Why is Hyrox a hit with Singapore millennials, and can its momentum be sustained?

SINGAPORE: Over the past weekend, Singaporeans – and millennials in particular – may have noticed their social media feeds being flooded with posts on an event called Hyrox.

Many in their late twenties and thirties joined the fitness race last Saturday (Jun 29), and made sure to go online thereafter to document their experiences and celebrate achieving their personal goals.

What appears to be a daunting, gruelling physical contest has skyrocketed in popularity worldwide: From 650 people taking part in the first Hyrox in 2017 in Germany, to over 120,000 worldwide participants a year now.

Last week’s event in Singapore drew 6,500 participants, up from 3,500 at a previous outing in October.

Of the 6,500, 73 per cent were between the ages 25 and 39, compared to 4 per cent for those 24 and under. 

“From what we've observed, the mid-30s age category has seen a surge in popularity for Hyrox races in Asia Pacific,” organisers said in response to queries from CNA. 

It's essentially a timed race where participants run and complete functional exercises.

The exercises are:

Before each exercise, participants run 1km, and this process is repeated eight times to make 8km of running in total.

The race can be done individually, in a relay team of four or in a doubles format where two participants take turns to do the exercises. 

Millennials - those aged between 28 and 43 - CNA spoke to said Hyrox came up at a time when they were becoming more concerned for their health. 

Digital content creator Kenneth Lee, for instance, went for a checkup at 30 which uncovered markers that were “quite alarming”. He vowed to start working out but was stymied by the pandemic temporarily closing gyms.

It was only in 2022 that he got a gym membership and when he found