HYROX Without a SkiErg: The Closest Substitutes, Ranked
By Threshold
You can train for HYROX without a SkiErg. The Threshold engine swaps the skierg for a substitute matched for time: for the skierg (1,000 m) the closest is row, rated closest, which needs a rower, then bike. The app picks the closest match for your kit, and the race estimate still uses the real station.
Stations that need a SkiErg
Substitutes ranked, closest first
| Station | Rank | Substitute | Match | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkiErg | 1 | Row | closest | a rower |
| SkiErg | 2 | Bike | good | a bike |
| SkiErg | 3 | Run | good | nothing but floor space |
- Row for the skierg: a closest match at 80% engine fidelity, ranked 1 of 3, needing a rower.
- Bike for the skierg: a good match at 60% engine fidelity, ranked 2 of 3, needing a bike.
- Run for the skierg: a good match at 50% engine fidelity, ranked 3 of 3, needing nothing but floor space.
"Closest" means the movement taxes the same system in roughly the same way; "rough" keeps the time and the effort but not the pattern.
SkiErg: 1,000 m
What it taxes. The SkiErg is an upper-body aerobic effort driven by the lats and the trunk. It arrives after your first kilometre, when the heart rate is already up and nothing has yet told your legs to slow down, which is why the station that looks easiest on paper sets up the rest of your race.
Technique that survives fatigue. Start tall with the handles high, hinge from the hips and crunch through the trunk so the handles travel in a long arc to the thighs, then stand back up with the arms relaxed on the recovery. The pull is a body movement that the arms finish, not an arm movement the body watches. Hold a stroke rate you can keep for the full 1,000 m (most athletes settle between 30 and 36 pulls a minute) and keep the damper where a full stroke still feels fluid rather than heavy.
Where the seconds go. Two leaks: pulling with the arms, which gasses the shoulders and shortens every stroke after the first 300 m, and setting out at the pace of a fresh 1,000 m test. You will run a kilometre straight after this. A split 10 to 15 seconds slower than your best, held evenly, costs you less across the whole race than a fast SkiErg paid for on run two.
How the app trains it. The SkiErg appears in the station circuits at half race dose (500 m pieces inside a run, station, run shape) and at the full 1,000 m when it is your focus station. Benchmark weeks time the full distance after a proper rest, so the pace model has a real number for it rather than a guess. If you have no SkiErg, the plan substitutes a row for the same time, the closest match the engine has.
What to do about the load
The SkiErg carries no load in any division: it is 1,000 m at your own pace. Match the substitute to the time your 1,000 m takes, held at the effort you would race it.
Where to go next
The full race order and every station section live in our HYROX stations and weights guide. For sled loads on your own sled, use our HYROX sled weight calculator. To put the substitutes into a week, follow our free HYROX training plan, week by week, and if you train mostly at home, read our guide to HYROX training at home.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best HYROX substitute without a SkiErg?
For the skierg: row, rated closest.
What equipment do the substitutes need?
Row: a rower. Bike: a bike. Run: nothing but floor space.
Which station needs a SkiErg in HYROX?
SkiErg (1,000 m). Every other station can be trained without it.