Hyrox lunges: sandbag weight, rules and how to survive them

Hyrox lunges are 100 m of alternating walking lunges with a sandbag on your shoulders: 10 kg, 20 kg or 30 kg depending on division, trailing knee touching the ground on every rep. On paper it's the lightest load in the race. In practice it's station seven, after seven kilometers of running and six stations, and it's where legs that felt fine at the carry suddenly don't.

The weight isn't the problem. The number of reps is. Below: the Hyrox sandbag lunges standard, the weight and distance by division, technique, pacing, the infringements that cost time, and how to train it with or without a sandbag. If you'd rather have the leg endurance work built into your week, that's an app that builds your Hyrox plan.

What are the Hyrox sandbag lunges?

You run your seventh kilometer, pick up the sandbag for your division from the marked area, put it on your shoulders and lunge 100 m. Then you put the bag back, run the last kilometer, and do 100 wall balls. Sandbag lunges are the second-last of the eight hyrox stations, and they set up the finish.

Because they come so late, lunges are as much a test of how you paced the first six stations as of your legs. That's why they belong in a Hyrox schedule that fits a normal week all the way through the build, not just near race day.

The official Hyrox lunges standard

From section 8.7 of the 26/27 singles rulebook:

• ›Pick the right bag. Selecting the correct weight for your division is your responsibility. The station starts and ends with taking the sandbag from, and returning it to, the marked area by the start/finish line.
• ›Start standing tall with both feet behind the line, then lunge across it.
• ›Trailing knee touches the ground clearly on every lunge.
• ›Stand tall at the top. Each rep ends with knees and hips fully extended.
• ›Alternate legs. Alternating knees touch the ground.
• ›Continuous or paused, your choice. You can lunge continuously, or stop between lunges with both feet parallel on the ground.
• ›No steps or shuffles between reps.
• ›Cross the lines. Your front foot must completely cross the white line at the end of each lane and the finish line. You don't have to lunge around turning points, but each section restarts with two feet behind the white line, lunging across it.
• ›The bag stays on both shoulders. It must stay fully supported on both shoulders. It can't go on the ground, the barriers, your feet or anything else to take the load off.
• ›Overtaking is allowed. Grid lines and lane markings at the lunges are for orientation only.

Penalties

• ›Movement standards (knee not touching, not standing tall, shuffles): formal warning first, then a 15-second penalty for the second infringement.
• ›Taking the bag off your shoulders to rest: 15 seconds per infringement.
• ›Not returning the bag to the correct area: 30 seconds, unless you go back and fix it before leaving the Roxzone.
• ›Wrong weight: you repeat the whole station with the correct bag, or you're disqualified.

Hyrox lunges weight and distance by division

These are the singles loads from the 26/27 rulebook. Bags are color-coded. Pound figures are rounded conversions.

As everywhere else in the race, Women Pro uses the Men Open load. The distance is the same for every division.

Sandbag lunge technique

Bag position

• ›Across the upper back and both shoulders, like a back squat, or wrapped around your neck with both shoulders supporting it. Whatever you choose, it must stay supported on both shoulders the whole way.
• ›Hold it still. A bag that shifts every rep pulls you off balance. Grip it firmly and keep your upper back tight.

The lunge

• ›Moderate step length. Too short and your front knee and back knee crowd each other; too long and every rep becomes a stretch you have to climb out of. A middle-length step is usually the most efficient.
• ›Knee down softly. The trailing knee must clearly touch. Touch, don't slam. Slamming a knee into the floor for 100 m is a bad idea even with knee sleeves (which the rulebook allows).
• ›Drive through the front foot and stand fully tall. Hips and knees extended, every rep. Half-standing is the classic late-station no-rep.
• ›Torso upright. Leaning forward shifts the load onto your lower back and makes the bag slide.

Continuous or paused?

The rulebook lets you do either. Continuous lunging is faster when you're fresh. Pausing with feet parallel lets you reset your balance and breathe, which many people need late in the station. A good compromise: lunge continuously in sets, pause briefly with feet together between sets, and never put the bag down.

How to pace Hyrox lunges

• ›Don't race the first 25 m. The fastest way to slow down at 60 m is a sprint at 10 m.
• ›Rest standing, bag on. Any rest happens with the bag on your shoulders and your feet together. Putting the bag down costs 15 seconds every time, which is more than a few breaths ever will.
• ›Count lunges in sets. Pick a set size, such as 10 or 20 lunges, and take a few breaths between sets. Chunking 100 m makes it manageable.
• ›Leave legs for the run and the wall balls. After the lunges you have one more kilometer and 100 squats. Finishing the lunges at a controlled effort is worth more than finishing them fast.

Common no-reps and penalties

• ›Trailing knee not touching the ground. Gets more common with every meter.
• ›Not standing fully tall at the top.
• ›Shuffling or taking a step between reps to rebalance.
• ›Putting the bag down, or leaning it on a barrier.
• ›Front foot not fully crossing the white line before turning.
• ›Wrong color bag. Check before you pick it up.

How the lunges connect to the rest of the race

By the time you reach the sandbags, you've done two sleds, a row, a carry and 80 m of burpee broad jumps. The legs that drove the sled pull hyrox station and jumped through Hyrox burpee broad jumps are the same legs now doing 100 m of lunges. That's why your pacing on those earlier stations, and on Hyrox rowing in particular, decides how the lunges go.

How to train Hyrox sandbag lunges

Leg endurance is the target

The load is modest. What you need is the ability to lunge for 100 m on legs that have already done a lot. So the main ingredient is volume: walking lunges at moderate weight, often.

Good strength work under it: split squats, step-ups, squats and deadlift variations. And because the lunges come after seven runs, lunge after running in training, not just fresh.

Sessions that transfer

That last one is the most useful session for the back end of the race. The lunges wreck your legs for the wall balls, and you want to find out how that feels in training. Hyrox wall ball explained covers the weight, target height and rep schemes for the finish.

Training without a sandbag

No sandbag? Use what you have:

• ›Barbell or dumbbell walking lunges. Same movement, different load position. A barbell on your back is closest to the bag.
• ›A backpack loaded with books or plates, worn high and held on your shoulders.
• ›Bodyweight lunges for volume, building toward and past 100 m.
• ›Split squats and step-ups for strength.

The same idea runs through every station: keep the pattern, swap the equipment. It's how to train the sled without a sled, and it's how most people get through the carry and pull stations at a gym that has neither. A pair of heavy dumbbells is a perfectly good farmers carry alternative, and a rope tied to a loaded plate is a perfectly good sled pull alternative.

How exrsz handles Hyrox lunges

exrsz builds a periodized plan from your goal, schedule, level and equipment, so lunge volume and leg strength sit in the same plan as your running, and it uses whatever load you actually have. It adapts each week to how you trained and reshuffles missed sessions.

FAQ

What is the Hyrox lunges weight?

Under the 26/27 singles rulebook, the sandbag is 10 kg for Women Open, 20 kg for Men Open and Women Pro, and 30 kg for Men Pro.

What is the Hyrox lunges distance?

100 m of alternating lunges, the same for every individual division.

Can you put the sandbag down during Hyrox lunges?

No. The sandbag must stay fully supported on both shoulders, and putting it down or resting it on a barrier is a 15-second penalty each time.

Does your knee have to touch the ground in Hyrox lunges?

Yes. The trailing knee must clearly touch the ground on every lunge, and you must stand tall with hips and knees extended at the top.

Can you stop between lunges?

Yes. The rulebook lets you lunge continuously or stop between lunges with both feet parallel, as long as you don't take extra steps or shuffles.