Training without a sled

No sled at your gym?

You can still practise strength and movement with the equipment you have. These eight exercises offer different training options; they are not ranked as equivalent replacements for a HYROX sled.

Explore the exercises

What a substitute cannot reproduce

The race requires a 50 m sled push and a 50 m rope sled pull, each over four 12.5 m lengths. Squats, deadlifts and jumps do not reproduce the whole task: the sled, surface, body position, rope handling and turns matter. There is no validated kilogram-for-kilogram or repetition-for-metre conversion in this guide. Practise the actual stations when access allows.

Strength options alongside sled-push preparation

Squat variations load the legs through a squat; a thruster adds pressing and a jump adds a landing. None recreates pushing a sled along the floor.

Front squat

A front-loaded squat for leg strength and trunk control. It includes lowering and rising, unlike simply advancing a sled.

  1. Support the bar across the front of your shoulders, with elbows raised.
  2. Set a stable stance and brace your trunk.
  3. Lower into a controlled squat while keeping your feet grounded.
  4. Stand up without letting the bar roll forward.

Dumbbell front squat

A squat with two dumbbells at shoulder height. Useful when that setup suits your equipment and skill.

  1. Bring manageable dumbbells to your shoulders.
  2. Set your feet around shoulder width and brace.
  3. Bend hips and knees, keeping the weights stable.
  4. Push through your feet to return to standing.

Barbell thruster

Combines a front squat with an overhead press. The overhead component is an additional demand, not part of the sled push.

  1. Start with a light bar supported at the shoulders.
  2. Squat with your trunk braced and feet grounded.
  3. Extend the hips and legs, then drive the bar overhead.
  4. Return the bar to the shoulders with control before the next squat.
No equipment

Squat jump

A bodyweight jumping exercise. It practises take-off and landing rather than heavy sled pushing.

  1. Use a clear space with secure footing and room overhead.
  2. Bend hips and knees into a comfortable partial squat.
  3. Jump upward at a height you can control.
  4. Land on both feet with hips and knees bent; regain balance before repeating.

Strength options alongside sled-pull preparation

Deadlift variations practise lifting a load through hip and knee extension. The broad jump is a separate power exercise. These do not teach the rope handling of the race sled pull.

Barbell deadlift

A lift from the floor that loads the legs, hips and trunk. It does not replace hand-over-hand rope practice.

  1. Place the bar close to your shins and grip outside your legs.
  2. Bend at hips and knees and brace with a neutral back.
  3. Stand up, keeping the bar close and hips and shoulders rising together.
  4. Move the hips back and lower the bar under control.

Sumo deadlift

A wider-stance deadlift with the hands inside the legs. Choose a stance you can control; it is not automatically better for your back.

  1. Take a comfortable wide stance with toes turned slightly out.
  2. Grip the bar between your legs and brace your trunk.
  3. Push through your feet to stand tall, keeping the bar close.
  4. Lower with control and reset your position.

Rack pull

A partial deadlift from rack supports. The starting height changes the range; a shorter range is not a reason to overload it.

  1. Set secure rack supports to a suitable height near the knees.
  2. Grip the bar outside the legs with hips back and trunk braced.
  3. Stand tall while keeping the bar close.
  4. Return the bar to the supports and let it settle before repeating.
No equipment

Broad jump

A standing forward jump for take-off and landing practice. It contains no loaded rope pull and is not its equivalent.

  1. Stand with space ahead and a clear landing area.
  2. Bend hips and knees and move your arms behind you.
  3. Swing the arms forward and jump a controllable distance.
  4. Land on both feet, bend hips and knees and stabilise before the next jump.

Choose the exercise for the session

  • Use a squat or deadlift variation for an appropriate strength exercise; do not automatically copy the sled weight onto a barbell.
  • Thrusters add an overhead press. Jumps add take-offs and landings. These change the task and are not default replacements for every athlete or workout.
  • Start with a load and range you can control. Learn unfamiliar movements before adding fatigue; stop a set if control or landing quality deteriorates.
  • Select volume and rest to fit your existing programme. This list is not an eight-exercise circuit or a prescription to perform every option.
Download the guide

PDF in English · exercises, limits and sources

Sources and scope

The rulebook defines the race task. Coaching sources support exercise technique, not a measured equivalence to sled performance. The NSCA rack-pull source describes technique in an older-adult context; its population-specific programme is not prescribed here.

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