2026/27 SeasonSingles · Doubles · Team Relay · updated August 2026
The 2026/27 HYROX rule changes: what actually matters
One change this season turns a common mistake into a disqualification. Most of the rest are small adjustments, and two are in your favour. All three rulebooks, sorted by what each change actually costs you.
Every workout station must now be completed in full. An incomplete station is a disqualification rather than a penalty. Alongside that: missed run laps carry a published penalty scale running from 3 minutes to disqualification depending on your venue, the sandbag two-drop disqualification has been replaced by 15 seconds per infringement, chalk is restricted to the sled pull and farmers carry, tipping aid station water over your head costs 2 minutes, and the doubles togetherness gap is down to ten seconds.
Two changes go the other way. A jumping motion on the SkiErg is now explicitly legal, and overtaking on the lunges, burpee broad jumps and farmers carry is allowed. The rest are mostly clarifications and administrative changes.
All eight workout stations must be completed in full. If you do not finish one, you are disqualified rather than given a time penalty.
The SkiErg and the rower are where this is most likely to catch people, because the monitor is easy to misread when you are tired and stopping a few metres short used to be arguable. It is not now. Tap through the stations below for the completion standard at each one and the mistake it tends to produce.
The race, station by station
named in the rulebook as a DQ trigger
There is a 1km run before each of the eight stations. Missing an entire run is treated the same way as missing an entire station.
Station 1
SkiErg
Named DQ trigger
You are finished when
The full 1,000 metres on the monitor.
Common mistake
Stopping when the count is close rather than complete. That used to be arguable and is now a disqualification, so read the monitor instead of estimating.
One habit covers all eight: do not leave a station until a judge confirms you are done. That is already in the rules, and it exists for exactly this reason.
Station 1, SkiErg: The full 1,000 metres on the monitor. Stopping when the count is close rather than complete. That used to be arguable and is now a disqualification, so read the monitor instead of estimating.
Station 2, Sled Push: Every lane of the push, for the full 50 metres. Losing track of which lane you are on. The push is hard enough that it happens, and a missed lane is now a disqualification rather than something you go back and redo.
Station 3, Sled Pull: Every lane of the pull, for the full 50 metres. Same as the push — a missed lane is a disqualification. This is also one of only two stations where chalk is allowed.
Station 4, Burpee Broad Jump: The full 80 metres, chest to floor, jumping from two feet. Stopping short of the line, often because the lane ahead is blocked. Overtaking here is explicitly allowed, so move around rather than waiting.
Station 5, Rowing: The full 1,000 metres on the monitor. The same error as the SkiErg, but more common, because you are further into the race and the monitor is harder to read. There is no room for interpretation now.
Station 6, Farmers Carry: The full 200 metres, which is two laps at some venues and four at others. Assuming the lap count from a previous race. Check the athlete map before you start — nobody will count for you, and a missed lap is now a disqualification rather than a penalty.
Station 7, Sandbag Lunges: The full 100 metres, with the bag supported by you the whole way. Resting the bag on a barricade, on your feet or on the floor. Each of those is 15 seconds, applied without a warning first.
Station 8, Wall Balls: 100 valid reps, in every division. Rep count is the hardest thing to track at the end of a race, and no reps do not count towards the total. If the screen has not gone green and your judge has not confirmed, you are not finished.
Every change, triaged by what it costs you
Filter by consequence, or by the format you race. 1 change can end your race, 6 carry time penalties, 2 are in your favour, and the remaining 8 are worth knowing but unlikely to affect your race.
What does it cost me?
What do you race?
Showing 17 of 17 rule changes.
DQ
New
An incomplete station is now a disqualification
All eight workout stations must be completed in full. Leaving one unfinished is a disqualification rather than a time penalty.
CostDisqualification
The rulebook lists where this applies: leaving the SkiErg or rower before the full 1,000 metres, leaving the wall balls before 100 valid reps, missing a sled lane on the push or the pull, missing a lap on the farmers carry, and missing an entire station or an entire 1km run.
The two ergs are the most likely places to get caught, because the monitor is easy to misread when you are tired. Previously there was some room for interpretation. There is none now.
Wall balls are the other one to watch. The rep count is the hardest thing to keep track of late in a race, and the standard is 100 valid reps rather than 100 attempts.
Do this: Do not leave a station until a judge confirms you are done. If you are not sure whether you have finished, ask — a few seconds costs far less than a disqualification.
Penalty
New
Missed run laps now have a published penalty scale
The penalty used to be a vague range. It is now fixed, and it depends on how many laps your venue uses per kilometre.
Cost3–7 min, or DQ at one-lap venues
Four laps per kilometre costs 3 minutes per missed lap. Three laps costs 5 minutes. Two laps costs 7 minutes. At one lap per kilometre a missed lap is a disqualification.
One-lap venues are worth checking for specifically, because there is no time penalty option at all.
The lap screens at the venue are a convenience, not an official record, and the rulebook says so directly.
Do this: Check the athlete map before you start so you know how many laps make up a kilometre, then count them yourself.
Penalty
New
Sandbag drops cost 15 seconds instead of a disqualification
Dropping the sandbag twice no longer disqualifies you. Each infringement is 15 seconds instead, but the support standard is stricter than most people expect.
Cost15 sec per infringement
The two-drop disqualification is gone, which is a more proportionate outcome for what is usually a fatigue error rather than an advantage.
The standard is that the bag stays fully supported by you for the whole 100 metres. Resting it on a barricade, propping it on your feet, or putting it down to catch your breath all count as infringements.
There are no warnings, so the penalty applies from the first occurrence.
Do this: Train the second half of the lunges under load so you can rest standing, with the bag still supported.
Penalty
New
Chalk is allowed at two stations only
Chalk is permitted at the sled pull and the farmers carry. Using it anywhere else is a 2 minute penalty.
Cost2 min
It has to be the chalk the event provides, and you cannot carry it from one station to another.
Powdered chalk at the wall balls is listed separately, with its own 2 minute penalty.
Do this: Chalk up at the sled pull and the farmers carry and leave it there. Do not carry any in a pocket or on a wristband.
Penalty
New
Aid station water is for drinking only
Tipping aid station water over your head is now a 2 minute penalty each time.
Cost2 min per occurrence
The reasoning is that wet flooring on the run lanes is a hazard for the athletes behind you.
If you tend to overheat, plan your cooling before the start rather than relying on the aid stations.
Do this: Pre-cool before the race and bring your own kit for cooling rather than using the cups.
Allowed
New
A jumping motion on the SkiErg is allowed
A dynamic or jumping stroke is now explicitly legal, and your feet may leave the base plate during the movement.
CostNo penalty — explicitly allowed
The only requirement is that your feet land back on the base plate rather than on the floor.
This was unclear enough previously that a lot of athletes were coached away from it. If a jumping stroke suits you, it is legal.
Do this: If you have been holding back a natural jumping stroke, try it in training and compare your 1,000m split.
Allowed
New
Overtaking at three stations is explicitly allowed
You may pass a slower athlete on the lunges, burpee broad jumps and farmers carry whenever it is safe to do so.
CostNo penalty — explicitly allowed
Grid lines and lane markings at those stations are for orientation only. You are not required to stay inside them.
It matters most on the burpee broad jumps, where being stuck behind someone previously meant matching their pace.
Do this: Move out and pass early rather than settling into a pace that does not suit you.
Penalty
NewDoubles
Doubles partners must stay within ten seconds
The maximum gap between partners is now ten seconds, measured by the timing equipment in and out of the RoxZone. Neither of you can start a station until you are both there.
CostOut of ranking after 3 infringements
Ten seconds is a small margin when one partner is having a harder day than the other.
It tends to catch mismatched teams, where the stronger runner gets ahead without realising.
More than three togetherness infringements and the team is marked out of competition with no ranking, so three is the limit for the whole race.
Do this: Practise running together at the pace of whichever partner is having the worse day, rather than at your average pace.
Penalty
NewRelay
Relay: back-to-back legs still run the transition zone
If one member does two runs and two stations back to back, they still have to run through the transition zone after each workout so their chip is read.
CostAutomatic penalty
It is easy to skip, because you have not swapped with anyone. The timing system still needs the read, and missing it is an automatic penalty.
This is the relay rule teams are most likely not to know about.
Do this: Agree it as a team beforehand: every workout finishes with a pass through the transition zone, whether you swap or not.
Context
Relay
Relay: the finish follows a set route
Once your fourth member leaves the transition zone for the last run, the other three follow a set route to the wall ball rig, and all four cross the line together.
CostTeam split up at the finish
The three finished members go to the wall ball station through the spectator pathways, enter via the marked relay entry point once their teammate has started throwing, and wait under the rig.
All four then run to the finisher stage and cross the line together.
Teams that do not know this tend to be spread around the venue when their teammate finishes.
Do this: Walk the route together during your venue recce and agree where to meet under the rig.
Context
New
HYROX can declare an event out of ranking
An event, or a single day of one, can be declared out of ranking for qualification and world record purposes if conditions affect performance or safety.
CostTime stands, but does not count
Wet flooring and extreme heat are the examples given.
Your time still stands. It just does not count towards Worlds qualification or a record.
Context
Sub 4:00/km runners must use the fast lane
Athletes running 4:00 per kilometre or quicker are required to use the inside fast lane. Everyone else stays outside it.
CostLane requirement
Worth knowing which side of that pace you are on before you start, so you are not moving across lanes mid-race.
Context
New
Smart glasses are banned
Smart glasses join headphones, phones, body cameras and ear plugs on the banned list.
CostBanned equipment
The wording covers anything with a camera, recording, streaming or augmented reality function, so it applies to the function rather than a specific device.
Context
NewSingles
New Challenger Division for athletes ranked 16 to 30
Each Challenger race winner earns a place in the Elite 15 at the next elite event.
CostNew qualification route
It affects a small number of athletes, but it is a route into elite racing that did not previously exist.
Context
NewSinglesDoubles
Elite qualification is points based
Qualification runs on a rolling 365 day window, counting your best five singles results or best three doubles results.
CostAthlete licence required
You need an athlete licence for a result to count, and licences cannot be applied retrospectively. Buy one before the race you want counted.
Context
NewDoubles
Pro doubles partners must share a nationality
For Pro doubles chasing elite qualification, both partners must hold the same nationality, evidenced by passport.
CostQualification eligibility
It affects a number of existing partnerships, which will need to change to stay eligible for qualification.
Context
NewSinglesDoubles
Age 60 and over qualify through Open
You can still race Pro at regular events and take age group podiums, but qualification for Worlds is through Open only, and you race Open weights at Worlds.
CostQualification route
Free tool
What a mistake actually costs
Penalties are easier to judge against your own target time than in the abstract. Set your format, venue layout and target finish, then add the mistakes to see the result.
1. What are you racing?
2. How does your venue lay out a kilometre?
Check the athlete map before race day. This setting changes a missed lap from a 3 minute penalty to a disqualification.
3. What time are you chasing?
1:30:00target finish
45:003:00:00
4. Log the mistakes
There are no warnings in the 2026/27 rulebooks. Each of these applies from the first occurrence.
Sandbag unsupported· +0:15
Rested on a barricade, your feet or the floor. 15 seconds each, with no warning first.
0
Chalk outside the sled pull or farmers carry· +2:00
Includes powdered chalk at the wall balls, and carrying chalk between stations.
0
Aid station water over your head· +2:00
Drinking is fine. Tipping it over yourself is 2 minutes each time.
0
Missed run lap· +3:00
The cost depends on your venue layout — set it in step 2.
0
Left a station unfinished· DQ
The change most likely to end a race this season.
0
Clean race
No penalties logged.
Target1:30:00
On the board1:30:00
Breakdown
Nothing logged yet. Add an infringement on the left to see what it does to your finish time.
Penalty values are taken from the 2026/27 rulebooks. Where a rulebook states an automatic penalty without publishing a figure — the relay transition zone, for instance — this tool flags it rather than estimating a number.
Costs you time
Check your venue’s lap layout
The missed lap penalty is now published, and it depends on how your venue lays out a kilometre. The same mistake has four different outcomes.
4 laps per km
3 min
per missed lap
Short loops, 32 laps across the race. The most counting to do, and the smallest penalty if you get it wrong.
32 laps to count across the race
3 laps per km
5 min
per missed lap
24 laps across the race. Five minutes is more than most athletes spend on the wall balls.
24 laps to count across the race
2 laps per km
7 min
per missed lap
16 laps across the race, and the largest time penalty on the scale.
16 laps to count across the race
1 lap per km
Disqualification
per missed lap
A single long loop, usually a large arena. There is no time penalty option here.
8 laps to count across the race
Check for a one-lap layout specifically. At a large arena with a single long loop there is no time penalty option — a missed lap is a disqualification. And the lap screens at the venue are a convenience rather than an official record, which the rulebook states directly, so count your own laps.
Doubles
The togetherness gap is now ten seconds
If you race doubles, this is the change worth training for. Ten seconds is a small margin when one partner is having a harder day than the other.
How big is a ten second gap?
Drag to set the gap between you and your partner.
Inside the limit
10s limit
A
B
Gap6s
At 5:00/km that is20m apart
ResultWithin the limit
The gap is measured by the timing equipment going in and out of the RoxZone, and neither of you may start a station until you are both there. It tends to catch mismatched teams, where the stronger runner gets ahead without realising.
Infringements permitted for the whole race
123then Out of competition, no ranking
Four standards that are not new, but still catch people out
The resting partner stays on their feet
No kneeling, sitting or lying down at any station. Rest standing.
Nothing gets passed forward
Kettlebells and the sandbag can never be passed forward. Sideways or backwards only.
No flying wall ball transitions
One partner throwing while the other catches in the squat is a no rep. Finish the rep, then swap.
Hands off the rope on the sled pull
You can talk to your partner and gesture, but you cannot touch the rope or step into the Racer’s Box.
Team Relay
The transition zone rule teams miss
Two relay details are worth reading before race day: when the transition zone applies to a back-to-back leg, and how the finish is organised.
Back-to-back legs still run the transition zone
If one member does two runs and two stations back to back, they still have to run through the transition zone after each workout so their chip is read. Missing it is an automatic penalty.
It is easy to skip, because you have not swapped with anyone. The timing system still needs the read.
The finish follows a set route
1
Your fourth member leaves for the last run
This is the cue for the rest of the team to move.
2
The other three head to the wall balls
Through the spectator pathways, not across the race floor.
3
Enter at the marked relay entry point
Only once your teammate has started throwing.
4
Wait under the rig together
All four of you in one place, ready to move.
5
Run to the finisher stage and cross together
The whole team crosses the line at the same time.
Teams that have not read this tend to be spread around the venue when their teammate finishes, which usually means missing the finish line photo together.
One correction: women’s wall balls are 100 reps
Several sites this year have repeated a change that never happened. Women’s wall balls are 100 reps in every division, and have been since September 2024. Any page listing 75 is out of date.
What to do about it
Everything above is worth reading, but these three habits cover most of the risk in the 2026/27 changes.
Tap to tick off. Saved on this device — 0 of 3 done.
The official Singles, Doubles and Team Relay rulebooks are published on hyrox.com and they are the only thing that counts on the day. Everything on this page is our reading of them, not a substitute for them.
Printable card
The race day rules card
None of this is much use on a start line if it is on a page you read three weeks ago. This is the same information on a single sheet that folds into a kit bag pocket, with space to fill in your venue’s lap layout when you arrive.
Free download
Take the rules to the venue
A one-page card that folds into a kit bag pocket. Everything on this page that matters on race day, plus the weights and the full penalty table, in a format you can check while you are warming up.
The completion standard for all eight stations, so you know what “finished” means before a judge has to tell you
The full penalty table, from a 15 second sandbag infringement to the disqualifications
The missed lap scale, with a box to fill in your venue’s layout when you arrive
Singles weights for Women, W Pro, Men and M Pro
What is newly allowed, what is still banned, and the doubles and relay standards
Questions people are asking
What are the biggest HYROX rule changes for the 2026/27 season?
The largest change is that failing to complete any workout station in full is now a disqualification rather than a penalty. Alongside that: missed run laps have a published penalty scale (3 minutes at four-lap venues, 5 minutes at three-lap, 7 minutes at two-lap, and disqualification at one-lap venues), the sandbag two-drop disqualification has been replaced by a 15 second penalty per infringement, chalk is restricted to the sled pull and farmers carry, tipping aid station water over your head costs 2 minutes, and the doubles togetherness gap has been reduced to ten seconds.
Can you be disqualified for not finishing a HYROX station?
Yes. Under the 2026/27 rulebooks every workout station must be completed in full, and an incomplete station is a disqualification rather than a time penalty. The rulebook specifically names leaving the SkiErg or rower before 1,000 metres, leaving the wall balls before 100 valid reps, missing a sled lane, missing a farmers carry lap, and missing an entire station or 1km run.
What is the penalty for a missed run lap in HYROX?
It depends on how many laps your venue uses per kilometre. Four laps per kilometre is 3 minutes per missed lap, three laps is 5 minutes, two laps is 7 minutes, and at one-lap venues a missed lap is a disqualification. Venue lap screens are a convenience rather than an official record, so count your own laps.
Is dropping the sandbag still a disqualification in HYROX?
No. Dropping the sandbag twice no longer disqualifies you — each infringement is a 15 second penalty instead. The support standard is stricter, though: the bag must be fully supported by you for the whole 100 metres, so resting it on a barricade, on your feet or on the floor each counts as an infringement, and there are no warnings.
Can you jump on the SkiErg in HYROX?
Yes. A dynamic or jumping motion on the SkiErg is now explicitly allowed. Your feet may leave the base plate during the movement, provided they land back on the base plate and not on the floor.
What is the HYROX doubles togetherness rule for 2026/27?
Partners must stay within a maximum ten second gap, measured by the timing equipment going in and out of the RoxZone, and neither partner may start a station until both are present. More than three togetherness infringements means the team is marked out of competition with no ranking.
How many wall balls do women do in HYROX?
Women do 100 wall balls in every division, and have done since September 2024. Any page listing 75 reps is out of date.
Where can I read the official HYROX rulebooks?
The official Singles, Doubles and Team Relay rulebooks are published on hyrox.com and are the only version that counts on race day. Any summary, including this one, is a reading of them rather than a substitute for them.
Know someone racing this season?
The incomplete station rule is the one most athletes have not read yet. Worth sending to your training group before their next race.
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