HYBRID ATHLETE
Hybrid athlete training: how to build strength and an engine together
A hybrid athlete trains strength and endurance in the same week. The research is reassuring on muscle size and maximal strength: a 2022 meta-analysis of 43 studies found no loss of muscle size or maximal strength when people added cardio to lifting. Our example week puts two strength days, a hard cardio day, easy cardio and one brick session in the same seven days. We think brick sessions, a station and a run back to back, are the best way to train for Hyrox.
What a hybrid athlete is
A hybrid athlete is someone who trains for strength and for endurance together. A lifter who runs, a runner who lifts and a Hyrox racer are all hybrid athletes. The term is informal, and we use it in this plain sense.
We call your endurance your engine: how long you can keep up a steady, hard effort. Strength is how much force you can produce. We think they belong in one week, along with whatever sport you play.
Do strength and endurance get in each other’s way?
The worry has a name, the interference effect: the idea that cardio blunts the gains from lifting. A 2022 meta-analysis pools the results of 43 studies of healthy adults who added supervised cardio to lifting for at least 4 weeks. It found no loss of muscle size or maximal strength. It found a small loss of explosive strength, more so when both were done in the same session than when sessions were at least 3 hours apart.
A 2021 analysis of 27 studies looked at lower-body strength. It found a negative effect in trained people and none in moderately trained or untrained people. In trained people it appeared only when lifting and endurance training shared a session.
Other analyses find larger effects, tied to running and to high amounts of endurance work. Our concurrent training guide sets out where they disagree and how we plan around it.
- Schumann et al., Sports Medicine, 2022: compatibility of concurrent aerobic and strength training for skeletal muscle size and function checked 19 Oct 2026
- Petré et al., Sports Medicine, 2021: development of maximal dynamic strength during concurrent resistance and endurance training in untrained, moderately trained and trained individuals checked 19 Oct 2026
An example hybrid week
This is an example week from our coaching. Use it as a starting point. It has two strength days, one hard cardio day, two easy cardio days and one brick session. The easy run, the 4x4, the lower-body day and the brick session each have a version in Complete’s workout library.
With fewer days, keep one lower-body strength session, one hard cardio session and one easy one, then add from there. That is our coaching view.
| Day | Session | Why it sits there |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Lower-body strength | Heavy legs while you are fresh. |
| Tuesday | Easy run or row (zone 2) | Aerobic volume at a low cost to recovery, a day after heavy legs. |
| Wednesday | Norwegian 4x4 | Hard cardio on a day with no heavy legs. |
| Thursday | Strength, upper body or full body | Lifting that does not load the legs again. |
| Friday | Rest or a walk | A full day of recovery before the hardest day. |
| Saturday | Brick session | The one hard day that combines legs and running, after a rest day. |
| Sunday | Long easy cardio, or your sport | Easy volume, or the sport you play. |
A hybrid session from Complete’s workout library
This is the Compromised Run (Post-Strength), a session in Complete’s workout library. It takes about 40 minutes. Compromised running means running on legs that are already tired. It is a brick made from gym work, for the days there is no sled to push.
A goblet squat is a squat holding one weight at your chest. A kettlebell swing is a hip hinge that swings a weight to chest height. Effort 7 out of 10 is a firm effort, and effort 8 is harder. The squat and swing pair is flexible: any squat and hinge combination works, and the one rule is that your legs arrive at the run loaded.
The library note says to judge the session on the runs. Even 800 meter splits on pre-loaded legs is the point. If you are new, do 3 rounds with a lighter bell, take 3 minutes of rest between rounds and run at effort 7. If you are experienced, hold identical 800 meter splits in all four rounds, with bells of 24 kg or more for the squats and swings.
| Block | What you do |
|---|---|
| Warm-up | Run: 800 meters at effort 3 out of 10, an easy build. Kettlebell Swing: 1 set of 10 reps, light. Groove the hinge before it gets heavy. |
| Main: 4 rounds, 2 minutes of rest between rounds | Goblet Squat: 15 reps at effort 7 out of 10, moderate weight, unbroken. Kettlebell Swing: 20 reps at effort 7 out of 10. Run: 800 meters at effort 8 out of 10, race pace on heavy legs. |
| Cool-down | Run: 600 meters at effort 3 out of 10, an easy jog down. |
Hyrox, the hybrid race
Hyrox is a race built for hybrid athletes. You run 1 km, then do one functional workout station, and repeat that eight times. The stations come in the same order every time: SkiErg 1000 meters, Sled Push 50 meters, Sled Pull 50 meters, Burpee Broad Jumps 80 meters, Rowing 1000 meters, Farmers Carry 200 meters, Sandbag Lunges 100 meters and Wall Balls 100 reps.
We think brick sessions are the best way to train for Hyrox. A brick is a station and a run back to back. The session above is one, built from gym work. Our guide to racing Hyrox goes station by station.
- HYROX: The Fitness Race (official site) checked 19 Oct 2026
Where to go next
For the research on lifting and cardio together, read our concurrent training guide. For easy aerobic work, read the zone 2 training guide. For a hard session that takes 40 minutes, read the Norwegian 4x4 workout guide. For the body-composition side of it, read how to get a lean athletic body.
How Complete fits
Complete starts from your long-term goals: build muscle, lose fat, improve cardio, get stronger, general health or become an athlete. A hybrid athlete can have several of them at once. Every workout that reaches Apple Health counts toward your score and your daily recommendation, in any sport.
You can also log a session in the app, exercise by exercise, with the distance of each run and the weight and reps of each lift. Complete is free to download, and logging and sharing your workouts on it stay free.
Frequently asked questions
What is a hybrid athlete?
A hybrid athlete trains strength and endurance together. A lifter who runs, a runner who lifts and a Hyrox racer all fit. The term is informal.
What does hybrid athlete training look like in a week?
Our example week has lower-body strength, an easy run or row, a Norwegian 4x4, an upper-body or full-body strength day, a rest day, a brick session and a long easy day or your sport. It is an example from our coaching.
Can you build muscle and endurance at the same time?
Yes for muscle size and maximal strength. A 2022 meta-analysis of 43 studies found no loss of muscle size or maximal strength when people added cardio to lifting, and a small loss of explosive strength. Other analyses find larger effects, tied to running and to high amounts of endurance work.
How many days a week does hybrid training take?
Our example week has six training days and one rest day. With fewer days, keep one lower-body strength session, one hard cardio session and one easy cardio session, then add from there. That is our coaching view.
Is Hyrox hybrid training?
Yes. A Hyrox race is eight rounds of a 1 km run and one functional workout station. We think brick sessions, a station and a run back to back, are the best way to train for it.
Does Complete work for hybrid athletes?
Yes. Complete starts from your long-term goals and works with whatever you do. Every workout that reaches Apple Health counts toward your score and your daily recommendation, in any sport, and you can log a session in the app exercise by exercise.