Why It's Time to Embrace Hybrid Training

You know that friend who’s a super fast runner but can't do push-ups for shit? He could benefit from embracing hybrid training. So would the guys who brag about his bench but can't get through a 5k without walking.

Hybrid training challenges you to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and your favorite disciplines to become a more well-rounded athlete. It's not about being a master of every exercise, rather someone who can turn their fitness to whatever task is at hand. Weekend bike ride? Sure. Early morning CrossFit? You betcha. Legs day followed by a heart-pumping dynamic abs circuit? Let’s go.

It isn’t just for elites, either. Who couldn’t benefit from being a bit more flexible? A bit fitter? A bit stronger?

The name’s pretty self-explanatory: it means training in more than one modality, instead of dedicating all of your time to say, running, or Olympic lifts, alone.

“Hybrid training incorporates strength and endurance, merging them to improve overall strength and cardiovascular fitness,” says Reece Williams, a physical therapist at UNTIL. “The goal is to improve multiple fitness elements in each phase.”

Its origins come from things like CrossFit, which requires explosive stamina and strength, newer riffs on the format like Hyrox, which has both running and lifting components, and military and athletic training. “For example, football and rugby rely on both fast and slow movements, requiring athletes to be both explosive and have good stamina,” Williams explains.

Williams thinks its gaining in popularity largely due to visible athletes like Nick Bare making it appealing, but there’s also an element of more of us becoming invested in our fitness, and understanding the importance of all-round wellbeing. Another example: if you’re a cyclist, a decent core and leg workout will help with stability and power. If you’re a rock climber, working on your grip and shoulder strength will help.

“Hybrid workouts move the focus from training for aesthetics,” says Jake Dearden, the 24 year-old Red Bull athlete from Manchester, England, who claimed the Men's Doubles title at the 2024 Hyrox World Championships alongside his partner Marc Dean.

Dearden says people might get into working out to look good, but that doing the same thing week after week can soon get boring. Working towards a performance sport like Hyrox can take the pressure off getting a six pack, and help you put your energy into more immediate fitness milestones in a communal environment.

“In hybrid training, aesthetics is a by-product,” he says. “The focus is always on improving strength and fitness side by side. It’s about hard work, not how you look in the mirror.”

Firstly, the idea that cardio kills gains is nonsense. In fact, cardio might help you recover better between strength sessions, improving your cardiovascular capacity and lifespan in the process. Again, you only have to take a look at a Crossfitter or Hyrox bro to see that hybrid training offers the best of both worlds. (Easy enough to do: They’re always shirtless for some reason.)

The benefits don’t end there. A study published in the journal Circulation studied the impact different training modalities had on cardio fitness by reviewing data from 4331 individuals, finding hybrid training was better than HIIT, steady state jogging, and pure weight training for a healthy heart and lungs.

A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, asked whether pro athletes could train smarter and harder to avoid injury, concluding that mixing-up your workout protocols over time led to better greater strength, decreased chance of injury, and greater all-round fitness.

“If you’re in a calorie surplus, you can definitely build muscle,” says Dearden. Just make sure you’re refueling mid-session; our oxygen stores last an hour and a half, max. After that, your body looks for new sources of energy, and muscle is easier to process than fat.

Yet another study, in the Kurume Medical Journal, tested metrics including grip strength, forearm flexor/extensor cross sectional areas, hand dexterity, and finger tapping in two control groups over six weeks. The results state that hybrid training increased forearm muscle strength and size without adverse effects.

For Williams, “hybrid training is excellent for those looking to enhance overall fitness by challenging multiple disciplines.”

The cons mostly revolve around overdoing it:

• “With a poorly executed approach to programming, you run the risk of over-training, which is why it’s important to find a program suitable for you."

● “Balancing the demand on the body for endurance and strength training can be challenging."

● “Whether it’s nutrition or sleep, a poor approach to recovery can set you back. Improper recovery increases the risk of negatively impacting your body."

● “Where you are likely to fatigue more rapidly during hybrid training you run a higher risk of injury. As the body fatigues during movements its first call to action is to overcompensate and involve other parts of the body to execute a movement. This increases injury risk if exercise execution is not managed well.”

Take time to plan recovery first—and listen to your body as you go—and you should be in the clear.

In the interests of preventing fatigue, your workouts should be complimentary. As Dearden explains, training for a half marathon and training to improve your deadlift PB isn’t hybrid training, it’s two different workouts side by side. “You’re looking for a blended approach,” he says. All of your workouts should be helping you move towards a single goal.

Dearden is currently trying to improve his long-distance running to assist with his Hyrox performance. His entire week is geared towards this: “It’s two days of strength work, two days running, focusing on speed and endurance,” he says. “Then, I do one big conditioning session, building up that ability to move on fatigued legs.”

So, even though he does have days where he’s only working on weights or cardio, his week is designed so it all fits together like a fitness jigsaw, with a big conditioning day tying it all together.

If you’re new to hybrid training, Williams suggests you might break your week down as follows, depending on your goals:

Monday: Full body training
Tuesday: 5km run
Wednesday: Full body strength training
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Full body
Saturday: 10k steady run
Sunday: Rest

Dearden would swap out one of the full body sessions with a legs session in which you really work your legs through a whole range of motion—think unilateral band work, side lunges, jumps, back squats, box steps and heavy sled work. All the fun stuff.

He agrees that two to three runs—one of which should be a long one—is the way to go, especially if you’re training for something like your first Hyrox.

“Ideally, you should be running for the amount of time you think it’s going to take you to complete the course (around 90 minutes),” he says. “Speed work is amazing too. Try doing one-k splits on the track, aiming for fastest time with a few minutes rest in between.” As you get fitter, you might even add some hill sprints to get used to that lactic acid build-up.

Of course, hybrid training isn’t just about commercial competitions, but more importantly, just getting you fit for life. “I love the versatility, the satisfaction,” Dearden says. “And why focus on strength or fitness over the other? What’s the point in being able to heft a barbell if you can’t run for a bus or ride a bike without pain?"

This story was originally published by British GQ.