HYROX Divisions Explained: Pro, Open, Doubles, and Relay — What Actually Changes

HYROX offers several divisions, and each one changes what you actually do on race day — not just who you race against. If you're trying to decide which category to enter, or wondering why your Open time doesn't line up neatly with a friend's Pro result, this is the breakdown you need.

Every division follows the same structure: eight 1 km runs, each followed by one functional workout station, for a total of 8 km of running and 8 stations completed in a fixed order. What changes between divisions is how heavy the stations are, whether you need a partner, and how the work gets split.

What Are HYROX Divisions and Why Do They Exist?

HYROX uses divisions to scale difficulty and team format so that athletes of different experience levels can race on the same course, on the same day. The divisions are not just prestige tiers — they change the physical workload at each station, which means the race itself feels materially different depending on what you sign up for.

This matters for two reasons. First, choosing the right division affects your safety and enjoyment. Attempting Pro-level sled weights without adequate preparation can turn a challenging race into a miserable one. Second, your results only make sense when compared within the same division. A finishing time in Open represents a different physical effort than the same time in Pro, because the stations are harder in Pro. Understanding this upfront saves confusion later.

Open Division: The Standard Solo Race

Open is the default entry point. There is no qualification requirement — anyone can register for an Open wave at any HYROX event. It's the most popular division, and it's where the vast majority of first-time racers start.

Here are the eight stations in order, with the Open workloads for the current season. Note that sled weights listed are total weight including the sled itself. One important caveat: HYROX may adjust weights or rules between seasons. The figures below reflect the current season's standards as reported by multiple consistent sources. If precision matters for your preparation, confirm the latest details at hyrox.com before race day.

Men's Open

Station	Workload
1. SkiErg	1,000 m
2. Sled Push	50 m @ 152 kg
3. Sled Pull	50 m @ 103 kg
4. Burpee Broad Jump	80 m
5. Rowing	1,000 m
6. Farmers Carry	200 m @ 2 × 24 kg
7. Sandbag Lunges	100 m @ 20 kg
8. Wall Balls	100 reps @ 6 kg to reported 3.0 m target

Women's Open

Station	Workload
1. SkiErg	1,000 m
2. Sled Push	50 m @ 102 kg
3. Sled Pull	50 m @ 78 kg
4. Burpee Broad Jump	80 m
5. Rowing	1,000 m
6. Farmers Carry	200 m @ 2 × 16 kg
7. Sandbag Lunges	100 m @ 10 kg
8. Wall Balls	75 reps @ 4 kg to reported 2.7 m target

A few details worth flagging: Women's Open is the only division where wall balls are 75 reps instead of 100. Every other division — including Women's Pro — uses 100 reps. This is a common point of confusion, so keep it in mind if you're comparing station times. Wall ball target heights are reported as 3.0 m for men and 2.7 m for women across community sources consistent with prior seasons, though these have not been independently verified against the current official rulebook.

Additionally, while the SkiErg and rowing distances are the same across all divisions, machine resistance or damper settings may vary by division and gender. Exact settings are not widely documented, but they can affect difficulty — something to be aware of if you're comparing effort levels across categories.

Pro Division: Heavier Loads, Not Just a Faster Field

Pro is where things get meaningfully harder. The station weights jump substantially, and the race becomes a different physical challenge — not just the same race done by fitter people.

How Pro Entry Works

A common misconception: you do not need a qualifying time to register for a Pro wave at a standard HYROX event. Athletes self-select into Pro. If you believe you're ready for heavier loads and want to test yourself, you can sign up.

The distinction that matters is at the World Championship level. For the 2025/26 season, qualification for the HYROX World Championships requires racing in the Pro division (with the exception of the 60+ age category). So while entering a regular Pro event is open to everyone, earning a World Championship spot is not — you must have a Pro result on record. This policy may evolve in future seasons.

Pro Station Workloads

Here is what changes at each station. The distances (SkiErg, rowing, sled push/pull distance, burpee broad jump distance, farmers carry distance, sandbag lunge distance) all stay the same. The weights go up.

Men's Pro

Station	Workload	Change vs. Open
1. SkiErg	1,000 m	Same distance
2. Sled Push	50 m @ 202 kg	+50 kg
3. Sled Pull	50 m @ 153 kg	+50 kg
4. Burpee Broad Jump	80 m	Same
5. Rowing	1,000 m	Same distance
6. Farmers Carry	200 m @ 2 × 32 kg	+8 kg per hand
7. Sandbag Lunges	100 m @ 30 kg	+10 kg
8. Wall Balls	100 reps @ 9 kg to reported 3.0 m target	+3 kg ball

Women's Pro

Station	Workload	Change vs. Open
1. SkiErg	1,000 m	Same distance
2. Sled Push	50 m @ 152 kg	+50 kg
3. Sled Pull	50 m @ 103 kg	+25 kg
4. Burpee Broad Jump	80 m	Same
5. Rowing	1,000 m	Same distance
6. Farmers Carry	200 m @ 2 × 24 kg	+8 kg per hand
7. Sandbag Lunges	100 m @ 20 kg	+10 kg
8. Wall Balls	100 reps (up from 75 in Women's Open) @ 6 kg to reported 2.7 m target	+2 kg ball, +25 reps

A useful reference point: Women's Pro weights are identical to Men's Open weights across the board (the only difference is the wall ball target height, reported as 2.7 m for women versus 3.0 m for men). That gives you a sense of the jump involved. Pro isn't a label — it's a substantially harder race.

Note on wave structure: whether Pro waves at regular events have distinct competitive seeding compared to Open is not clearly documented for standard races. The Elite 15 Major series uses specific qualification-based seeding, but at a typical HYROX event, Pro simply means heavier weights and a self-selected field of more experienced athletes.

Doubles: Pro Doubles and Open Doubles

Doubles is the team-of-two format, and it changes the race in a specific way that's worth understanding precisely.

How Doubles Works

Both partners run every 1 km segment together. The rule is that partners must stay within 15 seconds of each other on each run. You do not get to skip running segments — both athletes cover the full 8 km.

At the workout stations, the total work stays the same as in the solo race (same weight, same reps, same distance), but the two partners share it. The key rule: only one partner can work at a time. You cannot both be on the sled simultaneously or both be doing wall balls at once.

How you split that work is flexible. You could alternate entire stations (one person does sled push, the other does sled pull), split reps within a single station (50 wall balls each), or mix strategies depending on each partner's strengths. The constraint is just one person active at a time.

Two Tiers

• Open Doubles uses Open-level weights. No qualification needed.
• Pro Doubles uses Pro-level weights. Whether Pro Doubles requires a prior qualifying result or is also self-selected may vary by season — check the current HYROX registration page for your event to confirm.

Why Doubles Times Don't Compare to Solo Times

Because station work is shared between two people, the total station workload per athlete is roughly halved. Even though both partners run the full 8 km, the reduced station burden means Doubles finishing times are structurally faster than solo times for the same level of individual fitness. A 1:10:00 in Open Doubles is not the same as a 1:10:00 in Open Singles — the races involve different amounts of total work per person.

Relay: The Four-Person Team Format

Relay breaks the race into the smallest individual chunks, making it the most accessible format HYROX offers.

How Relay Works

A relay team has four athletes. The eight race blocks (each block being one 1 km run followed by one station) are divided so that each team member completes exactly two blocks. The team chooses which two stations each athlete takes on — and those two blocks do not need to be consecutive. For example, one athlete could do blocks 1 and 5, while another does blocks 3 and 7.

Each athlete must run the 1 km segment immediately before their assigned station. So if you're assigned the sled push (station 2), you run the second 1 km and then do the sled push. Between athletes, transitions happen in a designated zone: the outgoing athlete must physically tag (a high-five or shoulder tap) the next runner before they can start. Only one non-working teammate is allowed in the transition zone at a time.

Team Composition and Weights

Relay teams can be all men, all women, or mixed (two men and two women). Weights are at the Open level and are gender-specific — in a mixed team, each athlete uses the weights assigned to their gender.

Relay Is the Least Comparable Format

Each relay athlete runs 2 km total and completes two stations. That's a quarter of the solo race's station work and a quarter of the running. Relay times reflect a team effort with strategic station assignment (put your strongest rower on the rowing block, your best runner on a transition with a long corridor, etc.), so comparing a relay result to any individual format is not meaningful.

Why You Cannot Compare Times Across Divisions

This is the most important takeaway for anyone browsing results or tracking their own progression.

A finishing time of 1:15:00 in Open is a fundamentally different physical achievement than 1:15:00 in Pro. The Pro athlete pushed a sled that was 50 kg heavier, pulled a heavier sled, carried heavier farmers carry implements, lunged with a heavier sandbag, and threw a heavier wall ball — for the same distances and reps. The clock measured the same duration, but the work performed was not the same.

The same logic applies to team formats. A 1:05:00 Doubles time reflects two people sharing the station workload while both running 8 km. A 55:00 Relay time reflects four people each doing a fraction of the race. These are different events that happen to share a course.

This is exactly why Hyranking's rankings separate athletes by division. When you look at where you stand, you're compared against others who did the same race with the same loads. That's the only comparison that tells you something useful about your performance. You can also review past event results to see how finishing times distribute within each division at specific races — helpful for setting realistic targets.

If you want to benchmark yourself against someone in a different division, you need context beyond the raw time. Tools like Hyranking's comparison feature can help frame that context, but the starting point is always understanding that the workloads differ.

How to Choose Your Division

Here's a practical framework:

First race, or unsure of your fitness level → Open. This is not a compromise — it's the standard race. The overwhelming majority of HYROX participants race Open, and a strong Open time is a legitimate achievement. Start here, learn the format, and get a baseline.

Consistent Open finisher looking for a harder challenge → Consider Pro. If you've done a few Open races and feel comfortable at Open weights, Pro gives you a meaningful step up. Since entry is self-selected, you can try it whenever you're ready. Just be honest about whether the weight increases are within your capacity for a full race, not just a single set in the gym.

Want to race with a partner → Doubles. Open Doubles is the natural entry point. It's a great way to share the experience with a training partner, and the shared station work makes the race more forgiving for athletes who might struggle with specific stations solo. Pro Doubles is there if both partners are comfortable at Pro-level loads.

Want a low-pressure group experience → Relay. Relay is designed for accessibility and team-building. Each person does only two stations and 2 km of running, making it approachable for athletes who might not be ready for (or interested in) a full solo race. The competitive depth is lower, but the experience is still a genuine HYROX event.

Use data to calibrate. Before committing, browse past event results for races similar to the one you're entering. Look at finishing time distributions in your target division to set realistic expectations. If you've already raced, your own progression data — not someone else's division label — is the best guide for when to move up.