Here’s Why Hybrid Training Might Be the Future of Functional Fitness

Image: Aidan Young

Aidan young might be just a normal person, he works full time, goes on holidays, and spends time with his dogs. But the work he puts in day-to-day in the gym and in his cardiovascular work, makes him an everyday athlete. As a fulltime lifeguard, Young takes on various pursuits in physical betterment and fitness improvements, earning his title as a hybrid athlete. Within this, he trains effectively in the gym for hypertrophy four times per week, as well as running exclusively in Zone 2, 2 to 3 times weekly. He takes on these various pursuits in the efforts of building (and maintaining) an impressive physique, as well as building his cardiovascular endurance. His current pursuit is to take on the challenge of a Hyrox event, which he is competing in on November 16th in Dublin.

What is Hyrox?

“Hyrox combines both running & functional workout stations, where participants run 1km, followed by 1 functional workout station, repeated 8 times.” The everyday take on CrossFit allows everyone to take on a physical challenge, combining strength and endurance. The Hyrox website shows how it could be the way for everyone to become their best selves: “Accommodating both professional athletes, and everyday fitness enthusiasts looking to take their training to the next level, Hyrox is the sport for everybody.”

Why so Popular?

Hyrox has had a recent influx of popularity across fitness brands and circles. Brands such as Marchon encapsulate strength, size, and endurance for performance by creating tailored programs for hybrid athletes. The brand builds everyday people to train like athletes, especially specialising in Hyrox and CrossFit training. On top of this, clothing brands are beginning to connect with the trend, in order for athletes to feel their best while taking on athletic pursuits. Represent’s sister brand 247 stands behind the hybrid way of training, selling running and training gear and sponsoring high level athletes like @hardestgeezer. On top of this, the brand’s CEO, @Georgeheaton is a hybrid, Hyrox athlete who logs miles as a runner while training in the gym.

Athletes on TikTok, such as @fonzian (441.5k), @lukehoplife (134.1k) and @nathanfrenchh (538.8k) practice hybrid training and have all had a hand in pioneering the trend to the betterment of normal people through physical pursuit. The athletes respectively partake in hypertrophy training in the gym (for general physique improvements), as well as taking on various cardiovascular pursuits, mainly in training for and running in marathons. This way of training helps the athletes build and maintain impressive physiques and have athlete-standard cardiovascular fitness. On top of this, each of the aforementioned athletes have competed in bodybuilding competitions, showing the extent of their impressive physiques.

An Everyday Athlete:

“I used to get home from work or uni, eat dinner and then sit on my Xbox for a couple of hours before bed. Then I’d pretty much just rinse and repeat this every day.” Aidan’s lifestyle as a young adult drastically changed in his second year of university, with him ditching the games for a physical lifestyle. He began by going to the gym 3 times weekly, training mostly for hypertrophy and general strength increases. “I just wanted to change how I looked. I was always such a skinny kid, so I wanted to make a change so I could be proud of who I saw in the mirror.” This was how his journey into health optimisation began, but this all changed at the start of this year, after seeing the lifestyles of social-media athletes. “I switched from zero cardio, to running twice a week minimum, I went from training 3 days a week to 4, and I completely switched over my diet to almost carnivore and only whole foods” (See my piece on the carnivore diet here). This change in Young’s lifestyle made him feel better inside and out, with his cardiovascular ceiling reaching new heights through practicing zone 2 cardio, as well as seeing physical benefits to his physique through his practice of hypertrophy and clean eating.

The benefits Young saw to his lifestyle made him feel, as he described: “Like a new person.” This way of life is just a step away for the average male, so why not take the first step that made Young feel like a new man. Optimise is here to make each man find out what their body is capable of, by following each article in our website, your lifestyle and health will be optimised.