From 650 participants to over a million, HYROX is redefining competitive fitness.
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In 2017, 650 athletes lined up in Hamburg for the first-ever HYROX race, a new format combining 8 km of running with eight functional workout stations. Fast forward to the 2025/26 season, and HYROX projects 1.2 million athletes will compete across more than 100 events worldwide. That's not a trend. That's a movement.
HYROX has tapped into something powerful: people want competition, but they also want accessibility. Unlike CrossFit, which demands Olympic weightlifting skills, or obstacle course races that require climbing walls in the mud, HYROX offers a standardised format built around exercises most gym-goers already know: sled pushes, rowing, lunges, and wall balls.
The result? A global fitness racing phenomenon that's selling out arenas, generating $140 million in annual revenue, and creating a massive business opportunity for gyms and trainers. Here's why it matters, and how you can capitalise.
HYROX's growth trajectory reads like a startup success story. From a single event with 650 participants in 2017, the sport grew to 175,000 competitors across 65 races in 2023. By 2024, that number had ballooned to over 650,000 participants globally , a staggering 1,000% increase in five years. And the momentum isn't slowing down.
For the 2025/26 season, HYROX has over 100 events on the calendar for the first time ever, spanning 30+ countries and 85+ cities. Demand consistently outstrips supply: HYROX New York sold out in just 40 minutes, while London holds a ballot system to allocate 16,000 race slots to over 70,000 applicants.
City-level growth tells the same story. Comparing the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, participation in comparable events grew by 118%, with cities like Stockholm and Washington, DC each seeing growth of over 330%.
The Netherlands has become one of HYROX's strongest European markets. The 2025/26 season features five Dutch events , Maastricht, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Heerenveen, with Amsterdam's RAI event running its fifth edition and Heerenveen hosting at the iconic Thialf arena. Rotterdam Ahoy serves as the final Benelux qualifier for the world championships. Tickets sell fast, with Heerenveen already on waitlist status.
HYROX isn't just for elite athletes. Roughly 70% of participants are first-timers, and over 65% of racers are over 30. Around 38% of competitors are female, a share that's been steadily growing. The sport's appeal cuts across age groups and fitness levels, from weekend warriors to competitive athletes. HYROX didn't grow this fast by accident. Several cultural and industry shifts are fuelling the fitness racing boom.
Gym memberships alone don't keep people motivated. People need a goal , a race date on the calendar, a time to beat, a tangible event to train for. HYROX provides exactly that. Its standardised format means you can compare your performance across races and track improvement over time, something a regular gym session can't offer.
This is the same psychology behind the marathon boom of the 2000s and the CrossFit Games era. But HYROX has made it more accessible: you don't need to run 42 km or master a muscle-up. You need to be reasonably fit and willing to push yourself for about 90 minutes.
The ACSM's 2026 fitness trends survey placed Adult Recreation and Sport Clubs on the list for the first time, reflecting a broader shift toward social fitness. People don't just want to work out; they want to belong to something. HYROX delivers this through team categories (doubles and relay formats), local training groups, and a race-day atmosphere that feels more like a festival than a fitness test.
A three-day HYROX London event in 2023 drew over 12,500 athletes and thousands of spectators. HYROX anticipates over 350,000 spectators worldwide in 2025. That's community at scale.
Before HYROX, the competitive fitness landscape had a clear gap. CrossFit was too technical for most people; the Olympic weightlifting and gymnastics components created a high barrier to entry. Obstacle course races like Spartan and Tough Mudder were fun and popular, but inherently inconsistent. Every course was different, which made benchmarking and tracking personal progress impossible. Traditional running races appealed to cardio enthusiasts but excluded the growing population of strength-focused gym-goers.
HYROX sits right in the sweet spot: competitive, globally standardised, and built on functional movements that any regular gym-goer can train for. Every race follows the exact same format: 8 x 1 km running intervals, alternating with eight functional exercises (SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges, and wall balls). That consistency is what makes it trackable, comparable, and ultimately addictive. It's the "everyone's race" that the fitness industry was missing.
Here's where it gets interesting for sports business owners. HYROX isn't just a race , it's an ecosystem that creates revenue opportunities for gyms, trainers, and facilities.
HYROX offers an affiliate gym programme that lets facilities become official HYROX Training Clubs. By the end of 2024, the number of affiliated gyms reached 5,000 worldwide. For gym owners, affiliation provides branding, credibility, and direct access to a fast-growing community of motivated athletes.
The numbers back it up. One gym operator reported that in their first year as a HYROX affiliate, their member churn rate dropped to almost zero while increasing their member base by 34%. Another gym owner reported that HYROX-related programming now makes up 40% of total gym revenue, with daily classes of 25–30 participants.
The beauty of HYROX from a trainer's perspective is that it creates structured, recurring demand. Athletes need 4-, 6-, or 8-week race preparation programmes tied to specific event dates throughout the year. This turns one-off personal training sessions into recurring, goal-oriented coaching packages, the kind of offering that drives higher retention and lifetime value.
With multiple HYROX events per season in most countries (five in the Netherlands alone this season), there's a near-continuous cycle of athletes preparing for their next race. Small group training is particularly effective here. A trainer can run HYROX prep classes for 10–20 people at once, creating both a community feel and a scalable revenue model. The standardised format also means programming is replicable , once you've built a solid HYROX prep curriculum, you can run it cycle after cycle with minimal adaptation.
You don't need to host an official HYROX event to benefit. Gyms are increasingly running their own HYROX-style in-house competitions. One gym owner generated over $2,000 per event hosting inter-gym HYROX-format races , with minimal overhead. These events drive trial memberships, build local buzz, and position your facility as a hub for competitive fitness.
HYROX is the biggest name, but it's not the only player. Formats like DEKA Fit (by the Spartan Race team), The HIIT Games, and Turf Games are all growing the broader fitness racing category. This means the trend isn't dependent on a single brand; it's a category shift. Gyms that invest in functional fitness infrastructure and competitive programming are well-positioned regardless of which format dominates.
The trajectory is clear. HYROX's founder has stated ambitions to attract over one million participants annually, and the 2025/26 season is on track to hit that target. For context, CrossFit has around 4 million participants globally, and HYROX may ultimately surpass that number given its lower barrier to entry.
Expect to see continued expansion into new markets, more youth events (HYROX Youngstars debuted in Amsterdam in 2026), and deeper integration between race organisations and local gyms. The fitness racing category is maturing, but it's still in its growth phase, which means the window for early-mover advantage is open now.
For clubs, trainers, and sports facilities, the message is simple: functional fitness with a competitive edge is what today's athletes want. Whether you affiliate with HYROX, run your own events, or simply build race-prep programming into your offering, the demand is there, and it's growing fast.
The fitness racing wave is here, and platforms like Matchable make it easy to ride it. Whether you're a gym owner looking to fill HYROX prep classes, a personal trainer building race-ready coaching packages, or a facility wanting to host fitness competitions, Matchable helps you reach the athletes who are actively looking for what you offer.
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