Hyrox Sled Pull

The sled pull follows immediately after the sled push (with a 1 km run between them), so your legs and grip are already taxed. You stand facing the sled, grab a rope, and pull it towards you hand-over-hand for 50 metres. At 78 kg for Open Men and 54 kg for Open Women, the absolute weight is lighter than the sled push — but the grip demand is intense. Your forearms, lats, and biceps are under constant tension, and unlike the push, you cannot use momentum from your body weight. The athletes who fly through this station have a consistent pull rhythm and never let the rope go slack between pulls. The ones who struggle are the ones who try to row the sled in with big arm pulls instead of sitting back and using their bodyweight as a counterbalance.

Technique Breakdown

Efficient technique on the sled pull is the difference between a fast station time and a painful one. These are the key steps to get right — especially under race fatigue.

1. Anchor your base. Sit back into a low athletic stance — think of a squat position with your weight on your heels. Your feet should be slightly wider than shoulder-width for stability. The lower your centre of gravity, the more force you can apply through the rope without your feet sliding forward.
2. Use your bodyweight, not your arms. Lean back as you pull each handful of rope. Your bodyweight is your engine — your arms just grip and guide. Think of it like a seated row where the cable is pulling you forward and you resist by sitting back. This keeps the load on your posterior chain (lats, rhomboids, glutes) instead of your biceps.
3. Establish a hand-over-hand rhythm. Develop a metronome-like pull rhythm: grab, lean, pull, grab, lean, pull. Each hand should reach as far forward on the rope as possible before pulling — longer reaches mean fewer total pulls to cover 50 m. Keep the rope taut between pulls; any slack wastes time and energy.
4. Recover smartly when grip fails. If your grip starts to give out, do not stop completely. Switch to pulling the rope across your thigh — wrap it once around your hand and use your leg as a friction anchor. This "thigh pull" technique lets your forearms recover for a few pulls without stopping the sled.

Pacing Strategy

Pacing on the sled pull is not about going slow — it is about going sustainable. Here is how to approach it.

• Aim for a consistent pull rhythm from the first metre. The temptation is to yank hard at the start — but explosive pulls fatigue your grip faster than steady, moderate pulls.
• Target a total time of 1:30–2:30 for competitive Open athletes. If you are consistently over 3:00 in training, your grip endurance is the bottleneck.
• Breathe in on the reach, exhale on the pull. This rhythmic breathing pattern prevents you from holding your breath, which causes premature fatigue.
• Focus on pulling the rope to your hip, not to your chest. A hip-level finish engages your lats and keeps tension out of your biceps, which you need fresh for the farmers carry three stations later.

Common Mistakes

These are the errors we see most often at Hyrox events. Avoid them and you are already ahead of half the field.

• Standing too upright. If you are pulling while standing tall, you are using your arms against gravity. Sit low and lean back — let gravity work for you.
• Letting the rope go slack between pulls. Every time the rope goes slack, the sled stops, and you have to overcome static friction again. Keep constant tension on the rope.
• Death-gripping the rope. Squeezing the rope as hard as possible burns out your forearms within the first 15 m. Grip firmly but not maximally — let the friction of the rope do some of the holding work.
• Pulling with short, fast arm yanks. Short pulls mean more total pulls and more grip fatigue. Reach as far forward as your shoulder mobility allows, then pull through a full range of motion.

Training Drills

You do not need specialist equipment to train for the sled pull. These drills work in any commercial gym and directly transfer to race-day performance.

1. Seated cable rows: 4 x 20 reps at moderate weight with a rope attachment. Focus on a full stretch forward and a complete pull to the hip. This directly mimics the sled pull movement.
2. Towel hangs: Drape a towel over a pull-up bar and hang for 30–45 seconds x 4 sets. Builds the crushing grip endurance you need for 50 m of rope pulling.
3. Rope sled pulls (or band pulls): If you have a sled and rope, do 5 x 25 m at race weight with 90-second rest. If not, attach a resistance band to a fixed point and simulate hand-over-hand pulls from a seated position.
4. Farmer hold isometrics: Hold two heavy dumbbells or kettlebells at your sides for 60 seconds x 3 sets. Builds the forearm endurance that prevents grip failure mid-pull.

Weights by Division

The sled pull weight varies by division. Here are the official specs for every Hyrox category.