Crossfit vs Hyrox: I tried both fitness trends and only one made me a better cyclist

Hyrox - the race for 'every body' which combines running with functional strength exercises - beat Crossfit's Olympic lifts meets gymnastic mash up, for former bike racer Hannah Bussey

Hyrox gym session
(Image credit: Ashley Flood)

In a former life, I competed in professional level cycling races across the world. I rode Lands End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) unaided, for fun. Then, I started a family, and quickly found that the hours I had available to me to train were significantly reduced.

The continuous juggling of family life means that I'm living in a perpetual state of catch up, rendering the mentality where a 12 to 15 hours on the bike was a ‘recovery week’ a distant memory. Sure, there’s the world of indoor training to experiment with, or the option of disappearing into the darkness of dawn to be back from my ride at 7am, but neither meets my appetite for community and social interaction. 

Nikki Brammeier
Nikki Brammeier

Nikki is an ex-professional cyclist who has competed in numerous European and World Championships, Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games in Rio. She founded Mudiiita coaching, where she is head coach. 

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Hannah Bussey

Hannah is Cycling Weekly’s longest-serving tech writer, having started with th