HYROX STATION 7 OF 8
The Hyrox sandbag lunges: weights, rules and technique
The Hyrox sandbag lunges are the seventh of eight stations: you lunge for 100 m with a sandbag on your shoulders. The bag weighs 10 kg for Women, 20 kg for Women Pro and Men, and 30 kg for Men Pro. On every lunge your back knee must touch the ground, the knees must alternate, and each rep ends with you standing tall. The bag must stay on both shoulders the whole way.
What the sandbag lunges are
A Hyrox race has eight rounds. In each round you run 1 km and then do one workout station, so you finish with 8 km of running and eight stations done in a fixed order. The sandbag lunges are station 7, right after the farmers carry.
A lunge is a long step forward in which your back knee drops towards the floor, and a sandbag is a heavy fabric bag filled with sand. You take the bag from a marked area next to the start line, carry it on your shoulders while you lunge 100 m along your lane, and return it to the marked area at the end.
Hyrox says the lunges primarily work the thigh and glute muscles.
- HYROX Singles Rulebook 26/27 (official PDF) checked 18 Oct 2026
- HYROX: The Fitness Race (official site) checked 18 Oct 2026
The sandbag lunge standard by division
A division is the group you race in. The Singles race, where you race on your own, has four: Women, Women Pro, Men and Men Pro. Open means the standard race (Women and Men), and Pro uses heavier weights. Each bag has a colour so you can pick the right one, and picking the correct weight is your job.
| Division | Distance | Sandbag weight | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 100 m | 10 kg | White |
| Women Pro | 100 m | 20 kg | Grey |
| Men | 100 m | 20 kg | Grey |
| Men Pro | 100 m | 30 kg | Black |
- HYROX Singles Rulebook 26/27 (official PDF) checked 18 Oct 2026
Sandbag lunge technique
Start by standing tall with both feet behind the line and the bag across both shoulders, then step across the start line into your first lunge. Lower your back knee until it touches the ground, then drive up through your front leg until your knees and hips are fully extended. Then lunge with the other leg.
Choose a stride you can repeat to the finish. If it is too long, you wobble at the bottom of each rep. If it is too short, you take more reps to cover the same 100 m.
You can lunge continuously, or stop between lunges with both feet parallel on the ground. Stepping or shuffling between reps is not allowed.
At the end of each lane you do not need to lunge around the turn. You must restart each working section with both feet behind the white line and lunge across it, and your front foot must completely cross the white line at the end of each lane and the finish line.
The bag must stay fully supported on both shoulders. If you need a rest, stop with both feet parallel and keep the bag up.
The station is complete when your leading foot completely crosses the finish line. Then return the bag to the correct marked area.
- HYROX Singles Rulebook 26/27 (official PDF) checked 18 Oct 2026
Common sandbag lunge mistakes
Dropping onto the knee. The knee has to touch the ground, but a crash costs balance and makes the stand-up harder. Lower under control and touch down softly.
Not standing tall. Every rep ends with your knees and hips fully extended. A half-stand that tips forward over the bag breaks the standard.
Taking extra steps. Steps or shuffles between reps are not allowed. Stop with both feet parallel, then lunge again.
Repeating the same knee. Lunges must alternate, so the knees touch the ground in turn.
Putting the bag down. If it touches the ground, a barricade, your feet or any other surface, each time costs 15 seconds. Keep it on both shoulders.
Stopping short of the line. Your front foot must completely cross the white line at the end of each lane and the finish line.
Leaving the bag in the wrong place. If you do not return it to the correct marked area, you get a 30-second penalty. You can avoid it by going back and fixing it before you leave the Roxzone, the transition area around the stations. If you lunge any part of the 100 m with the wrong weight, you have to repeat the whole station with the right one, and failing to do so is a disqualification.
For a breach of the lunge standard, the first infringement is a formal warning and the second costs 15 seconds.
- HYROX Singles Rulebook 26/27 (official PDF) checked 18 Oct 2026
Where the sandbag lunges sit in the race
The lunges follow the farmers carry and a 1 km run, so your grip and upper back arrive tired, and your thighs and glutes are the next thing to take the load. After the lunges you run 1 km and finish with the 100 wall balls.
The wall balls need your legs on every rep, so a lunge pace you can hold is worth more than a fast first stretch. Pick the pace you will hold from the first lunge, before the race starts.
Train the lunges the way you race them: tired. Our advice is to put them at the end of a session, straight after a run, so your legs learn to lunge when they are already worn.
The Head Judge and their team decide your lane at each station, and you may not choose your own. On the lunges, a faster racer may overtake a slower one when it is safe, and lane markings are for orientation only.
- HYROX Singles Rulebook 26/27 (official PDF) checked 18 Oct 2026
- HYROX: The Fitness Race (official site) checked 18 Oct 2026
A sandbag lunge session to try
This session rehearses stations 7 and 8 back to back, with a 600 m run between them. The lunges are 50 m, half of the race distance, and the wall balls are 30 reps per round, less than a third of the race’s 100. Race weight means the bag weight for your division from the table above. Effort runs from 1 (very easy) to 10 (all out).
| Block | What you do |
|---|---|
| Warm-up | Row for 8 minutes at effort 3 with long, easy pulls. Then run 400 m at effort 3, with a few strides (short, quick bursts of faster running) at the end. |
| Main | 2 rounds. Each round: run 600 m at effort 6, controlled, so your heart rate comes down. Sandbag lunge 50 m at race weight and effort 8, bracing against the bag and dropping the back knee to a soft touch on every rep. Run 600 m at effort 6. Wall balls 30 reps at effort 8, with the legs throwing the ball, unbroken for as long as your form holds. |
| Cool-down | Row for 8 minutes at effort 2 with long, smooth strokes. |
The sandbag lunges in Complete
Complete starts from your long-term goals, and its daily recommendation reads your goals, recovery and load without needing a plan. You can log a lunge session in the app exercise by exercise, with the weight and reps of each set, or bring it in from Apple Health. Roads are Complete’s ladders of targets, which you take on next to your friends, and the sandbag lunges have their own, moved by your official race results.
Frequently asked questions
How heavy is the sandbag in the Hyrox lunges?
The bag weighs 10 kg for Women, 20 kg for Women Pro and Men, and 30 kg for Men Pro. You carry it for 100 m, and it is your job to pick the right one.
Do you have to lunge around the turns in Hyrox?
No. You do not need to lunge around the turning points at the end of each lane. You must restart each section with both feet behind the white line and lunge across it.
Can you put the sandbag down during the Hyrox lunges?
No. The bag must stay fully supported on both shoulders. Putting it on the ground, a barricade, your feet or any other surface costs 15 seconds each time.
Does your knee have to touch the floor on every Hyrox lunge?
Yes. The trailing knee must touch the ground on every lunge, the knees must alternate, and each rep ends with you standing tall with your knees and hips fully extended.