The Hyrox® farmers carry is 200 m with a kettlebell in each hand, and the sandbag lunges are 100 m of walking lunges with a sandbag on your shoulders. They are stations six and seven, back to back with a 1 km run in between, and they come right before the wall balls ¹. Grip decides the first; leg endurance and strict standards decide the second.

Neither needs a special gym. A pair of kettlebells and a sandbag train both almost exactly as raced. The trick is to train them on tired legs, learn the rules well enough that no judge ever stops you, and plan your breaks before your grip or your quads plan them for you.

This guide covers the weights and standards from the current rulebook, grip and lunge endurance training, pacing and planned breaks, an example 6-week block, and the mistakes that cost the most time.

Weights for both stations

From the official singles rulebook for the 26/27 season ¹. The colours help you grab the right weight on race day, and the full format is on our Hyrox hub.

Choosing the right weight is your job, not the judge's. If you carry or lunge with the wrong weight, you must repeat the whole station with the correct one, or you are disqualified ¹.

The standards, in plain English

These are the movement rules from the 26/27 singles rulebook ¹. Rules are reviewed every season, so read the current version before you race.

Farmers carry

• You pick the kettlebells up from a marked box next to the station start line and finish by returning them to the correct box, handles upright ¹.
• Both kettlebells are carried at all times while you move, with arms extended by your sides ¹.
• You may put them down to rest, as long as they do not move forward when you place them on the ground ¹.
• Depending on the venue, 200 m may be several laps. Counting them is your responsibility, and a missed lap is a disqualification ¹.
• Bells not returned to the right box or not left upright cost 30 seconds, unless you fix it before you leave the roxzone ¹.

Sandbag lunges

• Start standing tall with both feet behind the line, then lunge across it ¹.
• On every lunge the trailing knee must clearly touch the ground, and each rep ends standing tall, with knees and hips fully extended ¹.
• Lunges alternate legs. You may lunge continuously or stop between lunges with both feet parallel, but no extra steps or shuffles between reps ¹.
• The bag must stay fully supported on both shoulders the whole time. Setting it on the floor, a barrier or your feet costs 15 seconds per infringement ¹.
• At the end of each lane your front foot must completely cross the white line. You do not lunge round the turn, but you restart each section with both feet behind the line ¹.
• Knee not touching or not standing tall: a warning first, then 15 seconds per infringement ¹.

On both stations, faster racers may overtake slower ones when safe, and grid lines are orientation only ¹.

Our farmers carry and sandbag lunge pages have step-by-step technique and the common faults.

Grip endurance training

The farmers carry is not a max-strength test. In a small simulation study, handgrip strength did not correlate with overall finish time, and the median farmers carry took 2.7 minutes ². What fails is grip endurance: holding a load for two-plus minutes while your heart rate is high. Train it like endurance.

Add one or two of these to your week, after your main session:

• Heavy holds. Stand holding two kettlebells or dumbbells a step heavier than race weight for 30 to 45 seconds. 3 to 4 sets, 90 seconds rest.
• Race-weight carries. Start with 4 × 50 m, build to 2 × 100 m, then 200 m unbroken. Walk fast, do not jog.
• Dead hangs. 3 sets of as long as you can hold from a bar, 60 to 90 seconds rest. Our dead hang page has scaling options.
• Suitcase carries. One bell, one hand, 4 × 30 m per side. It trains grip and the side of your trunk that stops you leaning.
• Towel or thick-handle work. Wrap a towel round a kettlebell handle for holds. It makes a lighter bell feel much harder on the hands.

The ACSM position stand recommends light to moderate loads, more than 15 reps and rests under 90 seconds for local muscular endurance ³. For carries, think in seconds under load rather than reps, and progress by adding distance or time before adding weight.

Grip volume adds up fast. If the inside or outside of your elbow starts to ache, cut the volume and read our guide to elbow pain from grip work. See a physiotherapist if it lingers.

If you only buy one piece of kit for these stations, buy a pair of kettlebells at your race weight.

Lunge endurance training

Sandbag lunges are a single-leg endurance test with a strict standard on top. You need quads that can keep producing deep reps for 100 m on tired legs, and the habit of touching the knee every time.

Build it in layers:

1. Bodyweight first. Walking lunges with a soft knee touch on every rep, 3 × 20 to 30 m. Own the standard before you add the bag. Our walking lunge page covers the basics.
2. Strength. Split squats, 3 × 8 to 10 per leg, and step-ups, 3 × 10 per leg, once or twice a week. Technique on our split squat page.
3. Loaded lunge intervals. At race weight: 4 × 25 m with 60 seconds rest, building to 2 × 50 m, then 100 m unbroken or with one planned pause.
4. Compromised lunges. At least once a week, lunge straight after a run or a carry, the way the race asks you to.

Bag position matters. The rule is simply that the bag stays fully supported on both shoulders ¹. Our preference is high across the upper back, behind the neck, hands holding the ends. A bag sliding down your back pulls your chest forward and makes every rep harder. A long, cylindrical bag that sits across the shoulders like the race bag is the closest copy for practice.

Pacing and planned breaks

These two stations sit between the rowing and the wall balls. Overcook them and you pay twice.

Farmers carry pacing

• Fast walk, short steps. Running makes the bells swing and drains grip. Our take: a brisk walk is the better trade for most racers.
• Relax the shoulders. Shrugged traps burn grip faster. Arms long, shoulders down, breathe.
• Plan the drop. If you cannot carry 200 m unbroken in training, plan one short set-down, for example at the halfway turn, before your grip fails. Put the bells straight down without moving them forward ¹, shake out for 5 to 10 seconds, go again. A planned 8 second stop beats three unplanned ones.
• Finish properly. Bells back in the right box, handles upright ¹. A 30 second penalty for a sloppy finish is the most avoidable time loss in the race.

Sandbag lunge pacing

• Use the legal pause. You may stop between lunges with both feet parallel, as long as the bag stays on your shoulders ¹. Plan sets: for example 10 lunges, two breaths standing tall, 10 more.
• Medium stride. Very long strides stall you at the bottom; very short ones add reps. Find the stride where the knee touches lightly and you rise without a wobble.
• Stand all the way up. Knees and hips fully extended at the top of every rep ¹. Half-standing feels faster and earns penalties.
• Save the last 10%. The wall balls are next, and they are where heart rate and effort peaked in the simulation study ². Our 100 wall balls plan covers that last station.

Short, fixed pauses inside a hard set help keep repetition performance more even, the principle behind cluster sets in strength training ⁴. Plan them; do not wait to need them. To see how these stations fit your target time, try the Hyrox pacing calculator.

In training, chalk keeps sweat off the handles on long carry sessions, and liquid chalk dries into a thin, even layer with less mess. On race day the 26/27 rulebook allows only event-provided chalk, and only at the sled pull and the farmers carry ¹, so check the current rules before you pack any.

An example 6-week block

Two sessions a week for these stations, on top of your running. Loads are race weight unless stated. Beginners use the lighter division weight for weeks 1 to 3; strong racers add a round in weeks 3 to 5.

Progress only when the standard holds: every knee touch, every full stand, and no swinging bells. If a session leaves your knees or elbows sore the next day, repeat the week rather than moving on.

Common mistakes

• Starting the carry too fast. A jog for 50 m that ends in a stop at 80 m is the classic way to lose time here.
• Dropping instead of placing. The bells must not move forward when you put them down ¹. Place them, do not throw them.
• Miscounting laps. Check the athlete map for how many carry laps your venue needs ¹.
• Shallow lunges. No knee touch means a warning, then penalties ¹. Touch every one, even when it hurts.
• Bag drifting down. Re-set it high while standing. Do not rest it on anything else: that is a penalty ¹.
• No compromised training. Lunging fresh tells you little about lunging after seven kilometres and six stations.
• Grip training every day. Forearms need recovery too. In our experience, two or three grip-heavy days a week is plenty.
• Slamming the knee. Touch the floor, do not crash into it. Your knee has to do this every rep for 100 m.

Soft knee pads take the sting out of high-volume lunge sessions in training on concrete or rubber floors.

Bottom line

The farmers carry rewards a fast walk, relaxed shoulders and a planned drop before your grip quits. The sandbag lunges reward a strict knee touch, a full stand and short, legal pauses with the bag on your shoulders. Train both with race-weight kettlebells and a sandbag, twice a week for six weeks, at least once on tired legs, and you arrive at the wall balls with something left.