Hyrox, CrossFit, Spartan: What are the real differences? 🏋️♂️🏃♂️🛡️
🔥 Are you more of a wall climber, rower, or burpee person?
In 2025, fitness has become a jungle.
You can lift, run, row, sled push, or crawl in the mud with a headband.
But between all that, there is a real question:
Do you really want to get stronger? Or just post your medal on your Instagram story?
Welcome to the totally subjective , slightly petty , but profoundly lucid comparison between:
🧱 CrossFit – the complete, demanding, sometimes frustrating but always rewarding sport
🏁 Hyrox – the sport for people who like to sweat… in a straight line
🪖 Spartan Race – the sport for people who want to suffer in the mud. For fun. And the LinkedIn post.
You probably have a friend who told you:
“Come on, I’m doing a Hyrox in Barcelona, it’s going to be amazing.”
Or another one pestering you for a muddy Spartan Race with a Viking costume.
But between CrossFit , Hyrox , and Spartan , it's easy to get lost. What are the real differences? Who is it for? And most importantly, what's the most stylish? We'll explain everything.
🏋️ CrossFit: the structured chaos we love
Summary :
You enter a box. You don't know what you're going to do. You're going to suffer. And you're going to love it.
Examples of WODs:
-
Fran, Murph, DT, the worm with your broken knee team
-
Burpees, thrusters, muscle-ups, snatches at 1 rep max
-
Open, Quarterfinals, local competitions, Teams, Community vibes
Why it's stylish:
-
You can train for 10 years and still not get anywhere.
-
You develop real skills (gym, weightlifting, cardio… everything)
-
You learn to manage your ego. Or not. But you're making progress.
Materials used:
Bars, rings, wall balls, kettlebells, ego, chalk
Hidden objective:
Gain physical and mental strength, and become a mutant adaptable to any situation – like a zombie apocalypse or Monday 7am class.
🏃 Hyrox: the Excel of fitness
Summary :
Always. The. Same. Thing.
8 x 1km race with 8 identical exercises between each round.
You know exactly what's coming. And yet, you do it. Over and over again.
The exercises?
-
Ski erg, sled push, sled pull
-
Burpees broad jumps (ouch knees)
-
Row, farmers carry, lunges, wall balls
Why it’s “practical”:
-
You can practice your Hyrox with an Excel spreadsheet
-
You have an objective performance . Cool. Like a fifth-grade cardio test.
-
It's a “zone 2 training” party (until the day you explode on the sled)
Why it's sad:
-
You have the same WOD… all year long
-
No gym, no explosiveness, no adaptation
-
You run, you pull, you sweat. Then you start again. And start again. And…
Hidden objective:
Have a good time on your app, then post:
“Hyrox Lyon finished, tough but proud 💪🔥”
🛡️ Spartan Race: the mud festival
Summary :
You pay €120 to run through the woods, crawl under barbed wire and miss a javelin throw.
If you miss, you do 30 burpees.
You often miss.
The obstacles:
-
Slippery monkey bars
-
Carrying buckets of stones
-
Crawls, wall jumps, lousy pull-ups
-
Javelin throwing into a haystack (no joke)
Why it's (a little) stylish:
-
You're having a moment with friends
-
You end up covered in mud = stylish photo = guaranteed likes
Why it's not great (much):
-
You have no idea what you're really working on.
-
It's more of a Koh Lanta trip than a real progression plan.
-
The injury-to-training ratio is questionable… unless you train for javelin 🥴
Hidden objective:
Add to Insta bio:
“3x Spartan Finisher 💥”
While you crawled 4 times and did 180 penalty burpees.
🧠 Honest comparison table (well almost)
| Criteria | CrossFit 🏋️♂️ | Hyrox 🏁 | Spartan 🪖 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Variety | 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 | 🔥 (it's always the same) | 🔥🔥 (there's a bit of suspense) |
| Technical competence | 🔥🔥🔥🔥 | 🔥 (you walk, you shoot) | 🔥 (too random) |
| Cardio | 🔥🔥🔥🔥 | 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 | 🔥🔥🔥 |
| Intelligence required | 🔥🔥🔥 (strategy, pacing) | 🔥 (you run and you survive) | 🔥 (avoid the stones) |
| Equipment | Dumbbell, gym, rig, rower | Sled, erg, foam wall | Tire, mud, hay |
| Final aesthetics | All-around athlete | Angry hamster | Wet Survivor |
| Real goal | Be functional & stylish | Have a time to post | End up alive |
🧢 For real?
Do you want to push yourself, learn to move better, become stronger, faster, more agile?
You do CrossFit.
Want to run, pull sleds, and wall ball 1000 times to beat your record?
Hyrox is here, with his rankings and his metal sleds.
Do you want a Sunday in the mud with friends, a GoPro and mud in your shorts?
Welcome to Spartan. Bring bandages.
💬 WOD.LOL's review (unsolicited but free)
“Hyrox is open-plan fitness: square, clean, emotionless.
Spartan is mud, screaming, weird people yelling 'Aroo'.
And CrossFit? CrossFit is the real fight.
The only discipline that teaches you not to survive , but to perform – no matter the terrain.”
✅ Conclusion
There is no right or wrong choice: choose your poison.
Or try all three, and become “functional as f*ck”. 💪