Upper-Body Pulling Strength: Why It’s Critical in HYROX.

In HYROX, upper-body pulling strength isn't a luxury; it's the direct currency of three stations: the 1000-meter SkiErg, the 50-meter Sled Pull, and the 200-meter Farmers Carry. These three take up roughly a quarter of total race time, and all of them load the back, lats, forearms, and grip. An athlete with weak pulling strength loses minutes at these three stations even if they're a good runner; the good news is that pulling strength is a quality that develops relatively quickly.

Where pulling strength shows up in the race

Let's make it concrete. On the SkiErg, 1000 meters takes most athletes between 3:40 and 4:40, and the entire movement is a top-down pull. The legs and torso do a large part of the work, but if the lats and triceps don't engage, distance per stroke drops; you then try to make up for it by taking more strokes, which means raising your heart rate unnecessarily. Stroke economy SkiErg technique article.

In the Sled Pull, 50 meters is covered by pulling the rope hand over hand. The work here is almost entirely horizontal pulling: upper back, biceps, forearms, and trunk stability. It's common for a weak athlete to spend 4-5 minutes at this station, while a well-prepared one finishes in under 2 minutes. More than two minutes of difference, at a single station.

In the Farmers Carry, you walk 200 meters carrying two weights. There seems to be no direct pull, but holding the load through the shoulder girdle and keeping the scapulae in place is entirely upper-back work; if your grip is weak, you'll drop the weights halfway. For details, see Farmers Carry article.

Vertical and horizontal pulling: both are necessary

In practice, most athletes neglect one of these two. People who love pull-ups and pulldowns gain back width but burn out on the Sled Pull; those who focus on rows can't find stroke power on the SkiErg. The simple solution: include one vertical and one horizontal movement on every pulling day, and add an extra set to whichever is weaker.

Pulling movements fall into two main axes, and HYROX demands both. Vertical pulling (top to bottom) is closer to the SkiErg; horizontal pulling (front to torso) is closer to the Sled Pull.

A rough target: half of your 10-16 weekly pulling sets vertical, half horizontal. That means doing about one and a half times as much pulling as pushing volume (bench, push-ups, Wall Balls); since HYROX already provides plenty of pushing through Wall Balls and burpees, the balance is set in this direction.

Straight-arm pulldown: the SkiErg's gym sibling

You can also train the same pattern with a band: anchor the band at a high point, hold it with both hands, arms straight, and press down while leaning the torso slightly forward. When there's no SkiErg at home or while traveling, this is the closest alternative; solutions for travel periods training while traveling in our article.

This movement deserves special emphasis because it's the isolated exercise closest to the SkiErg movement pattern. Keep the cable high, arms nearly straight, press down with the lats without bending the elbows, and finish at thigh level. This is exactly the range that determines stroke power on the SkiErg.

Practical application: 3 × 15 reps with a light load, 1 second down and 2 seconds back on each rep. The goal isn't building muscle but learning to produce force in that pattern. Also, choosing the right damper setting and stroke rate saves time independent of pulling strength; we explained this with numbers in the damper setting and stroke rate article.

Pulling strength is useless without grip

The reason is that the forearm muscles are small but under high demand. An athlete's lats might be strong enough to row 200 kg; if their fingers can't hold the rope for 45 seconds, that strength never transfers to the Sled Pull. So grip isn't an “extra” here; it's the gate that sets the upper limit of pulling strength.

The brutal side of HYROX is that the Sled Pull and Farmers Carry, the race's third and sixth stations, aren't back to back but spread out with running and burpees in between. So once your forearms are fatigued, there's little chance to recover for the rest of the race.

That's why two grip items are always added to the pulling block:

1. Dead hang. Hang from the bar, 3 × 30-45 seconds. Simple and ruthlessly effective.
2. Loaded carries. 4 × 40 meters of Farmers Carry at 100-110 percent of race load. 60-second rests.
3. Plate pinch. Pinch two plates together with your fingertips and hold for 3 × 20-30 seconds. It loads the forearm flexors from a different angle.
4. Towel row. Wrapping a towel around the cable and pulling combines grip and back in the same set. 3 × 10.

If you want to vary these items, 8 exercises to improve grip strength gives the full list. Calluses and skin problems on the hands also come with this volume; we gathered prevention tips in the article on hand calluses and grip injuries.

8-week pulling block

The plan below assumes two pulling touches a week. Day A is heavy and low-rep, day B is endurance-focused. How it fits into the rest of the program in our program writing guide in our running guide.

The two numbers from week eight are the reference you'll compare against in the next block. For most athletes, eight weeks of regular pulling work brings a marked drop in Sled Pull time, because the starting level at this station is usually very low and gains come fast.

Shoulder health: the hidden benefit of pulling

There's also a posture dimension. Most athletes who work at a desk have short chest muscles and a weak upper back. This combination makes it harder to keep the ball up in Wall Balls and gives a feeling of shoulder impingement on the SkiErg. Increasing pulling volume, combined with mobility work, changes this picture within weeks; for a desk-job setup, see the office worker plan article.

You have to accept that HYROX is a sport with a high shoulder load. The 1000-meter SkiErg and 100 Wall Balls load the same shoulder girdle in the same race. This load is balanced by having a strong upper back and scapular retractors.

The practical recipe is simple: add 2-3 sets of face pulls or band pull-aparts at the end of every pushing session, 15-20 reps, with high control. Athletes who do this see a marked reduction in recurring discomfort at the front of the shoulder. Details are in the preventing shoulder injuries article. If shoulder pain doesn't go away between sessions or disrupts your sleep at night, the right move is to reduce training and see a doctor.

Three common mistakes

• Chasing only pull-ups. The pull-up is a nice benchmark, but it isn't raced in HYROX. An athlete who can't do a pull-up gets the same station gains from lat pulldowns and rows.
• Pulling only when rested. In the race, you go into the Sled Pull having run 3 kilometers and done burpees. Link an 800 m run + 25 m Sled Pull at least twice within the block; this skill is what we call compromised running .
• Swinging the weight up. A row done with momentum doesn't transfer to the Sled Pull, because the Sled Pull is a rhythmic but controlled pull. Lower the load, increase control.

Where to start

In summary: pulling strength is the common currency of three stations in HYROX, it can't be transferred without grip, it demands both the vertical and horizontal axes, and it delivers clear gains with eight weeks of regular work. The fastest gains usually show up in the Sled Pull, because most athletes go into this station without any specific training.

For someone who has never done regular pulling work, building volume with machine and cable movements for the first four weeks is the safest route; Sled Pull- and SkiErg-specific work makes sense from week five onward. If you want to measure your weak link first, station analysis you can apply the test protocol in the article. At the club, this block is a standard part of the strength section in group classes; the flow in the class schedule on its own page.