Sled pull technique for HYROX

The basic pulling technique

There are a few styles that work, but they share the same principles. Here is a solid starting method:

1. Stand at the front of your area with feet hip to shoulder-width apart, knees soft and chest up.
2. Reach forward and grab the rope with both hands, one in front of the other, arms long.
3. Sit your hips back and down as if lowering into a half squat, and let your body weight pull the rope. Drive through your heels.
4. Only as your hands come towards your body do you finish with the arms, pulling the rope to your hip or chest.
5. Reach forward again for the next grab, keeping your body low rather than standing up fully between pulls.
6. Repeat in a steady rhythm until the sled crosses the line, then move quickly to the other end.

Some athletes prefer to take a few steps backwards within their area as they pull, using the step to add leg drive. Others stay planted and use a deep lean. Try both in training and use whichever keeps the sled moving with the least strain on your arms.

Rope management and positioning

A tangled rope costs more time than a slow pull. As you bring the rope in, let it fall to one side of your body, not straight down in front of your feet where you will step on it or kick it into a knot.

Before the first pull of each length, make sure the rope is running straight to the sled and not wrapped around anything. When you walk to the other end, check the rope again before you start pulling. Two seconds of checking saves twenty seconds of untangling.

Keep an eye on the boundaries of your area. Stepping outside it can earn a penalty from the judge, and it is an easy mistake to make when you are tired and focused on the sled.

Protecting your grip for later

Your grip has to last the whole race. After the sled pull come the burpee broad jumps and the row, and then the farmers carry, which is largely a grip test. If you have fried your forearms on the rope, that carry becomes a series of drops and pick-ups.

• Hold the rope firmly, but only as hard as you need to. A white-knuckle grip wastes energy.
• Let your legs and body weight do the pulling so the forearms only have to hold, not heave.
• Shake your hands out as you walk to each end of the lane.
• Gloves are commonly used on the sled pull, but check the current rulebook for what is permitted and practise in them first.

If grip is a regular weak point for you, the guide to grip and forearm endurance for HYROX has a full plan.

Common mistakes

• Standing tall and pulling with the arms. You lose all your leg drive. Stay low and sit back.
• Rounding the back to reach further. It puts load through the lower back and gains little. Keep the chest proud and hinge at the hips.
• Rushing the reach. Grabbing the rope with bent arms shortens every pull. Reach long before you pull.
• Standing still at the turns. Walk briskly to the other end and set up straight away.
• Pulling out too hard on the first length. You still have three more lengths and five more stations.

If your lower back aches after sled pulls, it is usually a sign that you are rounding under load or pulling with a straight-legged lean rather than sitting back. Film yourself and check.

How to train the sled pull

Nothing replaces pulling an actual sled with a rope, so aim for at least one session a week in the build-up. Useful formats:

• Technique lengths: 6 to 8 lengths at a moderate load, focusing on sitting back and rope control.
• Race load: 4 lengths at race weight straight after a 1 km run, timed.
• Push and pull pairing: 50 m sled push, 50 m sled pull, rest, repeat 2 or 3 times. This mirrors the race order.

Build the strength behind it with rows and hinges: the barbell row and Romanian deadlifts work well, alongside grip work from grip strength: why it matters and how to build it. The sled pull exercise guide covers the general movement for newer lifters.

Lycan Strength has a full-length turf sled track, which makes full race-distance pulls possible in training rather than short approximations. The Lower classes on Thursdays build the strength that heavy station work like this draws on.