The seven items you may wear or carry
The clothing section of the 26/27 rulebook opens with two general rules. Dressing for the conditions, and for any local cultural sensitivities, is your responsibility. And closed-toe shoes are compulsory for the whole race, with one exception covered below. Then it lists what you may use or wear:
- Knee sleeves.
- Gloves, but not grips. More on the difference below.
- A weightlifting belt.
- Wristbands. Not to be confused with the division wristband you are given at check-in, which must be worn visibly on your wrist.
- Hydration packs. On course you may accept a drink only from the aid stations; a bottle handed over by a friend is outside assistance.
- Asthma inhalers or similar, if prescribed.
- Respiratory devices.
Two conditions come with the list. Whatever you choose, you use, wear or carry it from the start to the finish. And nobody may hand it to you or take it from you at any point: that counts as outside assistance and can mean disqualification. So a belt you only want for the sandbag lunges goes on before the first run and stays with you to the finish. Run in it in training first.
The same seven items appear word for word in the Doubles, Relay and Adaptive rulebooks. Adaptive racers may also use adaptive equipment they declare at registration, such as prosthetics, wheelchairs, visual or hearing aids and specialised grip aids; more in the Adaptive rulebook. Otherwise the kit rules do not change with your format.
The nine forbidden items, and how to ask about the rest
The rulebook calls these strictly forbidden at all times:
- Headphones
- Phones
- VR headsets
- GoPros or any other body camera
- Helmets
- Breathing apparatus
- Compressed air cylinders
- Ear plugs
- Smart glasses, AI glasses, or any eyewear with cameras, audio recording, live streaming, data transmission or augmented reality
Helmets, breathing apparatus and air cylinders are banned because they could put other racers at risk, even when worn for a charity. Uniforms and weight vests are permitted, as long as they do not interfere with the safety or performance of anyone else. If you rely on a medical device that needs your phone nearby, the rulebook asks you to contact your local customer support team before race day, so they can put you in touch with the race director for permission.
Anything on neither list
Lifting straps and wrist wraps are on neither list, and the rulebook covers unlisted items in one line: anything not listed as permitted is prohibited unless the race director gives written permission before the start, and a prohibited item is confiscated and returned at the Customer Service desk after you finish. So ask early:
- Check both lists in the current rulebook for your format.
- Contact your region's HYROX customer support well before race week and ask to be put in touch with the race director, the same route the rulebook gives for medical devices.
- Get the answer in writing and bring it on paper. Your phone cannot come on the course.
- Train without the item as well, in case the answer is no.
It comes from the race director, in writing, before you start. A judge on the course is not the person to ask, and an item taken off you mid-race stays at the desk until you finish. More on what each penalty costs is in the rules and penalties.
Shoes and clothing: what to test in training
No special shoe is required. The rule is closed toes at all times, so the same pair has to run about 8 km, push and pull a sled, jump 80 m of burpee broad jumps and carry you through 100 m of lunges. Race in shoes you have already done all of that in, and do at least one race-length session in your full race kit before the day. Nothing new on race day: not shoes, not shorts, not a belt.
The exception is the wall balls. Once you reach your target you may take your shoes off and put them under the rig. After 100 valid reps you must carry them to the finish; once your race is over you cannot go back for them. Untying them costs time at the start of the last station and you finish holding a pair of shoes, so try it in training or keep them on. More on the station in the wall balls guide.
For clothing, the rules are the same for women and men, and there is no dress code beyond dressing appropriately. Test what you wear against the race rather than the mirror:
- Burpee broad jumps put your chest on the floor over and over for 80 m, and wall balls take you below parallel 100 times. Anything that rides up or digs in will do it there.
- The sandbag sits on your shoulders for 100 m of lunges, and your trailing knee touches the ground on every rep. Try the lunges in the top and the shorts or tights you plan to race in, with knee sleeves if you will wear them.
- Your start time must be visible on your arm and your division wristband visible on your wrist, so long sleeves cannot cover either.
- The timing chip goes on an ankle for the whole race. Racing without it is recorded as Did Not Start.
Gloves, straps, chalk and grip
Gloves yes, grips no
Gloves are on the permitted list; grips are excluded by name. The rulebook does not say where a glove ends and a grip begins, so if yours are the palm-guard kind made for pull-ups, or you are unsure, ask for written permission. If you wear gloves, they stay with you from start to finish, worn or carried. Decide in training whether they help on the sled pull rope and the kettlebell handles, and whether you can still catch a wall ball in them.
Straps need permission
Lifting straps are not among the seven items, so they need written permission from the race director. The simpler answer is grip that does not need them: 200 m with two kettlebells is the station that tests it, and the farmers carry guide has the training.
Chalk: two stations, the event's own
Chalk is allowed only at the sled pull and the farmers carry, only the chalk the event puts out there, and only at that station. Using your own, using chalk anywhere else or carrying event chalk to another station costs 2 minutes each time. Powdered chalk at the wall balls also costs 2 minutes. Your chalk bag stays in your gym bag, so train every other station without chalk.
Watches: what the rulebook says
The 26/27 rulebook forbids phones and headphones and is silent on watches: they appear on neither list. Plenty of racers wear one, and Amazfit, HYROX's smart-wearables partner, builds HYROX-specific training modes into its watches. If you are unsure about yours, put the question to your event's race director before race day. If you want to time your race on a Garmin, Hybrid Smash covers wearing and using a Garmin in HYROX.
Race week: your start time and laps
Two things your packing depends on change from race to race and are not in the rulebook: your start time and the number of laps in each run. Both arrive in the race emails and on your event page in race week. At UK and Ireland events the start list goes up about three days before. Write both down, because your phone stays in the bag. You count your own laps: any lap screen is only an aid, and a missed lap costs 3 to 7 minutes depending on the layout, or a disqualification where a run is a single lap. Any written permission should already be in hand, because race week is late to start asking.
Arrival, check-in and the warm-up are covered in race day, and the training side of the last fortnight in the taper.
Tap the plus on Home or Agenda, choose Add event, pick HYROX and fill in the date, your division and your format. Open your race from Home or Agenda, or from Manage events: the page shows the countdown to race day and all the detail you entered. More in Races and events.
The packing list
Screenshot it or print it. The rules decide the first and last groups.
Documents
- Government-issued photo ID.
- Your registration confirmation, with the ticket QR code or barcode downloaded.
- Any written permission from the race director, printed.
- Your start time and the laps to run, written down.
To race in
- Closed-toe shoes you have trained in.
- Race clothes you have trained in, tested on burpees, lunges and wall balls.
- Any of the seven permitted items you plan to use, worn from the start: knee sleeves, gloves, belt, wristbands, hydration pack, prescribed inhaler or respiratory device.
For the bag
- A warm layer for before and after, and dry clothes to change into. Changing rooms and a bag drop are provided, but the organiser takes no responsibility for lost bags.
- One bag that closes. At UK and Ireland events the bag drop takes one cabin-size bag, and you cannot keep going back to it, so anything you need for the race stays on you.
Leave in the bag
- Your phone and headphones: into the bag before you head to the start.
- Your own chalk.
- Straps or grips, unless you have written permission for them.