Outdo yourself in HYROX's strength stations regardless of your age with the right training techniques and useful tips from national fin swimmer and gym owner Lim Yao Xiang
Age is just a number, or is it?
While there is some truth that our muscle mass declines as we age, it is definitely possible to stay strong and even dominate fitness races well into your 40s with the right training, says national fin swimmer and gym owner Lim Yao Xiang in this special collab feature with 100PLUS Singapore.
In an article published by Harvard Medical School, studies show that after age 30, you begin to lose as much as 3% to 5% per decade, while most men will lose about 30% of their muscle mass during their lifetimes.
Less muscle means greater weakness and less mobility, both of which may increase your risk of falls and fractures.
This however, has not stopped many individuals well into their 40s from participating in popular fitness race HYROX Singapore. But how can one train in the right way to ensure they can still perform to their best and outdo themselves in HYROX? Here, Yaoxiang offers our readers some useful tips:
1. Can you provide more detail on how Farmer’s Carry to Suitcase Carry helps in preparing for strength stations in HYROX, and how should one incorporate it into their training routine?
I believe that both are very similar, you need to stay upright and tall while holding weights with your arms. So forearms are very important while all the muscles of your spine are also important. I believe it would be hugely beneficial to add short distances to your training so that you will be able to do so even while fatigued - when you struggle to be catching your breath and standing upright. I think that's the best time to add a short distance into your trainings.
2. As a national swimmer and former water polo athlete, how do you suggest incorporating pulls and swimming movements into land-based training to improve performance in pull stations like the Ski-Erg and Rowers in HYROX?
I believe these two actions are pulling actions, so I suggest overhead pulls - any cables or lat pulldowns will do, and also pulling from the front - these are very important directional pulls which you need for these two machines.
3. What specific resistance band exercises do you recommend for targeting the muscles used during SkiErgs and Rowers, and how should they be integrated into a training program?
With regard to resistance bands, I think it's good to tie them to some sort of weight: for example kettlebells or dumb bells, so it sort of dangles in mid air instead of holding from the handles of the equipment.
This dangling effect enforces the grip strength that you need and because it's a smaller grip, your fingers need to tighten and it will further strengthen your fingers and all your extensor muscles which are very hard to do.
And during HYROX, there are a lot of exercises which require you to hold onto something for a prolonged period of time, so this really helps the deeper muscles in your forearms.
4. Are there any additional exercises or training methods beyond those mentioned that you recommend for mastering strength stations in HYROX?
I believe general exercises like lifts, squats are important for basic strength. One exercise I would suggest on top of a normal squat would be the heel raise squat. This will force your ankles and knees to be working a lot harder.
This will definitely be beneficial as during the race itself there will be a lot of pounding of your feet and you hear of many athletes who feel sore from extensive working of these joints. So incorporating heel raise squats into your trainings would be beneficial for your race, I would say.
5. How important is grip strength in mastering strength stations, and are there any specific exercises or techniques you suggest for improving grip strength?
At least five of the HYROX stations require a lot of grip strength. Why I say it's important is because it's actually a very small muscle, so a lot of people tend to underestimate its importance. It's probably beneficial to add this exercise called a dead hang - hanging from a bar, arms straight like how we used to do when we were children, so these will really help improve your grip strength and overhead flexibility as well.
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