Mastering Your HYROX Taper

As you head into the final stretch before your HYROX race, lets take moment to talk about something that can truly make or break your performance on the day... tapering!

You’ve been training hard, pushing yourself through strength sessions, conditioning blocks, and all those brutal wall balls and sled pushes. Your body has been adapting, growing stronger, and becoming more resilient. Now it’s time to allow the work to PEAK! 

How is this achieved?

By giving your body the rest it needs to PERFORM at its absolute best!

What is Tapering?

 It is a planned reduction in training volume in the final 7–10 days before your race. It's not about slacking off... it's about strategic recovery!

The purpose of tapering is:

✅ Remove residual fatigue from your training

✅ Allow your muscles to fully repair and rebuild

✅ Optimise your nervous system, mobility, and coordination

✅ Ensure you're mentally and physically fresh on race day

Why Taper for HYROX?

Unlike traditional endurance events, HYROX is a hybrid test of strength, endurance, power, and grit... all wrapped up in one challenge!

To be at your best, your body needs to:

Be well-fuelled, not depleted

Be fully recovered, not fatigued

Be primed, not overtrained

A well-executed taper can lead to a 3–5% performance boost on race day!!!

What a HYROX Taper Looks Like:

10 days- 1 Week Out:

• Cut volume significantly! This is to 40-60% of usual load!

• Reduce or eliminate any heavy lifting!

• Shorter, low-impact conditioning!

• Focus on mobility, movement prep, and recovery!

3-5 Days Out:

• Prioritise sleep, hydration, and clean nutrition!

• Keep sessions light and low volume!

• No high-intensity work in the final 72 hours!

Mentally Tapering

Tapering isn’t just physical...You might feel restless, second-guess your training, or even feel like you’re losing fitness... BUT trust me, that’s normal! It’s your body shifting from training mode to race mode!

Use this time to:

✅ Visualise your race strategy

✅ Lock in your mindset and intention for race day

Final Tips:

• Stick to FAMILIAR ROUTINES - don’t try anything new this close to race day!

• Get good SLEEP - quality rest is your is your number 1 recovery tool!

• FUEL well - eat enough carbs to top up energy stores!

• HYDRATE - start early, don’t cram the day before!

• TRUST your training - you’ve done the hard work already!

Your job now is to arrive at the start line feeling FRESH, FOCUSED & FIRED UP! 

You only get the benefits of all your hard work if you give your body the chance to absorb it! So don’t be afraid to scale things back - you’re not losing fitness, you’re unlocking performance!

If you need help tailoring your TAPER to ensure you are FRESH, FOCUSED & ready to ATTACK your race, REPLY to this email and we can help you!

Speak Soon,

Team EMA