HYROX Farmers Carry Pacing Guide

The table below splits the 200m distance into two 100m halves, giving you a target split for the first hundred metres and a target for the second. Most athletes can hold the first 100m comfortably at or ahead of pace; the pacing table becomes genuinely useful for judging whether you are drifting off target in the second half, which is where grip fatigue typically shows up.

Short, quick steps with a neutral spine and shoulders packed down are more grip-efficient than long strides, because a longer stride time under load means your forearms are working isometrically for longer per step. Athletes chasing a faster time by lengthening their stride often find their grip fails earlier, which costs far more time in a forced stop than the longer stride saved.

Turns are an underrated pacing cost on this station. A wide, decelerated turn at the far marker adds real time across every reset, especially if the course requires more than one turn to complete 200m. Practicing tight, controlled turns at competition load is a low-cost way to close a gap against the pacing table without any change in raw strength.

Grip strength training pays off disproportionately here compared to general strength work. Farmer carries, dead hangs, and plate pinches build the specific isometric grip endurance this station demands, and athletes who dedicate even one session a week to grip work tend to hold their second-100m split much closer to their first than athletes who only train grip incidentally through other lifts.

If you set the dumbbells or kettlebells down mid-carry, the clock does not stop, so any pacing plan has to account for the real cost of a reset: picking the weights back up from a dead stop, re-establishing your grip, and regaining stride rhythm typically costs more time than the few seconds of rest bought you. Training to avoid ever needing to set the weights down is more valuable than training to recover quickly once you do.