid Training

HYROX is a physical fitness race that combines endurance and functional fitness. Per the HYROX website, “Participants from all around the world compete in the exact same format. The race starts with a one-kilometer run, followed by one functional movement, which repeats eight times, taking place in large indoor venues.”

Kristi Eramo O’Connell is also preparing for a trail marathon and sponsoring a health challenge during her HYROX training. She began her workout with a lift/run hybrid program, performing six separate stations every four minutes for two rounds.

O’Connell’s 48-minute workout blends 400-meter runs with the functional fitness exercises listed below:

Kristi Eramo O’Connell’s Hybrid Workout

400-meter Run + Max Distance (Calories) Ski Erg

400-meter Run + Max Distance Walking Lunge

400-meter Run + Max Distance Row

400-meter Run + Max Distance Burpee Broad Jump

400-meter Run + Max Wallballs — Male: 20 pounds | Female: 14 pounds

400-meter Run + Max Distance Farmer Carry

Each station starts with a 400-meter run, cutting into the four-minute time. Four hundred meters, equivalent to a quarter mile, is one lap around a standard track.

With the remaining time, O’Connell maxes out the exercise at each respective station. Her goal was heart rate maintenance. Each station mimicked what an actual HYROX event would look like.

O’Connell performed the walking lunges with a barbell on her back. At the end of the grueling 48 minutes, O’Connell transitioned to strength-focused training via Romanian deadlifts (RDLs), paused front squats, and heels-elevated goblet squats. These strength exercises are aimed at strengthing support for her knees.

O’Connell recommends prioritizing weaknesses at the beginning of a workout. “I’m focused on that conditioning piece; that’s why I’m doing it first,” O’Connell says. “If your goal is to get stronger, you should always be doing your lifting first.”

Getting stronger requires doing things [while] fresh.

The first HYROX race of 2024 is HYROX Maastricht on Jan. 20, 2024. The first 2024 HYROX race in the USA is on Feb. 24, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Featured image: @kristieramo on Instagram

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