Are gloves allowed in HYROX?

Yes, at every station. Chalk is the restricted one: the rulebook permits it only on the sled pull and the farmers carry, and only the chalk the event provides. Check the current rulebook for your race and division.

Do pro HYROX athletes wear gloves?

Some do, some do not. It comes down to their hands and their weakest stations. Grip-limited athletes and anyone prone to tearing their palms tend to wear them, especially for the sled pull and farmers carry.

Can I just use chalk instead of gloves?

Chalk helps dry grip, but indoor availability is inconsistent and it does nothing for rope burn. Gloves handle grip and skin protection together, and they do not wear off partway through your race.

What gloves are best for the HYROX sled pull?

The sled pull is the most grip- and skin-intensive station, so it is where a good glove helps most. Look for a thin, tacky palm that holds when wet and a secure fit that will not slide as you pull hand over hand.

Will gloves make my hands too hot?

They can, if they are the wrong ones. A heavily padded or non-breathable glove turns into an oven over an hour-plus race. A thin, well-ventilated glove avoids this, which is why breathability matters as much as grip.

Do You Need Gloves for HYROX?

The honest answer, station by station: where grip actually decides your race, and how to tell if gloves will help you or just cook your hands.

Allowed? Yes, at every station, and we covered the rules separately. Needed is a different question.

Short answer: no, you do not have to wear gloves to finish a HYROX. Plenty of people race barehanded and do just fine. But that is not really what you are asking. You want to know whether gloves will make your race better or worse, and that depends entirely on your hands and which stations break you down. Let us go through it honestly.

Where grip actually decides your race

There are eight stations, and your hands are the limiter on only a few of them. Knowing which ones tells you whether gloves are worth it for you.

Sled pull. This is the big one. You haul a loaded sled toward you, hand over hand on a rope, and by the back half of the race your hands are soaked. Wet rope plus a tired grip is where people slip, stall, and lose 30 seconds they never get back. It is also where you shred your palms.
Farmers carry. Two heavy kettlebells, no straps, just your grip against the clock. If your forearms quit before your legs, this is where a glove earns its place.
Sled push. Not a hand station. This one is legs and position, and your hands just sit on the uprights. Gloves neither help nor hurt you here.
Wall balls and burpee broad jumps. Not grip stations, but your hands hit the floor on every burpee and catch a ball a hundred times. Some people want the palm protection here. Most do not need it.
SkiErg, row, sandbag lunges. Handles and a sandbag hug. Grip matters a little, but these rarely come down to your hands.

So if your race falls apart on the sled pull and the carries, gloves help you most. If you cruise through those, you may not need them at all.

The case for gloves

Three real reasons to wear them:

Grip when you are wet. Sweat is the enemy. The right palm keeps its bite when your bare hands would be sliding off the rope.
Your skin. The rope on the sled pull tears palms. A tear mid-race can end it, and in training it costs you days of healing you would rather spend training.
Grip endurance. A tacky palm lets you hold on with less squeeze, so your forearms last longer. That is time saved on every grip station, not just comfort.

The case against most gloves

Here is the catch, and it is why a lot of strong racers go barehanded: most gloves are worse than nothing. They are hot, so they cook your hands between stations. They are padded and bulky, so you lose feel on the rope. The cheap silicone goes slick the moment it gets wet, which is exactly when you needed it. And plenty of them slide off your hand the second you relax your grip. A bad glove does not just fail to help, it actively slows you down.

So the real question is not gloves or no gloves. It is the right glove or no glove.

What to look for in a HYROX glove

If you are going to wear one, these are the things that matter:

A thin, tacky palm that grips when it is wet, not just dry. Test it soaked, not fresh.
Breathable everywhere else, so your hands do not overheat across an hour-plus race.
A secure fit that will not slide off when your hand relaxes on a heavy hold.
Minimal padding. You want feel and grip, not cushion.
Comfortable enough to leave on for the whole race. Stopping to pull gloves on and off in transition costs you time you cannot get back.

So, do you need them?

Run it through this:

Grip or skin is your weak point on sled pull or the carries: yes, the right glove is worth it.
You have torn your palms in training or a past race: yes, mostly to save your hands.
You finish those stations fine and your hands never limit you: you probably do not need them, and a bad pair would only slow you down.

Not sure which camp you are in? Our free AI HYROX coach can tell you based on your race and the station that wrecks you. And whatever you decide, never race in a glove you have not trained in. Race day is not the time to find out it slides or cooks.

Why we are building one

We started Sled & Stone because we kept hitting this exact wall. In our first HYROX the sled and the carries came down to grip, and every glove we tried either slipped when our hands got wet or turned into an oven. So we are building the one we wanted: a thin, tacky palm that bites when it is soaked, a mesh back that breathes, and a strap that keeps it locked to your hand instead of sliding off. We race them for the first time on 19 September 2026.