Latest news with #SkiErg
Irish Independent
03-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
Mayo garda completes gruelling 10 hour challenge to raise funds for Down Syndrome Mayo
And that wasn't all of the physical exertion which James Carty did at the week-end. For five kilometres he also yanked two pulleys on a SkiErg, undertook five kilometres of rowing, 400 metres of burpee broad jumps, half a kilometre of lunges, one kilometre carrying two 24kg kettlebells, half a kilometre lunging with a 20kg sandbag and a 6kg ball walloped off a ten-foot-high target 500 times and all in just over eleven hours. That is how far James went to fundraise over €17,000 for Down Syndrome Mayo over the weekend. James is chairperson of the organisation, which provides services and support to over 100 families of people with Down Syndrome throughout Mayo. The Knock native was inspired to undertake the challenge by his youngest daughter Iris, who was born with the condition in on May 11, 2021. 'It's just surreal, is the word,' James told the Irish Independent after completing the gruelling challenge. In the surrounds of Crossmolina's North West Fitness Academy, cheered on by dozens of friends, family members, locals and flanked by fellow fitness fanatics, the 46-year-old Garda sergeant tested his physical and mental fortitude with five back-to-back Hyrox simulations. The concept of Hyrox originated in Hamburg, Germany, and involves a series of physical challenges broken up by solo runs. For James, this meant five eight-kilometre laps of Crossmolina followed by an array of pushing, pulling, carrying and jumping. He began at 7.40am on Saturday morning. By 6pm that evening, he had burned over 8,000 calories. 'It was an unbelievable day, an unbelievable experience. The support from everybody is just amazing,' said Mr Carty, still suffering from mild Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and slight brain fog. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Though the task of completing this gargantuan test of endurance rested on his shoulders alone, Mr Carty was joined in body and spirit by hundreds of people throughout the day. This included over 100 fellow Hyrox athletes, members of Down Syndrome Mayo and their families, members of North West Fitness Academy, and gangs from M Fitness in Belmullet, Evolve Fitness in Donegal, Crossmolina GAA and Killala GAA. Working under his coach, Jack Curtis, James spent months preparing for the challenge. However, expectation and reality were still quite different. 'I got to the third one and I thought that was enough, but I just kept going,' James laughed. 'It was tough, it was. I look back on it and I did a lot of hard training, so I did. It prepared me very well, it really did.' The statistics back it up. In October 2023, Mr Carty completed his first ever Hyrox in one hour and 44 minutes. On Sunday, he completed his fifth and final Hyrox in 12 hours in one and 48 minutes. 'It was kind of crazy to think that the training had brought me to that level,' said James. The nauseating physical challenge alone made it an unforgettable weekend. But one moment will always stand out for James. 'I had said it to [my wife] Ciara a couple of days beforehand, I said 'When I get to the last run, have the push chair, the buggy read, Iris is going in it, and I am going to push her. She is going to do the last bit with me'.' At the very last kilometre, there she was. Iris hopped straight into the buggy to join her father on the home stretch, waving her hands to an adoring, cheering, applauding crowd of supporters. 'That's a memory for life,' said James. 'My other children, Ivy and Emlyn, they came out running with me, a few of their friends, came out.' So too did Noel Ryan, a member of Killala GAA Club, who compared it to a scene from a Rocky movie. 'Just seeing my own family being so happy in the moment and just having that picture in my mind from the start that I get to push Iris up the end, that was a real driving force behind it,' said James. When the last 6kg ball hit the ten-foot target after six o'clock, the exhausted garda embraced his family before sinking his shattered, weary glutes onto the nearest object. 'I still had an energy to keep going, but not to do another Hyrox,' he said. The money raised for Down Syndrome Mayo will help subsidise various therapies and counselling sessions for families who often struggle to access them. 'Having that money there to help subsidise that is immense. We do get a lot of people fundraising and that, but a lot of work goes into getting grants to make sure there is stuff there for our members,' explained James. Days like the one he had last Saturday are not all about fundraising either. 'We get to talk about Down Syndrome and make it a normal thing,' James said. 'People start talking about it and normalising it. It becomes a part of everybody's daily life that they don't see any differences…we have come an awful long way in such a short period of time in this country with it. But there is still a lot of work to go on. 'By being able to spread that awareness just gives us a stronger platform for going forward.'
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
04-05-2025
- Sport
- First Post
‘HYROX India will bring in a new wave of fitness addiction': Ace swimmer Srihari Nataraj
From the first SkiErg pull to the final Wall Ball shot, participants pushed their limits throughout the demanding HYROX format – eight 1km runs alternating with eight functional fitness challenges. read more Mumbai didn't just host India's first HYROX race; it unleashed a fitness phenomenon. The NESCO Center at Goregaon, Mumbai pulsed with a frenzied level of energy on Saturday, 1650 athletes converged in an energetic display of athleticism and competitive spirit. From the first SkiErg pull to the final Wall Ball shot, participants pushed their limits throughout the demanding HYROX format – eight 1km runs alternating with eight functional fitness challenges. The sheer scale of the event, combined with the raw energy of the athletes, created an electrifying spectacle that captivated a packed venue. High performance and eye-catching HYROX merchandise from sports brand PUMA, the official apparel and footwear partner, added to the festive atmosphere. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'HYROX is a whole new format of fitness. It is fun in its unique way and that is going to bring in a new wave of fitness addiction. It's great to see HYROX catching on in India, it will create more everyday athletes and help them develop in a much better way. I think any sort of working out is an addiction; some people like lifting weights, some people like running, but this has everything in it, so this is going to pick up quite fast - everyone loves taking on a challenge,' Puma athlete and double Olympian swimmer Srihari Nataraj commented while warming up for his HYROX race. From 16-year-old Gawale Sayee to 78-year-old Virendra Sood, this race showcased an incredible range of participation across fitness levels. HYROX Mumbai was a truly inclusive event, drawing participants from 24 nations and hordes of enthusiastic spectators to cheer them on. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Puma athlete and Bengaluru FC goalkeeper also weighed in, saying, 'It's amazing to have something like HYROX happening in India and I'm very excited to compete in it. 'Events like HYROX can help players like me stay in shape physically. The traditional methods of being fit are being challenged and you can see all these participants doing so many various workouts and bringing some change in their personal lives. It's lovely to see the different and interesting challenges that HYROX throws at people in their fitness journey.' HYROX Mumbai also had slots to the season-ending HYROX World Championships, offering contestants the opportunity to compete in the 2025 Championships in Chicago. Likewise, the upcoming HYROX India races in other cities will also have qualifying slots across race divisions and age groups, something that Indian athletes can look forward to. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Anurag Rajshekar, a product manager at a corporate in Bengaluru, competed with five other colleagues. 'Our company has a fitness event where we try to compete with each other in a healthy manner. And HYROX was a great way to come and boost our fitness. Competing here was a blast, we felt like champions in the end. HYROX is a new inclusive format that is perfect for building community among everyday gym-goers and colleagues, giving us a platform to showcase the hard work we put in everyday,' he said. The groundbreaking event in Mumbai exceeded all expectations, marking a pivotal moment in India's fitness landscape and setting a benchmark for the HYROX Delhi race on 19th July, registrations for which will open shortly on the official event website Hyrox has been introduced in India thanks to a partnership between Hyrox World and Yoska. The race is supported by sports brand PUMA, the official apparel and footwear partner, Centr and Concept 2, the official equipment partners, Myprotein, the official nutrition partner and Red Bull, the official energy partner. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
News18
03-05-2025
- Sport
- News18
'Hyrox Is A fun Way To Get Into Fitness', Opines Olympic Swimmer Srihari Nataraj
Mumbai didn't just host India's first HYROX race; it unleashed a fitness phenomenon. The NESCO Center at Goregaon, Mumbai pulsed with a frenzied level of energy today, 1650 athletes converged in an energetic display of athleticism and competitive spirit. From the first SkiErg pull to the final Wall Ball shot, participants pushed their limits throughout the demanding HYROX format – eight 1km runs alternating with eight functional fitness challenges. The sheer scale of the event, combined with the raw energy of the athletes, created an electrifying spectacle that captivated a packed venue. High performance and eye-catching HYROX merchandise from sports brand PUMA, the official apparel and footwear partner, added to the festive atmosphere.
The Independent
30-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
I just ran my first Hyrox race – here are six things I wish I'd known beforehand
'Never again,' I promise myself, staring at a 40m stretch of astroturf. A man in a 'judge' t-shirt tells me I need to burpee and bound my way to the other end, but there's already a Niagara-esque stream of sweat cascading down my nose. This is my first Hyrox race. The next morning, not 24 hours later, I excitedly fire a message to a group chat: 'Loved it. I'm going to do another one. Anyone fancy joining me?' So what changed? It's simple. I was bitten by the Hyrox bug, and it sank its teeth in deep. For the uninitiated, Hyrox is a fitness race comprising eight one-kilometre runs, each followed by a different functional fitness station – think sled pushes, farmer's carries, sandbag lunges and the like. It's hard enough to finish, let alone finish quickly, but this daunting gauntlet has proved irresistible to fitness fans since its 2017 inception in Germany. As a religious lifter and recreational runner, Hyrox's ever-growing stock has been impossible to ignore. It offers a stamina challenge worthy of endurance athletes, and omits the high-skill elements that can deter would-be competitors from other compeitive strength sports, like my beloved CrossFit. In the brand's own words, 'Hyrox is the sport for everybody'. I figured it was time to give it a try so I headed up to Manchester bright-eyed and blissfully ignorant of the scale of the test that awaited me. By the end of the day, I'd learned several hard lessons, each of which will hopefully help me (and anybody reading this) to nail any future Hyrox races. Arriving at the venue Hyrox has the uncanny ability to create temporary cathedrals of fitness in the cities that host it, and Manchester was no different. Making my way from the railway station to the venue, I find myself swept up by a throng of people kitted out with Built For Athletes gym bags, Represent 247 gear and Puma shoes – the unofficial uniform of the Hyrox aficionado. On the side of a high-rise building, a huge digital billboard beams a video of a woman grinning as she rips at the handles of a SkiErg machine. Not long after, I turn a corner to see the imposing silhouette of the Manchester Central Convention Centre – a glass-fronted former transport hub, and one of the few venues large enough to hold a Hyrox event. Inside, the operation is slick. Checking in takes minutes, and I'm soon fielding freebies from Myprotein and other sponsors. A few food offerings and a small village of vendors narrowly fail to lure me in, then I'm through to the warm-up area. Here, you have the chance to prime your heart, lungs and muscles pre-race by playing with the torture implements (ie. equipment) you're about to face. Chatting to one of the volunteers (all of whom were unfalteringly friendly and enthusiastic) I'm told to head down a small walkway five minutes before my heat. I follow instructions and find myself ushered into a small corral off the side of the venue, alongside roughly 30 other athletic-looking men. T-shirts are few and far between, bulging abdominals are not. A screen at the front of the corral shows a countdown to my start time, ticking down in seconds. I ask a guy next to me how many laps of the arena we're meant to complete for each kilometre-long run, but before I'm certain of the answer the screen starts flashing: 'Three, two, one, go.' The race begins Like a stampede, we're off. Despite being in the minority, I keep my shirt on, and I come to regret it – more on that later. The event floor is impressive. A large running track loops around a central 'Roxzone' – a space containing all the functional fitness stations, gates for transitioning to and from the running track, and a couple of tables to pick up water, Red Bull or electrolytes between runs. The first run whizzes by in no time. I later learn this is because it's shorter than the other seven, but for now I feel like I'm flying. I also attempt to track the run on my Apple Watch so I can stick to my pre-planned race pace, but for whatever reason the numbers it's giving me don't feel quite right. A couple of laps in, I abandon it and go by the clock. After a blistering first run, I enter the Roxzone and settle onto one of the SkiErg machines. As a CrossFit fan, this is a home from home from me, and I'm unbearably smug when my slower, smoother strokes deliver a faster pace than the choppy tugs of the people either side of me. I'm able to finish the section up in roughly four minutes, then follow another athlete back onto the running track and stay on his heels for the next three laps. The problem is, my chosen running buddy is exceedingly speedy, and I bite off more than I can chew trying to keep up with him. A glance at my Apple Watch reveals my heart rate has soared to 170bpm, and it doesn't go much lower for the remainder of the race. That leads me to the first lesson I learned: run your own race, at your own pace. Next came the sled push, and while I'm a tad apprehensive about this section, it winds up being one of my favourite bits. I had only touched a sled for the first time two days prior, but it moves surprisingly well, and there's something enjoyably primal about throwing all of my weight into its two metal handles. I expect my quads to take a beating from this exercise, but it's my calf muscles that feel worse for wear when I set off on the next run. Things start to go wrong The second run feels a lot longer than the first, so I double check with a fellow competitor how many laps I'm meant to do each round. 'Two,' he responds, so that's what I do. If I'd read the Manchester event guide and not just the general race rules, I'd know I was meant to do 2-and-a-bit laps for the first round and 2.8 for the remaining seven, but I managed to miss the email. This is how I end up coming in a lap early on the third and fourth rounds, and incurring a time penalty for doing so. Lesson two: read the race day guide for your specific venue and event – twice. The third station is the sled pull – something I've never done before, which I'm hoping I can learn on the fly. I grab the rope and start by pulling it hand over hand. To my surprise, it moves pretty quickly, but after 25 of the 50 metres my biceps are fried. Knowing rowing is still to come, I shift the emphasis to my legs and employ a slightly awkward straight-armed backwards shuffle to finish it off. It's slower, but it gives my arms a break. Before I know it, I'm running again, and after another two laps I enter the Roxzone and prepare to start my burpee broad jumps. But the lap situation is still bugging me, so I check again with a judge. 'You enter the 'in' gate of the Roxzone on the third time you see it,' he says. Oh dear. Having been burpee-ready, I realise my mistake, so I peel myself off my belly and head out for another lap. No man's land By the time I get back to the burpee broad jump station, I've worked myself up into a bit of a tizzy about my error. The burpees do not help with this. I'm half-way through the event, I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, and from the rulebook I know I've incurred at least one time penalty. My body feels heavy as I let it slump to the ground then lift it back up to standing, and each broad jump lights my calf muscles on fire. This is when the 'never again' thoughts take hold, making what happens next even more surprising. Zen out of 10 I set out on the fifth run feeling a little deflated. I'd been working fairly hard on my running for the last few months, and came into the event with a target time of 1hr 20min in mind. With the mistakes I'd made, that feels pretty far-fetched now. Yet, as has always been the case for me, the more I keep moving the better I feel. For the first time in the race, I allow myself to glance around, and I'm buoyed by the wide range of ilks and ages taking part. The crowd is electric too, with people cheering on friends, family and loved ones with high-fives and signs. I smile. This is the side of exercise I love the most: people supporting people, and having fun doing it. And thus comes lesson four: it's meant to be fun, so whatever happens, just enjoy yourself. From here, I settle into an almost meditative state. The DJ's thumping music muffles into the background, my vision blinkers and my feet seem to carry me autonomously. For the first time, my runs settle into a consistent pace, and I begin to have fun with it. The rowing machine brings me back to life even more. As with the SkiErg, slow-yet-powerful strokes serve me well, and I'm able to catch up with a few of the people ahead of me while bringing my breathing back under control. A shout of 'imagine you're doing the big shop' from my girlfriend in the crowd allows me to giggle through the farmer's carry, and my CrossFit background makes the sandbag lunges a surprising highlight. However, all is not entirely well. It's during this seventh station that I realise my meagre serving of pre-race porridge was poorly thought through. Running in the 11.30am heat, the fuel from this modest meal has all but run out. Papering over this crack, I make the most of the electrolyte drinks dished out after every station, but a bigger breakfast would undoubtedly have served me better. Lesson five: prepare well and fuel properly. The home stretch All that now stands between me and the finish line is one more run and 100 wall ball shots. But if my maths is correct, my earlier mistake means I've currently done one less lap than the rest of the field. The wall balls are a notoriously vile way to finish the event, and I can't in good faith tackle them knowing I've done less work than the people around me. So I resolve to do an extra lap on my last round. When I finally come to this last station, the wall balls live up to their reputation. My quads are crying, my whole bum feels numb, and even my shoulders start threatening to give up the ghost. My set sizes are sporadic, with a mixture of 25s, 15s and 10s split by short bouts of bending over double, but eventually I find myself with 20 to go. With what feels like a Herculean effort, I polish these off then stumble across the finish line and find solace in a banana. A big screen at the end shows I've managed a time of 1hr 28min, including penalties, which doesn't seem too bad all things considered. And finally, I succumb to my surroundings and ditch my top, with my nipples feeling somewhat sensitive after 90 minutes of grinding against a sweaty t-shirt. The last lesson, lesson six, is to dress appropriately and look after your body during the event – nipples and all. Verdict: Would I do Hyrox again? The sweet relief of finishing feels like all of my Christmases have come at once. I've also been awarded with a nifty velcro patch confirming I've successfully completed a Hyrox race, which is a nice touch. After being handed this by a volunteer, I collapse onto the floor before launching into a lengthy (and incredibly dull) debrief, which my partner politely sits through. 'Halfway through, I thought this was a one-time thing,' I'm fully rambling now, in that almost drunken way that soul-sapping exercise prompts 'But something happened in those last few stations. I hit my stride and I started to really enjoy it. I think I get Hyrox now. I'm a bit disappointed with my time, but now I've got something to improve on. Do you have my phone there?' It's handed to me, and I immediately I fire up Google then start to type: 'When is the next UK Hyrox race?' So yes, I would do Hyrox again, and will almost certainly be doing so in the very near future to try and shave a few minutes off my time.
The Independent
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
I tried Harry Styles' intense 20-minute workout, and I severely underestimated how difficult it would be
Being called Harry, I have a high bar to live up to. One Harry is a literal prince, another is England men's all-time leading goalscorer, a further fictitious wizard needs no introduction, and then there's Harry Styles – grammy-winning heartthrob. As The Independent's fitness writer, one of the few areas I can hope to hold a candle to my cohorts is athleticism. So when I had the chance to chat to Styles' former trainer Thibo David, I was keen to sample some of Styles' workouts. Styles trained with Executive Peak Performance founder David ahead of his Love on Tour shows in 2021 and the pair would regularly meet for 10-20km runs and two-hour gym sessions. If you want to provide a high-energy stadium show, impressive fitness levels are a prerequisite, it would seem. Within these brutal gym sessions, Styles regularly faced 20-minute conditioning protocols inspired by David's background in MMA. Intrigued, I asked for an example, then headed straight to the gym to give it a go. And it left me on my back. How to do Harry Styles' 20-minute MMA-inspired workout Complete four rounds of: Alternating arm kettlebell clean x30sec Burpee x30sec D-ball or sandbag over shoulder (Styles uses 30kg) x1min Max height tuck jump x30sec Max effort SkiErg x1min Fast run/treadmill x30sec Rest x1min 'For the conditioning workouts, we would do three or four rounds of four minutes with minimal time in between,' David tells me. 'I take that from fighting conditioning. Fighters train like this to get ready for the five-minute rounds in MMA. I've found this to be a very good way of building VO2 max [the maximum amount of oxygen your body can take in and use during exercise].' The point of the workout is to push, and push hard. 'Doing that circuit four times is a big achievement,' David adds. What happened when I tried Harry Styles' workout I fall to the ground and flip onto my back; legs leaden, dragon's breath firing into the freezing cold air. My chest is rising and falling like the tide, and there doesn't seem to be a single muscle in my body that isn't sore in some way. To find out how I wound up in this situation, we need to rewind a little. I rock up to the gym on a freezing cold Tuesday morning to give this workout a try, and I'm feeling optimistic. I've tried a lot of workouts from celebrities, athletes and even Olympians in the past, and always survived to tell the tale. After a quick warm-up, I ready my equipment – a 24kg kettlebell, 40kg sandbag, SkiErg machine and accessible running route – then set a 20-minute clock and hit 'start'. The workout begins The workout kicks off with 30 seconds of alternating arm kettlebell cleans; a full-body exercise requiring a decent dose of strength, power and coordination. I begin by switching hands with the weight on the floor, but when the kettlebell moves smoothly I switched to transitioning as I lower it from my shoulder. This speeds things up significantly, and I soon find my heart is pounding. Then come the burpees, which again recruit muscles across my upper and lower body to keep my heart rate high. But CrossFit is my go-to training style, so I'm no stranger to this exercise, and rattle through 10 without too much trouble. Next on the agenda is one minute of sandbag-over-shoulders – a move which very much does what it says on the tin. Styles usually uses a 30kg D-ball (or slam ball) for this, David says, but I only have a 40kg sandbag handy so sub it in. I'll regret this later. 'We do a lot of heavy ball throws,' David tells me. 'We would grab a 30kg ball from the floor, opening up the hips, getting into the most natural squat position to lift up an object, then clear the shoulder, turn around and do it again.' I usually weave a fair amount of sandbag exercises into my regular training, so I'm not too nervous about this part. But after 30 seconds, my quads and upper body are on fire, and the sandbag is spoon-feeding me some humility. Fatigue sets in From here, I move on to 30 seconds of tuck jumps. My battered legs strain to gain some height, but I can feel each bound getting less and less powerful. I'm forced to take a short break in the middle, then transition to the SkiErg machine. 'This is a max-effort, along with the run,' David advises. But after accumulating a good deal of fatigue over the last two-and-a-half minutes, my maximum effort is far from impressive. I challenge myself to hold a pace of 1,000 calories/hour on the Concept2 machine throughout, and just about succeed. Finally, I wheel away and lollop to the door for the 30-second run. It's like wading through a swimming pool filled with custard, but I manage to cover a bit of ground before the timer sounds. That's round one complete. In one minute, I'll do it all again, then again, and again. A quick glance at my watch suggests my heart rate has shot beyond 170, which doesn't happen particularly often. This could be a long 20 minutes. Rinse and repeat Over the next two rounds, though I continue to push just as hard, I lose a couple of reps on each exercise. Burpees fall from 10 reps to eight, sandbag-over-shoulders fall from 12 to nine, and I'm so tired by the time I get to the tuck jumps that I lose count. For the final circuit, I resolve to try and reclaim my pace from the first round, and attempt to access one final reserve of energy to do so. But it's not easy. My muscles feel like they've been sapped of all strength, keeping my breathing steady requires conscious effort and my Celtic genes mean my face now resembles a perfectly ripe tomato. However, I manage it, then allow myself to collapse and recuperate. 'How was that?' a fellow gym-goer laughs. 'Fun,' I tell them. 'A funny sort of fun, but fun nonetheless. Fair play Harry Styles.' Harry Styles' workout: The verdict I like sharing athlete and celebrity workouts for two main reasons; one, I think it's interesting, and two, it can be a fun way to make movement more appealing. And that's always the goal – help as many people find ways to enjoy movement, and the many benefits that come with it, as possible. 'Harry [Styles] has a very playful attitude towards exercise, which makes everything easier,' David tells me. 'I think people should probably embrace that a little bit more. Nobody forces you to exercise. Training is supposed to be fun.' Saying that, this isn't one for beginners. The workout is hard – one of the hardest celebrity sessions I've tried – and exercises like the kettlebell clean and sandbag-over-shoulder require a bit of practice before you pop them in a high-intensity workout. There are ways you can scale the workout if you're fairly new to fitness and want to give it a try. Because the exercises are all performed for a set amount of time rather than a prescribed number of reps, you can go at your own speed and use weights that suit your strength level. While you build up the skill and confidence needed to tackle the workout as written, you might also swap some of the more demanding exercises out for other full-body moves you feel more comfortable with. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the workout. I love a challenge, and it delivered that in spades. By centering the session around dynamic, compound (multi-muscle) movements performed at high-intensity, David kept my heart rate high throughout and recruited muscles across my entire body. The workout also tested several facets of fitness at once, from strength, speed and power to coordination and agility, rather than honing in on one at a time. And finally, the inclusion of less common training tools like kettlebells and sandbags forced me to move my body in a range of different ways. So, if you're an experienced gym-goer looking for a celebrity-inspired fitness challenge, give this a go and you'll be golden (sorry).
