Spin Instructor Ria Chen will be competing in her first HYROX race, we ask her the tips to better strength endurance for endurance racing
From spin sprints to HIIT, Ria Chen is no stranger to cardio and endurance workouts. Come 29 June, she will be taking on her first HYROX race, as one of fourteen (14) athletes representing Team 100PLUS.
We find out from the Spin instructor and Team 100PLUS athlete how everyone can improve their strength endurance to last the fitness race that is HYROX Singapore with specific drills, and how having a good core can help reduce injuries and fatigue during the fitness race.
And don't forget while training for HYROX Singapore that recovery is important too, and there is no better way to recover than with 100PLUS PRO High Protein, a choice recovery drink by high performance athletes with added protein and BCAAs to speed up your recovery post training.
Incorporating Everyday Activities into your HYROX training
Are there any particular variations or modifications of traditional gym exercises that can be adapted for use with everyday objects to better simulate the movements required for HYROX events?
Ria: When we talk about things that we use everyday or things that we see everyday I would say grocery shopping would be one of the closer few for farmer's carry. Or if you come from a big family and you have large bags of rice at home you can use it to simulate wall balls or lunges. Like just hold it and squat and lunge.
What role does core strength play in successfully completing exercises like Burpee Broad Jumps, Sandbag Lunges, and Wall Balls?
Ria: So having good core strength would help you perform movements better because you will fatigue less and you will be able to better perform movements with better posture, and even when you start to fatigue you won't get injured as compared to if you have a weaker core. So less injuries, less fatigue, better endurance if you have a good core.
Drill and Exercises for Better Explosiveness
Can you suggest any specific drills or exercises that focus on explosiveness and power development to complement leg and core endurance training for exercises like Broad Jumps, Sandbag Lunges, and Wall Balls?
Ria: So for body weight exercises - for explosive movements you can do jump lunges, squat jumps or even hop ups that you can do easily without equipment. For weighted exercises you could do things like thrusters or push presses.
For more details on how you can train explosiveness and power for HYROX Singapore, read up on our feature with former national sprinter Yao Peng here.
How important is mental preparation and focus in successfully completing leg and core endurance exercises during HYROX events, and do you have any strategies for improving mental resilience during training?
Ria: For myself it's my first time competing in HYROX, it's an endurance based race - you will be working out for an hour plus or even two hours. So having good mental strength going into the competition and going into race day is very important because when your body starts to fatigue, it's really your mind that will get you going.
And if let's say you are doing 75 or 100 wall balls and the judge comes and tells you that 20 are not counted, and you still have to do 20 more.
How to better prepare for this? My personal training plan would be to train for more reps than required, and with a heavier weight than what is required for the event so that on the day of you are actually prepared for these circumstances if you have to do more reps your body will be in tune with it - it won't come as a shock and you will still be able to perform the reps.