It’s the new in workout event for chiselled twentysomethings across the globe, but beneath the glamour and high-octane excitement of Hyrox, there may be a dangerous reality. 

The event sees fitness fanatics complete a gruelling workout regime against the clock; while also providing the perfect backdrop for influencers to take selfies for social media. 

Hyrox combines running and functional workout stations, where participants, including celebrity clientele like Zoe Hague and Love Island’s Molly Smith, run 1km, followed by a functional workout station, repeated eight times.

The competition, which launched in Germany in 2017, bills itself as the fastest-growing of its kind in the world, with events now spanning across 11 countries, including the UK, America, and Shanghai.

But despite building up an army of formidable spandex clad supporters raving about the fitness cult, a glamorous marketing campaign, and thousands of TikToks filmed at the event, there is an unspoken and potentially fatal downside.

Attendees have suffered from heart attacks, seizures, and panic attacks during or shortly after taking part – but, as such medical emergencies don’t make for appealing social media content, they are often glossed over in TikTok clips and Instagram reels. As such, many are totally unaware of the potentially harmful consequences. 

The race takes place inside an expansive hall, where spectators can observe those competing – and it is a competitive sport, with global leaderboards totting up results  for World Championships at the end of each race season.

It’s branded for everybody, or more specifically as a ‘race for every body’ – supposedly accommodating people at all levels, from professional athletes to everyday people looking to improve their fitness abilities.

‘[Hyrox is] designed to accommodate all participants and 99 per cent of our athletes reach the finish line,’ the website reads.

Prospective participants can complete a questionnaire to determine the Hyrox race that will be the best fit for them, with questions asking basics, such as the distance one feels comfortable running.

The answers lead to a race recommendation, suggesting one of the four options – open, which is a standard race, pro – for the experience racer, doubles, which allows partakers to split the task in two, or the relay team, dividing the task in four.

Case studies on the website further reinforce Hyrox’s ‘accessible’ pillar, for instance, ‘Marcus Ellwell, a 40-year-old father of three, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in May 2021.

‘After undergoing emergency surgery to remove the tumour, Marcus had lost the ability to even lift a spoon to his mouth and faced life in a wheelchair. Despite the devastating diagnosis, Marcus determinedly taught himself to walk again, and in October 2022, competed in Men’s Doubles at HYROX Birmingham.

‘Marcus entered Hyrox to have a goal to look forward to and work towards during his ongoing battle. Since his race, he has now found a new sport, a new community and a new passion.’

Lara Bardelli (pictured) had a panic attack when completing a Hyrox course in Glasgow, despite being ‘well trained’

Love Island’s Molly Smith (pictured) shared a glamorous photograph of herself during a Hyrox event

TikTok influencer Emily (pictured) warned her followers that the Hyrox aftermath is ‘not for the faint hearted’

There’s no doubt that Marcus’ story is inspirational and impressive, but others warn of a different experience.

Fitness fanatic Ashley Whelan suffered a heart attack moments after completing his first Hyrox event, after mistaking his symptoms for ‘race day nerves’.

The avid gym-goer, 37, had been training for months to compete in the fitness phenomenon in November last year.

He had been interested in fitness since his late teens, competing in Muay Thai boxing events in recent years, and was excited to challenge himself further with the competition.

However, on race day the site manager said he ‘didn’t feel right’ but put the strange feeling down to ‘race day nerves’ because it was his first Hyrox.

Ashley, who lives in Manchester, grew more concerned when his heart race sky-rocketed to 220 bpm while completing his last lap.

After finishing the race, he began experiencing sharp pains across his chest, arms and back, prompting him to be checked over by the on-site paramedics.

However, an ECG test revealed that Ashley was in the middle of a heart attack and required urgent care. 

Hyrox has attracted a slew of famous faces, including Molly Mae Hague’s sister, Zoe (pictured left)

Pictured: Ashley Whelan, 37, competing a circuit at a Hyrox competition in Manchester in November

Ashley was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered a blockage in his left coronary artery – and were forced to shock him with a defibrillator when his heart began beating irregularly.

Luckily, he made a full recovery, but Ashley is now warning others about the importance of listening to your body.

Ashley said: ‘My friend actually put me forward for Hyrox and asked if I wanted to do it with him and I said absolutely.

‘I felt good in the lead up to it, training was really good and I felt really fit. My friend actually went to Thailand so I ended up doing it solo.

‘On the day of it, I was a little bit nervous to do the race. I started doing the race and there was some intuition that something in the background of myself wasn’t quite right but I put it down to race-day nerves.

‘The way that I’ve trained my mindset through fighting is to ignore the inner voice telling you to stop.

‘I was pushing myself but not pushing as hard as I could’ve been. It was only on the last lap when I looked down at my watch and my heart rate had gone up to 220 bpm.

‘My max heart rate I’d had was 190 bpm and I’d only peaked at that once or twice during training. 

The 37-year-old fitness fanatic trained for months to compete in the fitness phenomenon in November

Pictured: Ashley Whelan, 37, competing a circuit at a Hyrox competition in Manchester in November 

‘Seeing my heart rate was that high, I knew something wasn’t right and slowed down the pace. It started coming down slowly. I was running at half the pace.’

After finishing the race, Ashley started to feel more and more restless and decided to seek medical help after he experienced pain down his chest, back, and arms.

Ashley said: ‘I told them about the pains in my chest and they put me on an ECG where they confirmed I was having a heart attack.

‘I was in disbelief. I knew I had to be calm because there was no point in panicking.

‘The pain was like a ball of fire in my chest trying to break through my ribcage.’

Ashley was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital where an angiogram revealed a blockage in his left coronary artery.

However, when doctors noticed Ashley’s heart was beating irregularly, they feared he may go into cardiac arrest and decided to shock him with a defibrillator.

Ashley was hospitalised for five days and placed on blood-thinner medication to help eradicate the clots caused by an arterial tear. 

Ashley said: ‘[Being shocked] was horrible. It was like running straight into a brick wall at 30mph. It was that sort of feeling.

‘It was instant pain but the pain from my chest dissipated instantly. It removed one of the clots that had been there.

‘They told me I’m very lucky, it kills people that type of heart attack. I’m very thankful for the team at Hyrox that were very quick with their actions.

‘It’s still up in the air as to why I got this clot but when I’ve looked into it, [and] deep emotional stress and high-intensity exercise can cause it.

‘I was intensely working out six days a week, working nine or ten hours a day and working on my house at the weekend. I think I was burning the candle at both ends.

‘I look back and think I’m so lucky to be alive. I put it down to the strength of my mind and body to pull me through that.

‘I’m living proof that it can happen to ultra-fit people as well. It’s a case of listening to your body.

He concluded: ‘The mentality of powering through all the time isn’t always the way to be.’

MailOnline has contacted Hyrox for comment. 

Elsewhere, a US-based gym coach, Adam Redmond, took to Instagram to reflect on a similarly traumatic experience. 

Alongside an image of himself in a hospital bed, Adam wrote: ‘Well this was a fun day! Made it halfway through my Hyrox race and then started to have some chest pain and shortness of breath. 

‘Had to hold on to the barrier because my vision went hazy. This wasn’t me just being gassed after a station. Something was wrong!

‘I had to see the medics on site. An EKG was done and I was having a STEMI. That’s a ST Elevation Myocardial infarction. A very life threatening type of heart attack.

‘I was immediately taken to hospital where I had a PCI done with a stent placed. My right coronary artery was blocked but the outstanding surgeon cleared it and the pain was gone immediately.

‘Now, I am staying for a few days for observation. Hopefully no complications and I can get back to Japan and the family.

Despite having a panic attack, Lara posted a glamorous shot of her smiling after completing the Hyrox course

‘Not going to lie. I was scared…very scared. I knew exactly what was happening to me, what was being done and the complications that could happen.

There was a small part of me that was like ”am I going to die on this bed in Taipei without my family near to say goodbye?” Luckily, God willing, I will be home in a few days.

Adam concluded the post, writing: ‘Don’t take life for granted. Don’t put things off that you can do today. Do tell your friends and family you love them.’

Though Adam had a severe reaction, other racegoers have attempted to break the taboo on the general physical and mental weaknesses experienced after taking part in Hyrox.

For example, TikTok content creator Lara Lucia Bardelli took to the platform to inform her followers of her ‘Hyrox race day horror’ in Glasgow.

To give context on her ‘unfiltered race experience’, Lara said she was ‘well trained’ and had a nutritional diet, ‘I was prepared to do this right,’ she added.

Lara continued: ‘So when you enter the room, it’s very busy…the whole room is a mess… everything is going on, there’s music, everyone’s running in all different directions, it’s wild.’

‘Now I’m a powerful girl, I prefer pushing 100 kilos over running a kilometre right, so I do this big man push, and I’m walking to the end like ”I do not feel good”, nothing behind those eyes, white as a sheep… and I was like ”I’m going to be sick”.

‘They obviously got the paramedics over, it was too late, I was sick in front of everyone.’

‘I felt better, but I refuse to be taken off the course because I was like ”I’m going to finish this race’… I had to sign a medical form.’

She added: ‘I continued running throughout the entire rest of the race; I had a paramedic team follow me from one end of the room to the other… so I was just famous at that point.

‘I had to do breathing exercises in the middle of the race with my best friend… so I was stopped in total for about 20 minutes either on the floor breathing or being sick.

‘All in all, we discovered that I actually had a panic attack throughout the whole day’.

Lara added that after the race, she posted a glamorous selfie at the event, meaning spectators would have been clueless about her negative experience, ‘I look fabulous [but] that girl was just recovering from a panic attack, does she look like that? No. That’s Instagram for you.’

Online coach Emily, who goes by @emilyjadefit on TikTok, also shared a dose of Hyrox reality on the platform, saying: ‘Everyone told me about the Hyrox high, oh my god was I floating way up in the sky on the Sunday and on Monday, feeling one hundred out of ten.

‘No one told me about the rest of the week. I have felt so low, in a slump, demotivated, not wanting to do a thing, and I just want to let everyone out there know that Hyrox is the best thing I ever did, I was absolutely so proud of myself.

‘[But]….because no one else is talking about it, I’m guilty of it myself, I’m like ”best day ever”, but actually, as a reality, I have not felt good this week post-race.’

While it’s clear that Hyrox is an impressive set up fulfilling thousands across the globe, potential health and safety precautions and aftercare are a facet perhaps requiring additional attention.