Don't concentrate on perfect station replicas. Concentrate on engine and legs. If I were in your position, I’d build it around this: 1) Run… a lot more than you thinkThis is the bit people try to “replace” with machines. Don’t. HYROX is basically a running race with interruptions. - 1 long Zone 2 run every week (60–90 mins, conversational pace) - 1 threshold run (comfortably hard, sustained effort) - 1 interval session (400s, 800s, or compromised running) If your running improves, everything else gets easier. If it doesn’t, no amount of clever substitutions will save you on race day. 2) Build leg strength (this is your biggest carryover) row, lunges, wall balls, sleds… it’s all legs. So instead of trying to perfectly mimic each station, just get strong: - Heavy squats - Heavy deadlifts - Heavy lunges (walking, front rack, deficit if you can) - Add in step-ups if you want extra carryover Progress these week to week. This is where most people are miles off. 3) Upper body: keep it simple You don’t need to over-engineer SkiErg replacements. Ski is mostly: - Core stability - Lat endurance So focus on: - Pull-ups / assisted pull-ups / high-rep rows - Hanging leg raises - Planks (long holds, not 20-second nonsense) That’ll carry over more than trying to band your way into a fake SkiErg. 4) Your substitutions are fine—but don’t rely on them - DB thrusters → good for wall balls - Lunges/carries → good for sandbag work - Bike/treadmill → fine for conditioning Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking these are the main event. They’re support work. Running is the main element 5) The honest truth most people don’t want to hear You could do zero SkiErg, zero rowing, zero wall balls…but if you: - Run well - Have strong legs - Can keep moving under fatigue You’ll still perform well. Flip that the other way round—perfect station prep but poor running—and you’ll get swallowed up by run 3. If you want a simple way to sanity check your plan:

@Rachael Currie you’ll smash it 💪🏽 good look

@Paul Bytheway loved every second of it