One of the biggest mistakes Hyrox beginners make is training without tracking. You do the sessions, you feel fitter, you show up to the race and have no idea whether your training actually moved the needle.
Benchmark tests fix that. Here’s how I use them, why they matter for Hyrox specifically, and what my Week 5 numbers showed.
What Are Hyrox Benchmark Tests?
Benchmark tests are max effort tests on individual Hyrox movements, run every 4-5 weeks, always under the same conditions. They give you objective data on whether your training is working — not a feeling, not a guess, actual numbers that either improve or they don’t.
I use three tests:
1. 1km Treadmill Time Trial 1% incline, max effort, from a standing start. This tests raw running speed — the most important physical quality for Hyrox. Eight of the nine segments in a Hyrox race are runs. Your 1km TT is your speed ceiling. The goal is to make race pace feel controlled, not maximal.
2. 2000m Row Time Trial Max effort, damper 4-5. The row station in Hyrox is 1000m — but testing at 2000m gives a better picture of sustained rowing capacity. It’s also one of the most honest fitness tests you can do. There’s nowhere to hide on a rowing machine.
3. 80m Burpee Broad Jump Timed from start to finish, properly measured distance. The burpee broad jump station in Hyrox is 80m. Testing it fresh (even though race day it comes after multiple runs and stations) gives a baseline for improvement across the training block.
The Rules for Valid Benchmark Testing
Fresh. Don’t test on the day after hard training. You want the numbers to reflect your fitness, not your fatigue.
In order. Run the 1km TT first, then row, then burpees. Each test fatigues you for the next — that’s intentional. It’s a controlled fatigue sequence.
Full rest between tests. 4 minutes after the 1km TT. 5 minutes after the row. Don’t rush. The point is to test each quality accurately, not to see how well you perform while exhausted.
Measure correctly. The burpee broad jump requires exactly 80m. Use a tape measure or count carefully. Every previous attempt I made at this test had the wrong distance. A 60m test tells you nothing useful.
Write every number down immediately. Don’t trust memory.
My Week 5 Results
Five weeks into a 20-week plan targeting sub-70 at Tampa Hyrox Pro division on October 23rd.
1km Treadmill TT: 3:44/km
I set the treadmill at 4:10/km — the target — and pushed past it. Ended at 3:44/km for the full kilometer.
My race target is 4:00/km sustained across eight runs. I ran 16 seconds per kilometer faster than race pace on a fresh time trial in Week 5 of a 20-week plan. The speed is ahead of schedule.
What this means practically: the limiter for sub-70 is not top-end running speed. It’s the aerobic base and pacing discipline to sustain controlled effort across the full race. That’s what the Zone 2 training is building.
2000m Row TT: 7:29
Held approximately 1:52/500m pace. First 1000m at 3:44/500m average, second 1000m pushed harder. Total: 7:29.
The target was sub 7:40. My weekly training row splits have been 3:47-3:51 per 1000m since Week 1. The row is consistently the strongest station in my training. It may be an advantage on race day.
The 2000m row TT deserves a warning: it is one of the hardest things you will do in training. Max effort for 7-8 minutes on a rowing machine produces a specific kind of suffering. It felt terrible. The number was good. Both of those things can be true.
80m Burpee Broad Jump: 3:12
48 seconds under the race target of sub 4:00. Completed after the 1km TT and 2000m row.
The burpees are not a limiter. Moving on.
What Benchmark Tests Don’t Tell You
Here’s the honest Hyrox tip that every beginner needs to understand: benchmark tests measure your ceiling, not your race performance.
A 3:44/km 1km TT with full rest tells you what you’re capable of when fresh. A Hyrox race asks you to run 4:00/km after a sled push, after a row, after sandbag lunges, with seven more stations still ahead of you.
The gap between those two realities is closed by:
- Aerobic base — Zone 2 training that lets you sustain effort without blowing up
- Pacing discipline — the ability to start at the right pace even when it feels too easy
- Station efficiency — transitions, breathing resets, not panicking between efforts
Benchmarks tell you whether the engine is big enough. The training block determines whether you can use it efficiently across a full race.
Mine is big enough. The next 14 weeks determine whether I can use it.
When to Run Benchmark Tests
I run them every 4-5 weeks at the same point in the training week — fresh, Tuesday morning, after a rest day or easy Monday. Planned benchmark weeks in this build: Weeks 3, 6, 10, 14, 18.
The progression targets across the plan:
| Test | Week 5 | Week 10 Target | Race Day Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1km TT | 3:44/km | 3:50/km | Sub 3:40/km |
| 2000m Row | 7:29 | 7:05 | Sub 6:50 |
| 80m Burpee BJ | 3:12 | 3:45 | Sub 4:00 |
The 1km TT target actually gets slower in later weeks — because the goal shifts from testing top speed to testing race-pace control. By Week 14 the benchmark is whether 4:00/km feels controlled, not whether I can run 3:44/km.
That’s what training for Hyrox actually looks like.
The Bottom Line
If you’re training for Hyrox and you’re not running periodic benchmark tests, you’re flying blind. The data tells you whether the plan is working, where you’re ahead of schedule, and where you need to focus.
Week 5 data: ahead of schedule on running and rowing, burpees not a limiter, aerobic base actively building.
Fourteen weeks to Tampa. Sub-70 is the plan.
— Austin