DRL Strength & Fitness

For years the fitness industry sold outcomes almost entirely through appearance.

Build muscle.
Lose weight.
Get lean.

And while those goals still matter, more and more people are asking a different question:

“What is my fitness actually allowing me to do?”

That’s one of the reasons HYROX, ATHX, DEKA, Spartan and the wider hybrid space have grown so quickly.

Because they give people something meaningful to work towards.

A challenge.
An experience.
A story.

A reason to train when motivation inevitably disappears.

Most people aren’t just chasing a finish time.

They’re chasing the confidence that comes from proving to themselves they can do difficult things.

And that might be one of the healthiest shifts we’ve seen in fitness for a very long time.

Shout out to my man 🎤🙌🏼🫡

With the World Champs at the weekend, and hybrid comps like ATHX, DEKA, The Hybrid Games and Deadly Dozen growing faster than ever, it’s clear that hybrid fitness racing isn’t just a trend anymore.

It’s becoming its own category of fitness.

Which is why conversations like this are interesting.

Because people often ask whether HYROX is the “best” way to train.

The problem is they’re usually answering the wrong question.

For years, a lot of people sat somewhere in the middle.

They weren’t bodybuilders.
They weren’t marathon runners.
They weren’t CrossFit athletes.

They enjoyed training, wanted a challenge, and were looking for something meaningful to work towards.

HYROX, and the wider hybrid racing space have given people exactly that 💯

As a coach it’s very easy to become obsessed with optimisation!

The perfect programme.
The perfect split.
The perfect methodology.

Meanwhile, the biggest predictor of success is often actually much simpler:

Will someone actually stick to it long enough to see results? 📈

A programme someone follows consistently for two years will always outperform the “perfect” programme they abandon after two weeks.

Different goals require different approaches.
Different people require different solutions.
And that’s probably a good thing.

The best training system isn’t always the one that looks best on paper.

It’s the one that gives somebody a reason to keep showing up.

And right now, hybrid racing is doing exactly that for thousands of people around the world.

As far as I’m concerned, that can only be a good thing 🫡

Anna broke through the 2-hour barrier in HYROX NYC 🇺🇸

From 2:03 in January to 1:52 last weekend! 📈

On paper, that’s an impressive improvement.

But results are usually the visible part of a much longer story.

The real story is the consistency.

The sessions nobody sees.
The days where confidence wasn’t there.
The weeks where progress felt slow.
The decision to trust the process anyway.

What stood out most to me wasn’t the finish time.

It was something Anna wrote afterwards:

“More important than the time, I am a stronger, more confident athlete now. And that confidence is translating into other parts of my life.”

That’s EXACTLY why I believe hybrid competition can be so powerful.

The podiums, PBs and finish times are great.

But they’re often just evidence of something deeper that’s happening beneath the surface.

And seeing her FFC team mates from around the world all celebrating that journey together reminded me of something else.

Community matters 💯
More than most people realise.

The finish time was earned last weekend 🫡

The confidence behind it was built long before that.

The challenge is rarely a lack of information ❌

It’s helping someone find a form of movement that feels achievable enough to repeat consistently.

Behaviour change is rarely linear.

People don’t wake up one morning and completely transform their lifestyle.

More often, they find one thing they enjoy.

One thing that feels manageable.

One community they feel comfortable in.

And then momentum starts to build.

The best programme isn’t always the most physiologically optimal one.

It’s often the one someone can stick to long enough for their life to begin changing around it ✅📈

Our pal here is obviously just rage baiting for a reaction and it’s all good!

But it raises an interesting point…

The Arnold Sports Festival has evolved because fitness has evolved.

Different people enjoy different challenges.

Different goals require different approaches.

And that’s probably a good thing.

The best training system isn’t the one that wins debates online.

It’s the one that fits your life well enough that you’re still doing it a year from now.

🫡✌🏼

You can open ChatGPT right now and generate:
A HYROX plan,
An ATHX plan,
A marathon plan…

Macros,
Strength sessions,
Recovery protocols,
Pretty much anything.

And honestly…
some of it is genuinely useful.

But I’ve coached enough people now to know that performance rarely breaks down because someone lacked information.

It usually breaks down because emotions slowly take over decision-making.

One bad session and suddenly the plan gets questioned.

One low-energy week and now we’re searching for a new approach.

One race doesn’t go perfectly and we convince ourselves everything needs to change.

Not because the structure stopped working.

Because discomfort creates uncertainty…
and uncertainty makes people reactive.

So they optimise.

Then optimise again.

Then optimise again.

But constant optimisation is often just a form of emotional panic.

And this is where human coaching still matters massively.

Not because coaches magically possess secret information.

But because emotionally involved people struggle to see themselves objectively.

A good coach helps you zoom out when your emotions zoom in.

They stop you making drastic decisions after one bad run split.

They recognise when you’re catastrophising normal fatigue.

They help you separate:
actual problems
from emotional reactions.

That’s why real coaching has very little to do with “perfect programming”.

Programming matters, obviously.

But long-term progress usually comes from:
stability,
perspective,
self-awareness,
emotional regulation,
and consistency over time.

Not endlessly searching for a perfect plan.

I think AI will become an incredible tool in coaching.

I already use it myself.

But tools still need leadership behind them.

Because performance is never just physical.

It’s behavioural.
Psychological.
Emotional.

And most people don’t need someone to give them more information.

They need someone who helps them stay steady long enough to actually progress.

If this hit a little too close to home, that’s probably a good thing 🫡