HYROX Without Kettlebells: Farmers Carry Substitutes, Ranked
By Threshold
You can train for HYROX without kettlebells. The Threshold engine swaps the farmers carry for a substitute matched for time: for the farmers carry (200 m) the closest is sandbag bear-hug carry, rated good, which needs a sandbag, then dead hang. The app picks the closest match for your kit, and the race estimate still uses the real station.
Stations that need kettlebells
Substitutes ranked, closest first
| Station | Rank | Substitute | Match | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmers carry | 1 | Sandbag bear-hug carry | good | a sandbag |
| Farmers carry | 2 | Dead hang | rough | a pull-up bar |
| Farmers carry | 3 | Bear crawl | rough | nothing but floor space |
- Sandbag bear-hug carry for the farmers carry: a good match at 60% engine fidelity, ranked 1 of 3, needing a sandbag.
- Dead hang for the farmers carry: a rough match at 35% engine fidelity, ranked 2 of 3, needing a pull-up bar.
- Bear crawl for the farmers carry: a rough match at 20% 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.
Farmers carry: 200 m
What it taxes. Grip, traps and trunk stability under load, with the lungs still paying for the row. It is short, and that is the trap: people treat it as a rest and then lose a minute to a dropped bell.
Technique that survives fatigue. Grip the handles hard before you lift, stand tall with the shoulders packed down and back, and stride: a quick, flat walk with short steps, not a jog that bounces the bells. Breathe out through pursed lips; the trunk has to stay braced against the load, which makes breathing shallow if you let it. Corners are where bells get dropped: slow for one step, not five.
Where the seconds go. Set-downs. Each one costs the re-grip, the lift, and ten metres of getting back up to speed, and the second set-down comes sooner than the first. The other leak is walking it: 200 m at a stroll is a minute you did not need to spend.
How the app trains it. Loaded carries at race load per hand inside the station circuits, at half distance in normal rounds and the full 200 m on the final round, plus grip work riding along with the sled pull and the deadlift pattern on strength days. With no kettlebells the engine's closest match is a sandbag bear-hug carry, which keeps the trunk demand if not the grip.
What to do about the load
The race load is 16 kg Women Open, 24 kg Men Open, 24 kg Women Pro and 32 kg Men Pro, per hand. The substitute is matched for time rather than kilograms, so work for as long as the 200 m farmers carry takes you, and keep the movement honest before you add weight.
Where to go next
The full race order and every station section live in our guide to the eight HYROX stations. For sled loads on your own sled, use our HYROX sled weight calculator. To put the substitutes into a week, follow our 8-week HYROX training plan, 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 kettlebells?
For the farmers carry: sandbag bear-hug carry, rated good.
What equipment do the substitutes need?
Sandbag bear-hug carry: a sandbag. Dead hang: a pull-up bar. Bear crawl: nothing but floor space.
Which station needs kettlebells in HYROX?
Farmers carry (200 m). Every other station can be trained without it.
How heavy is the farmers carry in HYROX?
16 kg Women Open, 24 kg Men Open, 24 kg Women Pro and 32 kg Men Pro, per hand.