The Open Pitch Advantage: Training HYROX The Way Race Day Demands
Most HYROX training happens in cramped gyms that can't fit the running, carrying and broad jumps the race actually demands. At DBDB Training, our open-air pitch in Discovery Bay lets you replicate every station at race intensity — and the group beside you is what turns a hard session into a faster one.
If you've ever tried to train for HYROX inside a normal gym, you already know the problem. There isn't the runway to lay out burpee broad jumps, no wall to throw wall balls against, and certainly no loop long enough to run at race pace without dodging treadmills and dumbbell racks. The result is a session that feels close to HYROX but never quite is HYROX.
At DBDB Training, we do it differently. Our sessions run on an open-air synthetic pitch in Discovery Bay — a full 200-metre rectangle of turf with walls on the perimeter and runway for days. It's not a gym with a window. It's the actual space a HYROX race asks you to perform in, which means every rep you log here transfers straight to race day.
Why The Open Pitch Changes Everything
HYROX is a hybrid race — eight functional workout stations separated by eight 1 km runs. To train it honestly you need three things a gym can't give you: room to run at effort, a wall to hit, and enough flat ground to carry and lunge without stopping every twenty metres. The open pitch gives you all three in one place.
There's also the element nobody talks about until they race: weather. Wind, sun, humidity and a surface that isn't a rubber floor all change how a station feels. Training outdoors means none of that surprises you on race day. You've already broad-jumped into a headwind. You've already carried with sweaty hands.
Replicating The Race, Station By Station
Because the pitch is a full 200-metre rectangle, we can map the HYROX stations onto real space the way the race does. Nothing gets shortened or "scaled for the gym" — it just gets laid out the way it's meant to be.
- Burpee Broad Jumps run the long way of the pitch. That's the runway HYROX asks for — a clean line of turf long enough to lay out jump after jump at full distance, no turning around halfway through.
- Wall Balls go along the walls. The perimeter gives us a solid, repeatable target to throw against so every rep matches the race standard, not a "to a target on a rig" compromise.
- Farmer's Carry and Lunges use the 200-metre rectangle of the pitch itself. You carry the length, you lunge the width, you run the loop — the same geometry you'll face between stations on race day. It's honest distance, measured in metres, not "down and back to the water fountain".
The Group Advantage: A Rising Tide Raises All Ships
Here's the part the gym can't replicate at all. HYROX races you alone but ranks you against a field — and the fastest way to get faster is to train inside that field, not apart from it.
On an open pitch, you see everyone. The person two stations ahead of you sets the pace. The person behind you keeps you honest. When somebody hits a wall, the group pulls them through the next station, and when you're the one struggling, you realise how much you can actually dig out because the people around you are still moving.
There's a saying we train by at DBDB: a rising tide raises all ships. When one member gets faster, the standard lifts and everyone else rises with them. We see it every cycle — a new face shows up, gets dragged along by the group, and within a few weeks they're the one setting the pace. That only happens because we train in the open, side by side, not in lanes separated by equipment.
It's why the pitch is full of people of every age, every fitness level, men and women, first-timers and race veterans. Nobody is hidden behind a machine. Everyone is visible, accountable, and improving.
What To Expect At A Session
A typical HYROX-style session on the pitch blends station work with real running loops. You'll warm up as a group, move through the stations mapped onto the turf and walls, and finish with a loop or two that tests whether you can hold your form when you're already gassed. Every session is scaled to who turns up — from complete beginners to athletes chasing a sub-60 finish — so you're always working at the edge of your ability, never buried under it.
Come Train With Us
If you've been grinding HYROX in a space that's too small, or you're curious about the race and want to try it where it actually happens, come down to the open pitch in Discovery Bay. First session is free, all levels are welcome, and the tide is already rising.
Book your free first session and see how far an open pitch and a good crew can take you.
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