Personally, I have to listen to upbeat music when I’m doing a track, threshold or simulation-style workout. However, when it’s an easy or long-run day I like to lose myself in a Podcast.
In addition to keeping any possible boredom at bay, I also feel I’m being a little more productive with my time. I’m working my aerobic engine with the zone 2 running, but my mind is also active and engaged.
If you want to take this a bit further, in addition to listening to Podcasts for entertainment, you can choose one with an educational focus to help you improve as an athlete by increasing your training knowledge too.
Today’s list features some of our favourite Hyrox Podcasts. The rules we’ve set ourselves are simple. Either:
- They must by athletes who have completed a Hyrox
or - They must be primarily about Hyrox or Hybrid Racing
Alright, let’s help you find a new podcast!
RMR Training Podcast
Previously the ‘Rich Ryan Reinforced Running’ Podcast, Elite Hyrox Athlete Rich Ryan is now joined by his team mates and business partners Megan Jacoby (Hyrox World Champion) and Ryan Kent (Elite Hyrox Athlete).
What do I love about this podcast? First of all, this podcast is Pound-For-Pound Undisputed Champ in terms of the hosts’ knowledge, experience and results in Hyrox. Rich Ryan, Ryan Kent and Megan Jacoby have qualified for the Elite 15 at Hyrox World Championships for multiple years now, with Megan being the reigning Women’s World Champ. Therefore, when the team talk about what they’re experimenting with in their training and what they feel is working, you know it’s worth listening to. Next, the three athletes don’t hold back as they share their open and honest insights competing as elites in one of the world’s fastest growing sports.
As an athlete who wants to be competitive myself, I would say this Podcast is at the absolute forefront of how to train for Hyrox and I appreciate that, but it’s Meg, Rich and Ryan’s personalities and banter that truly make the show. Recent episodes I’ve enjoyed include: ‘There is no perfect way to train for Hyrox’, ‘Aerobic Fitness for Hyrox’, ‘Three ways to use Metcons for Hyrox’, ‘Hyrox World Champion Meg Jacoby – Full Event Recap’, ‘Managing mental and physical fatigue’, ‘Kent’s new approach to Hyrox’, and ‘Elite training as a Parent’. Whatever they are talking about, you can expect a brutally honest (sometimes too honest?😅) view of HYROX.
Who: Rich Ryan, Megan Jacoby & Ryan Kent
What: Content for athletes seeking to be more competitive and who want an insiders look at what it’s like to be an Elite Athlete in a rapidly growing sport.
Back Catalogue: 334 Episodes
Rox Lyfe
The RoxLyfe Podcast has changed a fair bit over the past year. Whereas earlier episodes were a bit more data driven and focused on specific races, host Greg Williams now interviews notable members of the Hyrox community.
Greg works very closely with Hyrox (even commentating Championship races), so has good connections within the space. Therefore, his list of guests is second to none. From Elite Hyrox Athletes to Event Organisers to CrossFit Athletes and an array of mindset coaches, running coaches, and many more experts besides – his podcast is always varied and interesting.
Over the past couple months, I’ve enjoyed episodes with author Gareth Timmins about mindset, Elite Hyrox Athlete Hunter McIntyre about his difficult Hyrox World Championship race, and an episode with youngster Charlie Botterill about his goals to get to the Hyrox Elite.
Who: Greg Williams
What: Hyrox coverage and interviews
Back Catalogue: 106 Episodes
Hybrid Fitness Media
The Hybrid Fitness Media Podcast is the brainchild of Matt B. Davis, one of the most well known and knowledgeable personalities in the Spartan and OCR world. As more OCR athletes and fans began crossing over to Hyrox and Deka, Matt launched Hybrid Fitness Media to cater to the Hybrid space.
Matt operates Hybrid Fitness Media as a news outlet and he’s typically one of the first people to release news or rumours (that often end up becoming fact). Generally, if I want to find a video of an athlete’s immediate reaction upon winning winning a Hyrox/Deka race or know where the season’s premier races will be, Hybrid Fitness Media will be who I expect to find it out from.
Matt’s Podcast is a bit different though. Matt has a very fun, somewhat chaotic, and curious personality. His guests feature a wide range of athletes, commentators, and interesting personalities within the space or even from just outside it (e.g. CrossFit or Triathlon). What this results in is a show that revolves around a set topic or piece of news (such as ‘The Growth Of Hyrox’ or ‘The New Hyrox Qualification Process’), but features lots of fun tangents that cover the guest’s life more broadly.
Who: Matt B. Davis
What: Hybrid Racing News and Spontaneous Interviews
Back Catalogue: 119 Episodes
The Roxzone
The RoxZone is a great entry point into the world of Hyrox Podcasts. Essentially, you have three mates who stumbled across Hyrox discussing the sport. None of the hosts Ben, Max or Tom have their sights set on the Elite 15, but rather they’ve fallen in love with the community aspect of the Hyrox, the style of training it requires and the amount of fun each event offers.
Being close friends long before finding Hyrox, the conversation is always easy and there’s plenty of banter between the three guys. What sets The RoxZone apart from many Podcasts I’ve listened to in this space is that the focus is on Hyrox as a hobby. The RoxZone does offer solid training advice and they cover events too, but it’s with the goal of breaking down barriers and boosting everyone’s enjoyment of the sport.
If I’m doing a long-run and feeling a bit bored, I’ll often chuck on The RoxZone and find myself laughing at the lads ripping each other whilst covering a topic I find interesting such as ‘Juggling Hyrox With Work’, ‘Breaking Down The Hyrox PFT’ or ‘Best Shoes For Hyrox’. Some of the podcasts that can really put you at ease in the early days of your training include ‘Movement Standards’, ‘Hyrox Mythbusters’ and ‘Training For Your First Hyrox’. Their coverage of Hyrox events is good fun and often released just a few days after the event has wrapped up. They have regular interviews too.
Who: Max Schlummer, Ben Rawls. Tom Previte & Lucy Mitchell (Guest Host)
What: Three friends discuss training for Hyrox and having fun whilst doing so
Back Catalogue: 106 Episodes
Hybrid Fitness Coaching Podcast
James Kelly and his coach Anthony Peressini team up in this podcast to discuss their thoughts and experiences training and programming for Hyrox. James Kelly is an Elite Hyrox athlete and coach who has become well known for his fun, friendly personally off the track and tenacious, inspiring performances on it. Anthony Peressini is one of the most respected coaches in the space due to his knowledge and ability to analyse and understand the sport’s demands (also worth noting: he coaches his wife, Lauren Weeks, who is one of Hyrox’s most decorated athletes!).
I would say that of all the podcasts on this list, this is probably the most analytical and serious. It’s the podcast I would say I personally take the most away from as an athlete, in terms of understanding the sport of Hyrox and why I feel the way I do in races, and how I can train as a result. That’s not to say it’s boring though! Anthony and James are engaging personalities and have a great way of breaking complex topics down into understandable, actionable pieces with banter in-between.
My favourite episodes to date include the two episodes on Lactate Threshold and the episode on Goal Setting.
Who: James Kelly and Anthony Peressini
What: Athletes and Coaches break down the science of training for Hyrox
Back Catalogue: 14 Episodes
RAD Hyrox Podcast
One of the newer podcasts on the list and also one of the few podcasts in the Hyrox space with female hosts. Whereas many of the Podcasts we’re covering here today focus on news or training, the RAD Hyrox podcast features your hosts Fay and Emma chatting with pretty much anyone involved in the Hyrox community with an interesting or inspiring story to tell.
In one episode we may be chatting to the most tattooed man in Hyrox about why he’s so inspired by the Hyrox community, the next a Bikini Pro who is taking on the challenge of a Hyrox, then CrossFit Athlete Sydney Wells about giving Hyrox a go after a penalty had her miss the CrossFit Games. There’s plenty of interviews with Elite-level athletes such as Michael Sandbach, Lauren Weeks and Zara Piergianni too!
A few words that come to mind about RAD Hyrox are ‘inspiring’ and ‘approachable’. I think almost anyone can enjoy this podcast, but I think Fay and Emma are doing a particularly good job at producing content for people newer Hyrox and letting them know that it’s a sport for anyone and everyone.
Who: Fay Cunningham and Emma Petrie
What: Inspiring interviews with people involved in the Hyrox space
Back Catalogue: 29 Episodes
HyroxDaily Podcast
The HyroxDaily Podcast is actually a weekly Podcast where fun, enthusiastic host Florian Kowa interviews competitive Hyrox athletes (primarily). Florian has a really good rapport with all the athletes he speaks with and his guests clearly feel very comfortable chatting with him.
Clearly at ease, athletes appearing on HyroxDaily end up sharing a lot of really interesting information about their training, life and view of Hyrox more broadly. One of the keys to this is that Florian isn’t afraid to have guests on multiple times and so the questions he asks go far deeper than conversations you may hear on other podcasts that feature introductory questions that can feel obligatory or questions that result in answers you’ve heard before. There’s also a lot of smiles and laughter.
There’s some really good recent episodes worth checking out including interviews with Lauren Weeks, Pelayo Menendez Fernandez, and CrossFit veteran Kristi O’Connell.
Who: Florian Kowa
What: Regular interviews with Hyrox athletes
Where: Spotify
Fitness Racing Podcast
If you’re in the UK, then you’ve probably heard about the Fitness Racing Podcast as the hosts are very active in the UK Hyrox Facebook Group.
I really love this show as the goal of it seems to be building and promoting the UK hybrid scene. If some podcasts are like journals and others are like newspapers, I’d say that the Fitness Racing Podcast is more of a magazine.
Host Ian Kay interviews a wide range of people involved in the sport from judges to new entrants with an interesting story to tell to YouTubers to elite athletes. Ian is an experienced host and conversations with guests are always seamless. They also do a great job of providing in-depth race previews and reviews of UK events.
If I’m on a long-run and want something really easy to listen to I’ll often chuck this on and find myself enjoying the run a lot more.
Who: Ian Kay
What: Interviews and UK race coverage
Back Catalogue: 163 Episodes
Nitty Gritty Training
Although it’s not exclusively Hyrox focused, Nitty Gritty Training is one of my favourite podcasts to listen to on a run.
Each show has a set topic and the two hosts, Faye Stenning and Jessica O’Connell, chat through them drawing upon their experiences and expertise. Faye was on the Spartan Pro Team and had more podium finishes than any other female athlete over the past decade; she also has a degree in Kinesiology. Jessica O’Connell is an Olympic runner, specializing in the 5000m with a personal best time of 15:06 (wow!); she has a degree in Exercise Physiology. So, basically, they’re pretty qualified! But if you’re still not convinced, Faye has done a Hyrox and she won it maintaining running splits between 3:35 – 4:08 for the entire event.
What I enjoy about Nitty Gritty Training is that it’s very easy to listen to. Faye and Jess have known each other and trained together since they were at school and so couldn’t be more comfortable chatting with each other. And, essentially, that’s how the show comes across: as a conversation between two friends.
Topics are always relevant to the masses too. Whether it’s ‘Breaking Through Plateaus’ or ‘Training For Multiple Different Events’ or ‘Building A Home Gym’ or ‘Sleep’ or ‘Types Of Run Workouts’. They also run regular Q&As where they answer questions submitted through Instagram and have done interviews with Hyrox Athletes such as Hunter McIntyre and Lauren Weeks.
Who: Faye Stenning & Jess O’Connell
What: Running and OCR topics by a Spartan Pro and Olympian.
Back Catalogue: 100 Episodes
Race Brain Podcast
Another Podcast hosted by Rich Ryan and featuring a reoccurring panel of Brakken Kraker, Jack Bauer (not the badass from 24, sadly?), and Kirk DeWidnt! If you’re not familiar with these guys, their expertise come from being a mixture of Spartan Pros, coaches, authors, stats gurus and popular podcast hosts. As a result, this Podcast is super slick, professional sounding and very in-depth.
This Podcast is geared more towards those who want detailed coverage and analysis of all things OCR, hybrid fitness, and endurance racing. If you’re new to this world, you may initially feel a little lost with this one. However, if you’re familiar with the various events and athletes involved then this is one of the very best to get your news and deepen your understanding of the sport.
Hyrox is a relatively small piece of the overall OCR/Hybrid Racing puzzle, and so if that’s your only interest there may be limited episodes you choose to listen to, but there are some great episodes previewing the season and reviewing record-breaking performances that you should make time to check out.
Who: Brakken Kraker, Jack Bauer, Kirk DeWidnt, and Rich Ryan
What: OCR & Hybrid Racing Coverage by top level athletes and creators
Back Catalogue: 124 Episodes
OFX Podcast
This is an enjoyable, professional-level Podcast that covers Hyrox when there’s a race on in the US, but focuses primarily on the Spartan branded events such as Spartan OCR and Deka. The hosts are Dave Claxton (VP of Obstacle Sports Canada) and Bethany McChesney (an accomplished Spartan Pro).
Many of the Podcasts on this list are based here in the UK and primarily cover the European scene. OFX, being based in Canada, covers mostly North America. What’s quite nice about this is that Dave and Bethany often invite guests onto the show and these guests often include some of the Elite 15 Hyrox Athletes you don’t regularly hear from on the European Podcasts – even if they are mostly talking Deka or Spartan.
Bethany and Dave have a great dynamic and are incredibly knowledgeable on the OCR and Hybrid Racing scene. Episodes are often over an hour, but never seem to drag, so make perfect listening for your longest run of the week.
Who: Dave Claxon and Bethany McChesney
What: North American Hybrid Racing coverage by an industry pro and pro athlete
Back Catalogue: 213 Episodes
The Hybrid Experiment
Our own podcast is called The Hybrid Experiment and we look to bring listeners information on how to train for the sport of Hybrid Fitness, specifically Hyrox and Deka. As an athlete myself, I’m curious about how to train in a way that will improve your race time and the podcast is aimed at people with the same goals.
Guests so far have included Elite athletes and their coaches and we’ve covered topics such as how to improve your running for Hyrox, how to strength train for Hyrox, what to do during the off season, and how to break down your performance so you know what to work on next. Athletes and coaches providing this information have included Megan Jacoby, Markus Frison, Graham Halliday and many more besides!
Who: Marc Aplin
What: Training advice for Hyrox athletes looking to be more competitive
Back Catalogue: 7 Episodes
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