What's the hardest station in HYROX?

On the numbers, wall balls are the hardest station in HYROX for most people. They come last, take the longest on average (about 7:28 across nearly 400,000 solo results) and show one of the biggest gaps between fast and slow athletes. Burpee broad jumps are a close second, and they're the station athletes vote the hardest in surveys. Your own hardest station depends on your body and background: runners tend to struggle on the sleds, lunges and wall balls, while strength athletes tend to suffer on the burpees and the runs.

• 7:28average wall ball time, the longest station
• 6:08average burpee broad jumps, second-longest
• 2.1×bigger fast-vs-slow gap on the four "decisive" stations

Which HYROX station takes the longest?

Here are HYROX Data Lab's average and median times from 395,452 solo results across Seasons 7 and 8, all divisions combined:

*Our calculation: each station's average divided by the sum of all eight averages (about 40 minutes).

Wall balls take nearly a fifth of all station time on their own. At HYROX Rotterdam in April 2026, HYROX Data Lab found the same pattern: wall balls were 19.1% of men's work time. For women, burpee broad jumps (17.2%) and wall balls (16.9%) were almost tied.

Time spent isn't the same as difficulty, though. The SkiErg and row take about five minutes each, but almost nobody calls them the hardest. A better test is where people lose time.

Which station separates fast and slow athletes?

Hyranking compared the top 15% of finishers with the mid-pack (40th to 60th percentile) across more than 460,000 Open and Pro results. Four stations stood out: burpee broad jumps, wall balls, sled pull and sandbag lunges. On those, the gap averaged 27.4% of mid-pack time, about 2.1 times the gap on the SkiErg, row, sled push and farmers carry (13.2%). The SkiErg and row stayed at just 6 to 9% in every division.

HYROX Data Lab's bracket analysis agrees that wall balls are the single biggest separator:

Sandbag lunges, the sled pull and the sled push showed "moderate" variance of about 1 to 1.5 minutes. In a separate set of Season 8 results, the middle 80% of athletes took anywhere from 3:49 to 9:04 on wall balls and 3:18 to 6:56 on the sled pull.

One dataset flags a different station. HyCoach found the sled push has the widest spread between a median and a poor performance, especially in heavier divisions. A sticky carpet or a stalled sled can cost minutes, which is why the sled push feels brutal on a bad day even though its average time is short.

Does the hardest station change by division and sex?

Yes. Heavier loads move the problem to the strength stations.

• Open vs Pro. In Open, running makes up about 47% of the total gap between top and mid-pack athletes, and the stations about 42%, according to Hyranking. In Pro, the stations account for about half. The men's sled pull goes from a 24.8% gap in Open to 30.9% in Pro, making it the most decisive Pro station, with the sled loaded to 153 kg instead of 103 kg.
• Women. Burpee broad jumps are often as costly as wall balls for women, as the Rotterdam figures show. In Pro, the women's farmers carry gap jumps from 17.8% to 25.4%, because Women Pro carry 2 × 24 kg instead of 2 × 16 kg.
• Men vs women on the sleds. The sled push shows the smallest gender gap of any station in HYROX Data Lab's Season 8 data (2:54 for men vs 2:37 for women), helped by the lighter women's sled (102 kg vs 152 kg in Open).
• Doubles and Relay. Doubles teams share every station, so the long stations shrink the most. In a relay, each member does two stations, so a team can give the burpees or the sleds to whoever handles them best. See the Relay guide and the Doubles strategy guide.

Venues matter too. Women's burpee broad jumps were about 45 seconds faster in Cologne than in Rotterdam on the same weekend, which HYROX Data Lab put down to course layout. Floors change sled times in the same way.

What do athletes say is the hardest station?

Ask athletes and burpee broad jumps usually win. In a survey of 410 participants reported by T3, burpee broad jumps were voted the hardest, followed by wall balls and lunges. A Myprotein reader poll found the "least favourite" vote split roughly in half between burpee broad jumps and the sleds, with the farmers carry the clear favourite.

Lifehacker had a runner and a weightlifter rank every station from their own experience. The runner put wall balls last, with burpee broad jumps and lunges just before them. The weightlifter put burpee broad jumps last and running second-last, and rated the SkiErg and row the easiest. The common theme: HYROX finds your weak spot.

What's the hardest station for runners, strength athletes, bigger and lighter athletes?

Runners. A marathon runner who raced her first Doubles in 1:06 wrote that the sled pulls were "harder than they look." Running fitness carries the runs but not the stations. A small 2025 study of 11 recreational athletes found aerobic fitness was linked to run times but showed no meaningful link to station times.

Strength athletes. The sleds and the farmers carry often feel easy. The trouble is the 8 km of running and the stations where heart rate climbs, such as burpees and wall balls. The same 2025 study linked faster finish times to a higher VO2max and more endurance training.

Bigger athletes. More mass behind the sled helps the push, and sled technique guides suggest getting your body weight over the sled. But burpees, lunges and running all mean lifting your own body over and over, and the 2025 study found a higher body fat percentage was linked to slower finishes. Our guide to HYROX for bigger athletes covers strategies for each station.

Lighter athletes. Bodyweight stations and running tend to suit you. Sleds are the usual sticking point, because you have less mass to lean into a fixed load. Expect the gap to widen if you move up to Pro.

Don't forget the runs and the Roxzone

No station costs as much as the running. Running is roughly half of a typical race, and HyCoach found the average athlete's later laps are 10 to 20% slower than their first few, while top finishers stay within 5%. Transitions take up to 5% of race time for most age-group athletes. If your stations look fine but your finish time doesn't, the runs and the Roxzone are the likely problem. Our pacing and Roxzone guide covers both.

How do you find your weakest station?

Open your official result and put each station split next to the medians in the table above, or next to athletes in your division and age group at your race. Then check three things:

• The station furthest above the median, in seconds and as a percentage.
• The run after each station. A slow run 3 after the sled pull, or a slow run 5 after the burpees, means that station cost you more than its split shows.
• Whether it's the station or the venue. Compare with other athletes at the same race before blaming yourself for a slow sled.

The HYROX pace calculator turns your goal time into per-station targets you can compare against.

How to train your weakest station

Don't neglect the rest. Your weakest station is where you gain the most, but a station you're good at can slip if you stop training it. Our station tips cover the SkiErg, row, farmers carry and lunges.

FAQ

What is the hardest station in HYROX?

Wall balls, for most people. They come last, take the longest on average (7:28 across about 395,000 solo results) and show one of the biggest gaps between fast and slow athletes. Burpee broad jumps are second on time and are usually voted hardest in athlete surveys.

Which HYROX station takes the longest?

Wall balls, at about 7:28 on average and 6:44 median, according to HYROX Data Lab. Burpee broad jumps (6:08), the sled pull (5:41) and sandbag lunges (5:34) come next. The farmers carry is the shortest at about 2:22.

Where do people lose the most time in HYROX?

On the runs, especially the later ones, and on four stations: burpee broad jumps, wall balls, the sled pull and sandbag lunges. Hyranking found the fast-vs-mid-pack gap on those four is about twice the gap on the other stations.

Is the sled push or sled pull harder?

The sled pull usually takes longer (about 5:41 vs 3:15 on average) and separates athletes more, especially in Pro. The sled push has the widest spread between a median and a bad performance, mostly because of floor friction and stalls.

Which HYROX station is hardest for runners?

Usually the sled pull, sandbag lunges and wall balls, because they need loaded leg strength, grip and technique. Running fitness helps the runs but has little link to station times in early research.

Which HYROX station is hardest for women?

In HYROX Data Lab's Rotterdam data, burpee broad jumps and wall balls were almost tied as women's biggest time costs. In Pro, the farmers carry gap grows the most because the bells go from 16 kg to 24 kg.

Next steps

Compare your splits with the benchmarks in what is a good HYROX time, pick your weakest station and work on it twice a week. Find a coach or class on the gyms page, or plan your next race from the race calendar.