HYROX age groups run in five-year bands: Under 24 (16-24), then 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, and upwards in five-year increments to 85-89. Your band is set by your age on the day you race, not at the start of the season. Crucially, the weights do not change with age.
That last point is the one most people get wrong, and it is worth being blunt about.
Why trust this
Every rule below is read from the official HYROX singles rulebook for the 26/27 season. This matters here more than on most topics, because there is a substantial amount of content online, including previously on this site, describing an age-scaled weight schedule that does not exist.
The bands
| Age group | Ages | |---|---| | Under 24 | 16-24 | | 25-29 | 25-29 | | 30-34 | 30-34 | | 35-39 | 35-39 | | 40-44 | 40-44 | | 45-49 | 45-49 | | 50-54 | 50-54 | | 55-59 | 55-59 | | 60-64 | 60-64 | | 65-69 | 65-69 | | 70-74 | 70-74 | | 75-79 | 75-79 | | 80-84 | 80-84 | | 85-89 | 85-89 |
Official age groups extend in five-year increments up to 85-89. Minimum age to compete is 16.
Your age group is determined by your age on the day of your race. If you have a birthday between entering and racing, you race in the band you are in on the day.
The weights do not scale. At all.
There is no age-based weight schedule in the rulebook. None. A 68-year-old in Men's Open pushes the same 152kg sled, carries the same 2 x 24kg kettlebells, lunges with the same 20kg sandbag and throws the same 6kg wall ball to the same 3.00m target as a 25-year-old in Men's Open.
This surprises people, and it is worth understanding why it is designed that way. The whole premise of HYROX is that the standard is fixed so times are comparable. If the loads moved with age, an age group result would not mean anything against the wider field. Instead the ranking system does that work: you are placed against people your own age, racing the identical test.
If you have read a table showing farmer's carry dropping to 16kg at 65+ or a sandbag falling to 10kg, that table was invented. Check the rulebook.
Target heights do not vary by age either. 2.70m for Women and Women Pro, 3.00m for Men and Men Pro, at every age.
The two age rules that do exist
Pro divisions are open to 80+. Athletes are permitted to compete in the Pro divisions up to and including the 80+ age groups at regular HYROX races. Official age group rankings, podiums and flags apply as normal. Nobody is aged out of Pro.
60+ qualifies for Worlds through Open only. This is the rule that catches competitive masters athletes out. For qualification to the HYROX World Championships, athletes aged 60 and above qualify via the Open division only. And at the World Championships themselves, athletes in the 60+ age groups compete using Open weights, repetitions and distances.
So if you are 60 or over and your goal is a World Championship start, racing Pro during the season does not build a qualifying pathway. That decision needs making early in a season, not late.
What your age group actually changes
Practically, three things.
Your ranking. You are placed within your band as well as overall. This is where age group podiums and flags come from.
Your start wave. Waves are organised by division, and racers start alongside others in the same division.
Your qualification route, if you are 60 or over, as above.
What it does not change: the race itself. Same distances, same loads, same rules, same standards of movement.
The practical part: training as a masters athlete
Since the race does not get easier with age, the training has to get smarter. Four things that matter more after 40, in rough order of return.
- Recovery becomes the limiting factor, not the training. Most masters athletes are not undertrained, they are under-recovered. Three quality sessions you absorb beat five you do not.
- Keep the intensity, cut the volume. The instinct is to go easy everywhere. That loses the top end fastest. Better to run fewer hard sessions than to make every session moderate.
- Strength work is not optional. Loads do not scale down, so absolute strength matters more each year, not less. Two full-body sessions a week protects the sled stations and the lunges.
- Protect the lunges and the sled push specifically. These are the two stations where the fixed loads bite hardest with age, because both are heavy and lower-body dominant, and they land at stations two and seven.
If you are returning to training after time away, get medically cleared first. The rulebook requires that you are fit to compete, and that requirement exists for a reason.
Honest limitations
Age group rules and qualification pathways change between seasons. This page reflects the 26/27 singles rulebook, and the qualification detail in particular is the sort of thing that gets revised. Check the current rulebook before you plan a season around it.
Doubles and relay carry their own rulebooks with their own age group handling, so do not assume the singles rules transfer.
And an honest note on the fixed weights: for some athletes in the older bands, the Open loads are genuinely a barrier rather than a challenge. That is a real limitation of the format, not a failure on your part.
Next step
If you are working out whether Open or Pro suits you, or where your fitness sits, the fitness assessment quiz gives you a straight answer in a few minutes.
The free HYROX plan maker builds a block around your current running and strength rather than a generic template.
Source: age group bands, the Pro 80+ permission and the 60+ qualification rule are all from the official HYROX singles rulebook, season 26/27.
[ FAQ ]
Frequently asked
What are the HYROX age groups?
Five-year bands: Under 24 (16-24), 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, and onwards in five-year increments up to 85-89. Your band is determined by your age on the day of your race.
Do HYROX weights get lighter as you get older?
No. There is no age-based weight scaling in the rulebook. A 62-year-old racing Open lifts exactly the same loads as a 24-year-old racing Open. Age groups affect your ranking, not your race.
Can older athletes race the Pro division?
Yes. Athletes may compete in the Pro divisions up to and including the 80+ age groups at regular HYROX races, with official age group rankings, podiums and flags applying as normal.
What is the minimum age for HYROX?
16. The Under 24 band covers ages 16 to 24.
Written by
The Suth Performance teamCoaches and editors
The Suth Performance programming team, led by HYROX Elite 15 athlete Ben Sutherland.
[ KEEP READING ]
Related guides
First race
HYROX race format: distances, order and how the race flows
Eight runs, eight stations, one fixed order that never changes by city. Here is the full format with the official 26/27 weights, and what the sequence actually does to you.
First race
HYROX rules: the standards, the no-reps and the penalties that cost people time
What the judges are actually watching for at each station, which rules people break without realising, and how penalties work on the day.
First race
Hyrox station weights explained: men's, women's, doubles, pro
Every Hyrox weight by category in one place. What's heavy, what's light, what each category means, and why the weights do not scale with age.