I Tried These Four Fitness Watches to See Which Was Best for Hyrox Training

I’m so used to recording and tracking my workouts that when I started training for Hyrox, my first question was, “How am I going to track them?” I want to keep an eye on my heart rate, so this is limited to watches rather than smart bands Or rings. But which one is better? I tried four different watches and found two clear winners, depending on what you want to focus on.

Hyrox is, of course, the hybrid fitness sport that combines running with strength and endurance activities. (I have an explanation about it here.) A typical Hyrox or hybrid fitness workout involves cardio and strength exercises, which you’ll typically switch between throughout. You’ll probably want to note when you change exercises (by pressing a lap button on your tracker) and you may want to track rests. If running is involved, you may want to know your running distance. Either way, you probably want to keep an eye on your heart rate.

You don’t actually need a dedicated Hyrox mode to track a workout with your watch. Many people get by with the “cardio gym” or “hall run” modes on their standard watch (although some stations don’t accumulate any actual mileage). But some watches have a Hyrox or hybrid mode, so here’s what you’ll see if you use them.

Best for runners: Coros Pace 4’s hybrid fitness mode

Credit: Beth Skwarecki

The Coros is my favorite for casual workouts. I can walk into the gym, start a workout on the watch, and know that everything important is recorded. During each segment of the workout, I can see a timer tracking my exercise duration, as well as my heart rate on a color-coded graph.

Coros automatically detects which segments have been completed and labels them as such when I view the workout on my phone later. The other segments are labeled as “functional training”, but I can modify the workout to properly label each with the exercise I was doing. The best part is that Coros counts your running mileage. As I leave the gym, I’ll complete the workout on the watch and get a little message saying I’ve accumulated 2.73 miles in the process. I then use a voice note to note what the stations were, while they are still fresh in my mind.

How to use it: Go to the activities menu and select Hybrid Fitness. I use Training mode with Manual restbut if I know that I will go directly from one activity to another, I will select Continuous instead. Coros also has a running mode that displays your running pace during running segments and shows correctly labeled stations in order. There is also a mode for a fitness test similar to the Hyrox PFT.

Ideal for following structured workouts: Roxfit with Apple Watch

Credit: Beth Skwarecki

I discovered Roxfit when I was looking for a way to track hybrid workouts with Garmin. Although Roxfit works on Garmin watches, I preferred using it with the Apple Watch. Roxfit is actually a standalone app; you don’t need a watch to use it. But if you create a workout in the Roxfit app, you can sync that workout to your watch, and your watch will guide you through the workout. Roxfit also has a ton of other Hyrox-focused features, allowing you to connect your past run times and upcoming events, and build a pacing plan for your next run. Today, I only care about guiding and monitoring ordinary workouts.

There’s no way to do a freestyle workout with Roxfit, but it’s easy to create a workout on the fly. Chat with “Hype” (the built-in chatbot) and ask it everything you need. You can also create a workout manually, but I found that Hype tended to understand me quite well. For example, I said, “Give me a workout with one minute of running, then 10 reps of lunges, repeated five times, with no rest” and I got exactly that.

The Roxfit app will tell you when you’re halfway through each segment, count down your last three seconds of timed segments, and helpfully read your next steps aloud: “Now: Run for one minute. Next: Sandbag lunges.” The Apple Watch’s data fields are easy to read and understand, but the Garmin version is fine too. If you’re using Garmin, note that the “Send to Mobile” button in the Roxfit app sends the workout to your Garmin. applicationnot to the watch itself. You’ll still need to access the Garmin Connect app to send it to the watch.

How to use it: On your phone, create a workout and sync it to your Apple Watch or Garmin. From your watch, select the workout and start it from there. There is no way to start a free practice where you choose what to do in real time.

Runner-up: Amazfit Hyrox Mode

Hyrox mode on an Amazfit Active Max. Note that the blurry black bars are the result of taking the photo in sunny conditions; they are not visible in real life.
Credit: Beth Skwarecki

Of all the watches I’m talking about today, Amazfit is the only one that actually uses the word Hyrox. (Amazfit is a official partner from the Hyrox company.) Its Hyrox mode is similar to that of Coros, but does not seem to count mileage traveled or recognize laps traveled. Besides the “free” workout mode, you can also use one of three timers: tabata (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, for four minutes), AMRAP (a set time limit for whatever you want to do), or EMOM (you’ll get an alert at the start of each minute to start your exercise, then rest for the rest of the minute).

How to use it: In the activity menu, select Hyrox training. Use the Lap button to create new laps or segments, or follow one of the timer modes. Races will not be recognized and distance traveled will not be tracked. There is also a race mode which labels each segment with its correct event (giving you a view with race pace for those who are running) and a mode for the Hyrox PFT test.