People are getting the ick after discovering what 'Hyrox' stands for

Metro

10-05-2025

The world can be split into two camps: those that love Hyrox, and those who would rather do literally anything else.
The fitness challenge is not for the faint-hearted.
It sees competitors run an 8km race, split up by eight fitness stations where you complete functional movements, such as burpees, sled pulls and wall balls.
You can compete alone, in a pair, or group, or if you need an even bigger challenge (because apparently it's just not hard enough already) you can do it all while wearing a weighted vest.
While it might sound like hell to some, Hyrox is incredibly popular. The German founded company now holds events across the world. According to their website, some races see 8,000 people participate and 10,000 watch, making it the largest mass participation fitness event in the world.
Hyrox challengers love nothing more than posting a sweaty selfie of themselves post race (and who can blame them) but this latest discovery has seen some proclaiming on social media that they've got the ick.
Taking to TikTok, PT Ella Rose, who goes by @tattooedgymgirl shared that Hyrox is actually a portmanteau of two words.
'Don't get me wrong, I don't want to do a Hyrox, they look really hard, hats off to you if you've done one, but this makes me want to do one even f*cking less. Hyrox is short for Hybrid Rockstar.'
In between chuckles, Ella said 'I've got the ick' adding: 'Any video I see of Hyrox from now on I'm just going to cringe.'
The video has amassed over 280,000 views, with comments equally disturbed by the information.
'I thought it looked pretty cool until you said that,' wrote commenter. While another added: 'That made me unwell.'
Other creators have posted similar comments, equally shocked to discover the meaning. Online coach Harry, who goes by @regurgent_harry on TikTok, posted a video, calling the new-found meaning 'the biggest ick ever'.
In an interview on the Head Start podcast back in February 2023, Hyrox Chief Growth Office, Douglas Gremmen, explained: 'Christian and Mo [Hyrox founders] wanted to do something with the name 'rockstars'. They really felt that people who have come across the finish line are rockstars.' More Trending
Unfortunately, as Red Bull sponsors Hyrox, they were against using the full word Rockstar, as it's the name of a competing energy drink. So instead, the founders chose the name Curox, inspired by the Latin word 'curr' which means 'to run', along with their word of choice, 'rockstar'.
However, they ran intro trouble again due a trademark infringement, which led to the need for a name change, and they opted for Hyrox instead.
'They literally tried to figure out the best two letters to come before ROX,' says Christian. Considering that Hyrox is a form of hybrid training, Christian added that 'HYROX became a natural extension'.
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'I think is a great name,' he added. 'It's universal. It's global.'
It turns out the brand name Durex has a hidden meaning.
The iconic name is actually a portmanteau of three words: durable, reliable and excellent.
It seems pretty self-explanatory and it does what it says on the tin (thank goodness) but we'd never realised the true meaning.
And it's not the only acronym out there that we use on the daily. In fact, there are words you probably never knew were an abbreviation. Read our full list here.
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