Hyrox SkiErg: distance, damper, technique and pacing

The Hyrox SkiErg is the first station: 1,000 m on a standing ski ergometer, the same distance for every division, with the damper preset to 6. It comes straight after the first kilometer of running, when you feel fantastic, the music is loud and everyone around you is pulling like the finish line is at 1,000 m. It isn't. There are seven more stations to go.

That makes the SkiErg less a test of fitness than a test of discipline. Below: the official standard, how far the SkiErg is in Hyrox and what the resistance setting does, technique, pacing, the infringements that cost time, and how to train it with or without a SkiErg. If you'd rather have the station work built into your week, that's an app that programs your Hyrox prep.

What is the SkiErg in Hyrox?

The SkiErg is a standing ergometer with two handles on cords that you pull down from overhead, like double-poling on cross-country skis. In Hyrox you ski 1,000 m on the monitor, raise an arm, wait for the judge, and leave for run two. It's station one of eight, and a guide to hyrox stations lays out all of them in order.

Because it comes first, the SkiErg sets the tone for everything after it. Go out too hard and you pay on the sled push. That's why it should be in a Hyrox program you can follow as a pacing skill, not just a fitness box to tick.

The official Hyrox SkiErg standard

From section 8.1 of the 26/27 singles rulebook:

• ›The judge resets the monitor before you start.
• ›Both feet stay on the SkiErg platform the whole time. Your heels can hang over the edge of the base, but they can't touch the floor.
• ›Jumping is allowed. You can use a dynamic or jumping motion, and your feet can briefly leave the base plate, as long as they land back on it. If either foot touches the floor instead of the base plate, that's an infringement.
• ›Finish on the platform. After 1,000 m, keep both feet on the platform and raise an arm to signal the judge.
• ›Leave only when confirmed. You can step off once the judge confirms you're done.

Penalties: the first time your feet move off the base is a formal warning, the second is a 15-second penalty, and every one after that is another 15 seconds with no further warnings.

Hyrox SkiErg distance: how far and how long?

How far is the SkiErg in Hyrox? 1,000 m on the monitor, in every individual division. The SkiErg has no weight, so Open and Pro, men and women all ski the same distance.

How long is the SkiErg in Hyrox? That depends entirely on you. Time on a 1,000 m ski varies with fitness, size, technique and pacing, and anyone quoting you a single "normal" time is guessing. The better question is what pace you can hold for 1,000 m and still run well immediately after. Find that in training.

SkiErg resistance in Hyrox: the damper

The rulebook says the damper is preset to resistance 6 for all divisions, and you can change it as many times as you like.

The damper is the lever on the side of the fan housing. Concept2, which makes the machines, explains on its damper setting page (written for its rower, but the fan works the same way) that a higher setting lets more air into the flywheel housing, and that the damper isn't the same as intensity: your effort controls intensity. A higher damper feels heavier per stroke. It doesn't automatically make you faster.

Practical advice: try a few settings in training, find the one where your stroke feels strong and your rhythm feels sustainable, and know before race day whether you'll leave it at 6 or change it. Fiddling with the lever while your heart rate is high is wasted time.

SkiErg technique

Concept2's own SkiErg technique guide breaks the double-pole stroke into a few steps. In plain terms:

• ›Start tall. Feet about shoulder width, standing a short step from the machine, arms up with handles overhead.
• ›Lead with your upper body. Engage your core and drop your chest and shoulders. Your arms follow.
• ›Hinge, don't squat. Drive the handles down by hinging at the hips before your knees bend. This is where most of the power comes from.
• ›Finish the stroke. Drive the handles down alongside your thighs.
• ›Recover with control. Stand back up and raise your arms for the next stroke.

The common mistake is turning it into a tricep pushdown: arms doing all the work, hips doing nothing. That burns out your arms and shoulders fast, and you need them for the sled pull. A good stroke uses your bodyweight and hips, with the arms as a link.

The second mistake is a deep squat on every stroke. A big knee bend turns a pulling station into a leg station, and your legs have a 50 m sled push coming.

How to pace the Hyrox SkiErg

• ›Start slower than you want to. The first 200 m on adrenaline is where people overcook it. Settle into your planned pace early.
• ›Hold it steady. An even pace through the middle is far more efficient than surges.
• ›Build at the end, a little. If you feel good with 200 m to go, lift the pace slightly. Don't sprint the last 100 m: the next run starts immediately, then the sled push.
• ›Watch the monitor. Pick a pace per 500 m in training that you can hold for 1,000 m at a controlled effort, and ski to that number, not to the person next to you.

The goal is to step off feeling worked but in control, ready to run.

Common SkiErg infringements

• ›A heel touching the floor. Heels can hang over the edge, but they can't touch the ground. This is the easiest one to do without noticing.
• ›Landing off the base plate after a jumping stroke.
• ›Stepping off before the judge confirms. Raise your arm and wait.

Warning first, then 15 seconds a time.

How to train the Hyrox SkiErg

With a SkiErg

• ›Technique sessions: short pieces at an easy pace, focusing on the hip hinge and the finish.
• ›Intervals: for example, repeats of 250 m or 500 m with rest, at or slightly faster than your race pace.
• ›Race-pace 1,000 m: ski your target pace, then run 1 km straight off the machine.
• ›Compromised pairing: SkiErg, then run, then a heavy leg station, to rehearse the start of the race.

Without a SkiErg

Plenty of gyms don't have one. The pulling pattern is what matters most, so train the closest thing:

• ›Banded or cable straight-arm pulldowns with a hip hinge, for timed sets.
• ›More rowing. The short version of our guide to SkiErg vs rower: the rower isn't the same movement and loads your legs more, but it trains the same engine and a similar pacing skill.
• ›Lat and trunk strength: pull-ups, rows and hanging core work.

A skierg alternative won't be perfect, so try to get a few sessions on a real SkiErg before race day, especially to find your damper setting and pace.

How the SkiErg connects to the other stations

The SkiErg loads your lats, arms and trunk, and those same muscles show up again later. The sled pull hyrox station leans on your back and grip, and the chest-to-floor burpees in the burpee broad jump hyrox station need your arms too. The legs you save here go into the heaviest station, so a guide to hyrox sled push is worth reading alongside this one.

Further down the race, hyrox lunges are where tired legs show up most, and the grip work for the sled pull carries over to the kettlebells. Grip and trunk work helps both: heavy carries, or, with no kettlebells, a farmers carry alternative explained simply as dumbbells or a trap bar held for distance.

How exrsz handles the SkiErg

exrsz builds a periodized plan from your goal, schedule, level and equipment, so if your gym has no SkiErg, it uses what you do have. Erg work, strength and running sit in one plan, it adapts each week to how you trained, and it reshuffles missed sessions.

FAQ

How far is the SkiErg in Hyrox?

1,000 m on the monitor. It's the same distance for every individual division.

What is the SkiErg resistance in Hyrox?

The rulebook says the damper is preset to 6 for all divisions, and you can adjust it as many times as you like during the station.

How long is the SkiErg in Hyrox?

It depends on your fitness, technique and pacing. Aim for a pace you can hold for 1,000 m and still run well straight afterward.

Can you jump on the Hyrox SkiErg?

Yes. The rulebook allows a dynamic or jumping motion, as long as your feet land back on the base plate. A foot on the floor is an infringement.

Can you take your feet off the SkiErg platform?

Briefly, during a jump, yes. Your heels can also hang over the edge, but if either foot touches the floor, it's a warning and then 15-second penalties.