JAKE DEARDEN ran his first marathon on Christmas day at the age of 17 as a test of his endurance. “I just went out and decided to see how far I could run and it ended up being a marathon,” he tells Men’s Health. “After that I signed up for my first 100-kilometre run.”
That should give you some idea of the athlete Dearden is. These early tests had a snowball effect. He signed up for his first Hyrox event in 2022 and came first in his age group. From there, he continued to improve until he claimed the men’s doubles title at the 2024 Hyrox world championships. Now he’s a member of the Elite 15 – the 15 best Hyrox athletes in the world – and has inspired thousands through social media, where he creates educational Hyrox and fitness content.
For Dearden, the initial appeal of Hyrox was that it blended two of his preferred training modalities. “I’ve always enjoyed running and I’ve always enjoyed weightlifting. Before Hyrox, there was nothing that combined them both,” he says. “When I was younger, people thought it was stupid that I used to go running and go to the gym. They thought it would cancel out your gains. As recent as ten years ago, people were like, ‘you either go to the gym or you run, you don’t do both’.”
But beyond the physical challenge Hyrox posed, Dearden felt drawn in by the appeal of improving his mental toughness. “I come from the David Goggins era,” he says. “It was all about building your mental strength and mental resilience, and I just kind of fell in love with that process of trying to better yourself, not just physically but mentally as well.”
Dearden’s success on the Hyrox circuit can be put down to his intense training regimen, and he baulks at the suggestion he’s a naturally gifted athlete. “People always assume that I’m naturally gifted,” he says. “I probably do have decent genetics, but I’ve never ever been automatically good at something. I was just bang average at everything.”
At the moment Dearden is running between 100 and 160 kilometres per week, on top of five gym sessions. These range from Hyrox-focused workouts to strength and conditioning training.
Dearden’s running load might sound extreme, but as he says, endurance is the most important factor in Hyrox. “At the end of the day, running is 70 per cent of the race,” he says. “Natural runners are going to be better at Hyrox than people who are naturally stronger, if that makes sense. And the more I train for it, the more I realise that insane strength is not needed for Hyrox.”
Jake Dearden's Hyrox workout
Ahead of Hyrox Melbourne from December 11-14, we had Dearden break down his go-to Hyrox workout, which is specifically designed to improve performance in the event.
“An ideal Hyrox workout will hit all the stimuluses that you would in a Hyrox event,” says Dearden. “It involves all the Hyrox movements, and it challenges the aerobic system. My Hyrox sessions go from 60-90 minutes and mimic going from running, to movements, to running.”
“I also like to have a specific focus for each session,” Dearden continues. “For example, if I want to perfect my burpee technique, then the main focus will be on burpees and I might scale back the intensity of the running.” Yes, even the pros have weak points. For Dearden, it’s wall balls. “I still find wall balls hard,” he says. “I think it’s just because they’re at the end of the race. I’m yet to go unbroken on wall balls in a Hyrox race.”
Below, you’ll find the workout Dearden is using to prepare for Hyrox Melbourne 2025.
Repeat the following 10-minute circuit for 4 rounds:
- Minute 0-2: 400-metre run
- Minute 2-4: 400-metre SkiErg
- Minute 4-6: 50-metre burpee broadjumps
- Minute 6-8: 50m walking lunges
- Minute 8-10: rest
