HYROX Doubles Rules (2026/27): Running, Swaps and Weights

HYROX doubles is the same race as singles with one big change: two of you share the station work, and you both run all eight kilometers, together. The loads are not halved and the distances are not shorter. What changes is who does the work and the rules about staying together.

I race mixed doubles, and most of what costs doubles teams time is not fitness. It is handovers and the few rules that only exist in doubles. Here is all of it, from the 2026/27 doubles rulebook.

The divisions

There are five doubles divisions: women’s, women’s pro, men’s, men’s pro and mixed, which is one man and one woman. You start in a wave with teams from your own division, and both of you have to be at the start line and begin the race together. Starting with one racer is not allowed.

Rule one: you run together

Both partners run the full 1,000 meters between every station, side by side. The rulebook does not leave this vague:

• If one of you runs ahead, it is a 1-minute penalty.
• You enter every station together, and the work cannot start until you are both there.
• You leave every station together, once all the reps or distance are done.
• A team with more than three penalties for not staying together is marked Out of Competition and gets no ranking.

In practice that means the slower runner sets the pace for all eight runs. If you are the faster one, your job on the run is to stay next to your partner, not to bank time.

Splitting the stations

The rulebook does not tell you how to split the work. Its own example is “you go, I go” on the rower: one partner rows a distance you pick, you swap, and you keep swapping until the 1,000 meters are done. Swap every 250 meters, swap at halfway, or let one of you do a whole station. It is up to you.

One rule covers every station: the resting partner stays on their feet. No kneeling, sitting, lying down, or knee on the floor. They stay inside the workout zone and out of other racers’ way.

The doubles rules, station by station

1. SkiErg

The resting partner stays in the marked area. You cannot pass the handles from one partner to the other. Only the partner who is working can adjust the damper.

2. Sled push

The resting partner walks immediately behind the one pushing. Walking in a neighboring lane, or anywhere that gets in another team’s way, counts as an infringement.

3. Sled pull

The resting partner stays behind the one pulling and cannot help with the rope in any way, hands or feet. They can talk you through it, and even give physical guidance, as long as they never step on the lines of the racer’s box or inside it.

4. Burpee broad jumps

The resting partner walks behind, not alongside. At each handover, the incoming partner puts their hands where the other one’s feet landed, toes and fingers in line. Getting that wrong counts as an infringement.

5. Row

The resting partner stays in the marked area behind the rower. You cannot pass each other the handle, adjust the damper for each other, or set each other’s foot straps.

6. Farmers carry

When you swap, the kettlebells go sideways or backwards, never forwards. The resting partner walks behind the one carrying.

7. Sandbag lunges

Same handover rule: the sandbag passes sideways or backwards, never forwards. The resting partner walks behind, and the bag stays on both shoulders of whoever is lunging.

8. Wall balls

The resting partner stays in the marked area under the rig. The ball changes hands either by dropping it to the floor or by handing it over. What you cannot do is a flying transition, where one partner throws and the other catches it in the squat and keeps going. That is a no-rep.

Each partner throws to their own target: 2.70 m for women and 3.00 m for men. In mixed doubles that means the man throws to 3.00 m and the woman to 2.70 m, both with the 6 kg ball.

Weights for every doubles division

Every division runs 8 km and does a 1,000 m SkiErg, 80 m of burpee broad jumps, a 1,000 m row, a 200 m farmers carry, 100 m of lunges and 100 wall balls. The loads change by division:

Mixed doubles uses the middle column for both partners. The sled, the kettlebells and the sandbag are the same weight whoever is working.

Penalties in doubles

Doubles uses the same 23-code penalty table as singles: missed laps, wrong arches, chalk, kettlebells, lunges and the rest, plus the 1-minute penalty for not running together. The handover and resting-partner rules above count as infringements under each station’s penalty protocol, which on most stations means one warning, then 15 seconds each time. Wall balls have no warnings, only reps and no-reps. The full list is in HYROX penalties.

Kit and nutrition

The permitted kit list is the same as singles: knee sleeves, gloves (not grips), a weightlifting belt, wristbands, hydration packs and prescribed inhalers or respiratory devices. Anything you use has to be worn or carried from start to finish, and the rulebook says it cannot be handed to or received from anyone else at any point. Do not plan on passing a belt or a pair of gloves between you. The same goes for food: any nutrition has to be carried from the start, and the only drinks you can take are from the aid stations.

What I’d tell a new doubles team

• Decide before race day who starts each station and roughly where you swap. Deciding at the station costs seconds every time.
• Practice the handovers: the kettlebell and sandbag swaps backwards or sideways, and the burpee handover with hands where the feet landed.
• Pace the runs to the slower partner from the first kilometer.
• Resting means standing. Get used to recovering on your feet in training, because you cannot sit or kneel on race day.

If you are building toward a doubles race, the free training plan counts down to your race day, and the stations page has the doubles loads for every station. Rulebooks change between seasons. This page reflects 2026/27, so check the current rulebook for your own race.