The 2026/27 HYROX rulebook has a table of 23 penalty codes. Most of them cost a few seconds or a couple of minutes. A handful get you disqualified. And almost all of them come down to one of three things: counting, reading a sign, or doing the movement the way the rulebook describes it.
Below is how the penalty system works, the full table, the ones that actually catch normal racers, and what gets you thrown out.
How HYROX penalties work
A time penalty is added to your finish time. You do not stop and serve it on the course. Plenty of them are caught automatically: the timing chip on your ankle reads every arch, so going through the wrong one or missing a sled lane shows up in the data without a judge saying a word.
Movement standards are judged live. On stations 1 to 7 you get one warning per station. The second infringement, whatever it is, makes that rep invalid and adds the time penalty. Anything after that adds more. Wall balls work differently: there are no warnings, and every rep is either a rep or a no-rep.
Two more things worth knowing. Some violations are penalized straight away, with no warning, depending on how serious they are. And only race directors can disqualify you, based on what the head judges, the judges, or they themselves saw.
All 23 penalties
| Code | Reason | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Missing run lap | 3 min (4-lap setup), 5 min (3-lap), 7 min (2-lap), DQ (1-lap) |
| 02 | Missing run or station | DQ |
| 03 | Incorrect station order | 3 min the first time, then DQ |
| 04 | Incorrect use of the IN/OUT arches | 2 min each time |
| 05 | Incorrect use of a workout station entry or exit | 2 min each time |
| 06 | Leaving the SkiErg early | DQ (incomplete station) |
| 07 | Leaving the rower early | DQ (incomplete station) |
| 08 | Leaving wall balls early | DQ (incomplete station) |
| 09 | Missing a sled lane | DQ (incomplete station) |
| 10 | Burpee broad jump | 15 sec each time |
| 11 | Missing a farmers carry lap | DQ (incomplete station) |
| 12 | Incorrectly returned kettlebells | 30 sec |
| 13 | Wrong weight at the farmers carry or lunges | DQ |
| 14 | Trailing knee not touching, or not standing tall, at lunges | 15 sec each time |
| 15 | Sandbag taken off the shoulders | 15 sec each time |
| 16 | Start tunnel flow | 1 min for waiting in the tunnel after your wave has started |
| 17 | Use of chalk | 2 min (chalk is allowed only on the sled pull and farmers carry, event chalk only) |
| 18 | Outside assistance | 2 min each time |
| 19 | Starting in the wrong wave without permission | DQ |
| 20 | Not wearing the timing chip | Did Not Start (DNS) |
| 21 | Spitting or clearing your nose | 2 min or DQ (race director's call) |
| 22 | Littering, or using aid-station water to cool off | 2 min each time |
| 23 | Unsporting behavior | 2 min or DQ (race director's call) |
The ones that actually catch people
Missed run laps
Every run is about 1,000 meters, but at most venues that kilometer is split into laps. Miss one and the penalty depends on the setup: 3 minutes per lap on a 4-lap course, 5 on a 3-lap course, 7 on a 2-lap course, and a disqualification where each kilometer is a single lap.
The rulebook is clear that counting is your job. The lap screen at the venue is only an aid, and running an extra lap earns no time back. Look at the athlete map before your wave and know how many laps you are running.
The wrong arch
The Roxzone, the area between the running course and the stations, has IN and OUT arches, and so does each station. Run in through an OUT arch, or out through an IN arch, and it is 2 minutes every time. Leaving a station through its IN arch is the same 2 minutes. The chip catches this one, so there is no talking your way out of it. When you are cooked, read the arch before you go through it.
Stations out of order
If you skip a station by mistake, you can go back and complete it before you go into wall balls. Doing one station out of order is a 3-minute penalty. A second one is an automatic disqualification.
Kettlebells and the sandbag
When you finish the farmers carry, the kettlebells go back in the correct box with the handles upright. When you finish the lunges, the sandbag goes back in the marked area. Get either wrong and it is 30 seconds, but if you go back and fix it before you leave the Roxzone, the penalty is not applied.
During the lunges, the bag has to stay on both shoulders. Resting it on the ground, a barrier, your feet or anything else is 15 seconds each time.
Lunge and burpee standards
Lunges need the trailing knee to clearly touch the ground and you to stand tall, hips and knees fully extended, at the end of every rep. Burpee broad jumps need your chest on the ground, both feet taking off and landing together (no more than 5 cm of stagger), no extra steps, and your hands no more than 30 cm in front of your toes. These are the stations where tired form turns into 15-second penalties after your warning.
The small ones
- Chalk: allowed only on the sled pull and the farmers carry, only the event’s, and it stays at the station. Anything else is 2 minutes. The full rule is in is chalk allowed in HYROX.
- Water: aid-station drinks are for drinking. Pouring them over your head to cool off is 2 minutes, because it makes the floor slippery.
- Littering: cups and gel wrappers go in the bins. 2 minutes each time.
- Spitting or clearing your nose onto the floor: 2 minutes, or a disqualification if the race director decides so.
- The start tunnel: once your wave goes, move with it. Hanging back in the tunnel can cost a minute.
- The wrong equipment: use the SkiErg, rower, lane or wall ball target the crew assigns you. Picking your own is 2 minutes.
What gets you disqualified
- Missing a whole run or a whole station.
- Not finishing a station: leaving the SkiErg or the rower before 1,000 meters, leaving wall balls before 100 reps, missing a sled lane or a farmers carry lap. Every station has to be completed in full.
- The wrong weight at the farmers carry or the lunges. You have to redo the whole station with the correct weight. If you do not, you are disqualified.
- A second station done out of order.
- Starting in a different wave from your assigned one without permission.
- Spitting and unsporting behavior, when the race director decides it is serious enough.
Forget your timing chip and you do not get a DQ. You get a DNS, Did Not Start, because as far as the results are concerned you were never there.
Outside assistance
Outside assistance is 2 minutes per infringement, and the rulebook uses the term widely. You cannot take drinks or food from anyone but the aid stations, so any nutrition you want has to be on you from the start. And anything on the permitted kit list, including gloves, a belt and knee sleeves, has to be worn or carried from start to finish and never handed to or from anyone. For kit, the rulebook says that can mean disqualification. The full kit list is in what to wear for HYROX.
How to race without seeing one
- Check the athlete map for the lap count before you start.
- Read every arch before you go through it.
- Put the kettlebells and the sandbag back properly before you leave.
- Train the movement standards tired, especially lunges and burpee broad jumps. That is where form slips.
- If you are unsure about anything, ask a judge before your wave.
Racing doubles? The same 23 penalties apply, plus a few rules about staying together. They are all in HYROX doubles rules. Rulebooks change between seasons. This page reflects 2026/27, so check the current rulebook for your own race and division.