How doubles works in one minute
Doubles is the same race as Singles: eight runs of about 1 km, each followed by a station, in a fixed order, with the same distances and the same 100 wall balls. Two things change. You run every run together with your partner, and at each station you share the work however you choose, one of you working while the other rests.
- You start together, in a wave of pairs from your own division.
- You run to the first station together.
- You go into the station together, share the work, and leave together once every rep or metre is done.
- You repeat that eight times. The clock stops for the team when the second of you crosses the finish line.
| Station | Work |
|---|---|
| 1. SkiErg | 1,000 m |
| 2. Sled push | 50 m (4 x 12.5 m) |
| 3. Sled pull | 50 m (4 x 12.5 m) |
| 4. Burpee broad jumps | 80 m |
| 5. Rowing | 1,000 m |
| 6. Farmers carry | 200 m |
| 7. Sandbag lunges | 100 m |
| 8. Wall balls | 100 reps |
Both of you run all eight runs. Doubles takes work off you at the stations only, so if 8 km of running is what worries you, doubles does not shorten it. The whole race, station by station, is on what HYROX is.
The rules that keep you together
Most doubles rules are the singles rules. The new ones are about staying together, and breaking the running rule costs a full minute each time.
- Start together. Both of you must be at the start line and begin together. Starting with one racer is not permitted.
- Run together. You run the whole of every run together. If one of you runs ahead, the team takes a 1-minute penalty.
- Enter and leave together. The station cannot start until both of you are in it, and you leave together once all the work is done.
- Three is the limit. More than three penalties for not staying together and the team is Out of Competition, with no ranking.
- The resting partner stays on their feet. No kneeling, sitting or lying down, and no knee or anything else on the floor. They stay inside the workout zone without getting in anyone's way.
- One works, one rests. The resting partner cannot do any of the work. On the sled pull they may guide you but never handle the rope; on the rower they may not set the damper or the foot straps for you.
The rule on the run names no permitted gap. It says together, for the whole run, so treat running side by side as the standard rather than looking for slack. Every other penalty, from missed laps to the wrong arch, is on the rules and penalties page.
Divisions and weights in doubles
There are five doubles divisions. Mixed is one woman and one man, and has no Pro version. Waves start by division, so you only ever start alongside pairs from your own.
| Division | Pair | Loads |
|---|---|---|
| Doubles Women | Two women | Light band, 4 kg ball to 2.70 m |
| Doubles Women Pro | Two women | Middle band, 6 kg ball to 2.70 m |
| Doubles Men | Two men | Middle band, 6 kg ball to 3.00 m |
| Doubles Men Pro | Two men | Heavy band, 9 kg ball to 3.00 m |
| Doubles Mixed | One woman, one man | Middle band, 6 kg ball: 2.70 m for her, 3.00 m for him |
In Mixed you share one set of loads, the same as Doubles Men, so the woman pushes and carries exactly what the man does. Only the wall-ball target differs. Every load in kilograms and pounds is on the weights page.
Your age group is your average age on race day. Whether to race Singles, Doubles or Relay in the first place is on choosing your division, and if you would rather share the running too, that is Relay.
How to split each station
The rulebook sets no shares. Its one worked example is the row done You Go I Go: one of you rows a distance you choose, say 250 m, then you switch, and you repeat until the 1,000 m are done. hyrox.com describes the whole format the same way: running together, splitting each station as you choose. So one of you can take a whole station, or you can swap every few reps.
Four approaches pairs use
- Trade whole stations. One of you takes the SkiErg while the other recovers, and you swap at the next station. Red Bull's June 2026 doubles explainer gives this as one way competitive pairs divide the work.
- Split every station evenly. The same explainer's other example: both of you work at every station, flat out while it is your turn.
- Weight it to strengths. Ida Mathilde Steensgaard, who races singles and doubles, advises mixed pairs to split stations by strengths and weaknesses and not to “overextend yourself”.
- Change it as you go. “The best doubles teams are not the teams that have the best plan before the race,” Elite 15 racer Jake Dearden told BOXROX, as quoted by Red Bull. “They're the teams that are able to adjust and change strategy within the race.”
Two questions for every station
Who has to run next? Seven of the eight stations end in a run, and the cost of a share shows up there. A partner who empties their legs on the sled push still runs straight after it, and if that partner is the slower runner, both of you run that kilometre slower. Steensgaard calls doubles “mainly lower-body strength endurance”, and the legs you spend at a station are the legs you run on.
What does a swap cost here? Some hand-overs are a let-go and a grab; others mean restarting a stopped sled or changing the foot straps. The station-by-station rules are below. Whatever you settle on, agree who starts each station and where the first switch comes before race day, so nobody decides it with their heart rate at its peak.
Plan around the slower runner
Your eight runs go at the pace of whichever of you is slower on the day. The rule leaves no room for anything else, and Red Bull's explainer says the same: a team's running split is bound to the slower runner. Running is 8 km of the race for both of you, whatever you agree at the stations.
- Let the slower runner call the pace. Agree a pace that partner can hold for all eight runs. The faster runner's job on the run is to stay level, not to pull.
- Start at that pace, not a hopeful one. The first runs feel easy on fresh legs. Why they should stay easy is on race day.
- Check which stations feed the slower runner into a run. Because the team runs at that partner's pace, look at which stations hand them into a run on tired legs, and decide together who does more of those.
- Talk on the run. The run into a station is where you confirm who starts and where the first switch comes, while you can still speak in sentences.
Why a doubles time is never compared with a singles time is on finish times.
Hand-overs, station by station
Most stations have a rule for how the work changes hands, and every station says where the resting partner stands. Break one and it is an infringement: at most stations that means a warning, then a 15-second penalty for each one after. At the wall balls it is a no-rep.
| Station | Hand-over | Resting partner |
|---|---|---|
| 1. SkiErg | The handles are never passed between you. Only the working partner may change the damper. | Stays in the marked area. |
| 2. Sled push | No hand-over rule of its own. The sled must pass the line at the end of each 12.5 m length before it changes direction. | Walks immediately behind the pusher, never in the next lane. |
| 3. Sled pull | Only the working partner touches the rope. | Stays behind the puller, outside the racer's box and off its lines; may guide but never handle the rope. |
| 4. Burpee broad jumps | The incoming partner puts their hands where the other's feet landed, toes and fingers in line. | Walks behind the worker, never alongside. |
| 5. Rowing | No passing the handle, and no setting the damper or foot straps for each other. | Waits in the marked area behind the rower. |
| 6. Farmers carry | The kettlebells move sideways or backwards between you, never forwards. | Walks behind the worker. |
| 7. Sandbag lunges | The sandbag moves sideways or backwards, never forwards. | Walks behind the worker. |
| 8. Wall balls | Hand the ball over or let it drop. Throwing it to the target for your partner to catch in the squat is a no-rep. | Stays in the marked area under the rig, or reps are no-repped while they are out of it. |
What a swap costs
- Sleds. The sled stops at the end of every 12.5 m length anyway, so the ends are the cheapest place to swap. A swap mid-length means getting a stopped sled moving again.
- Rower. If your feet need different strap settings, each of you changes your own, every time you swap.
- Wall balls. Every turn starts standing tall with the ball in both hands. You cannot scoop it off the floor and throw it in one movement.
- Burpee broad jumps. A swap loses no ground, because the incoming partner starts where the last jump landed. The hand placement is judged, so practise it until it is automatic.
Changing partner, injury and illness
Ticket rules are set by the region that runs your race, not by the rulebook, so read the FAQ for your event. This is what the HYROX US and HYROX UK FAQs said when we read them on 15 October 2026:
- No add-on, no changes. Without the Flex or Lite Flex add-on you cannot change anything on the ticket: no partner change, no refund, no transfer.
- One partner change with an add-on. Either add-on allows one name change per ticket, made by 7:59 am event time the day before your race day.
- Refunds with Flex only. The full Flex add-on also refunds 100% of the ticket up to 31 days before race day and 50% up to 7 days before, less the add-on and service fees.
- Buy it with the ticket. Neither add-on can be added after you have bought the ticket.
- No moving. Division changes are not allowed, and a ticket does not move to another event.
On race day the rulebook is firm: a doubles team is two racers, both at the start line, and one of you cannot start alone. If your partner falls ill after the name-change deadline, the pair cannot start. At the World Championships it is stricter still: once you qualify, your registered partner cannot be changed or substituted.
If one of you is carrying an injury, the rulebook makes it your responsibility to get medical clearance from a qualified health professional before you race. Any movement or load you need adapted has to be arranged with the HYROX team in advance, and an adapted result is marked Out of Competition: you still get a finish time, but no ranking.
During the race, nothing fixes each partner's share, so a partner having a bad day can do less of the station work. They still run every run beside you, and the team only has a time once both of you cross the line.
Training as a pair
Most of the fitness for doubles comes from training on your own; the race comes from training together. Rehearse your split and every hand-over at race weight before race day, so the first time you pass a sandbag backwards is not in front of a judge. Which sessions to share and how to match your running is on training for doubles.
When you add your race, you fill in its division and format, so a doubles race goes in as Doubles. With Pro or during your trial, your coach writes your training towards that race and the time you have until it, and editing the race later rebuilds your plan around the change.
It plans your training, not the pair's: it does not split the stations between you or link your plan to your partner's. How adding a race works is on Races and events.