Trenton ·April 27, 2026 · 4 min read
For a long time, endurance sports pushed the idea that athletes peak young.
Hit your late 30s? You’re slowing down.
Turn 40? You’re just trying to hold on.
But HYROX is changing that conversation completely.
Athletes like Rich Ryan and Ryan Kent are proving that performance after 40 doesn’t need to decline the way people assume. In many cases, they’re still improving. They’re still experimenting with training. Still finding weaknesses to develop. Still discovering new ways to build fitness, improve recovery, and compete at a high level.
And honestly, that’s one of the most interesting things happening in fitness right now.
Traditional endurance sports usually reward specialization. Marathon runners run more miles. Cyclists spend endless hours on the bike. Triathletes build huge aerobic engines through volume.
HYROX is different.
The sport demands:
You can’t only be a strong athlete.
You can’t only be a runner.
You need both.
That balance becomes even more important as athletes get older because recovery capacity changes. The ability to absorb huge amounts of training stress becomes more limited, which means smarter programming matters more than simply adding volume.
Ryan Kent talked about how his strength levels haven’t really dropped at 40 years old. His endurance is still improving, and his ability to handle training volume remains high. The biggest change he notices is with top-end speed and the recovery cost associated with high-intensity work.
That’s a massive insight for HYROX athletes.
Because the goal isn’t necessarily becoming faster in a single sprint effort. The goal is becoming more efficient across an entire race while staying durable enough to train consistently week after week.
One of the most important topics discussed in the podcast was the idea that “more” isn’t always better.
A lot of athletes believe the answer to improvement is:
And for a while, that works.
Until it doesn’t.
Ryan explained that many athletes reach a point where training volume becomes the very thing limiting their progress. Once recovery starts breaking down, adding more work only creates more fatigue.
This is especially important in HYROX because the sport combines running with demanding functional stations like:
If athletes become too endurance-focused, station performance can suffer. If they focus too heavily on strength, the running fades.
That’s why successful HYROX programming requires balance.
One of the clearest themes throughout the conversation was recovery.
Not because older athletes are fragile.
But because recovery becomes the skill.
Rich Ryan discussed how he’s become more strategic with training structure, sometimes separating difficult sessions across multiple days instead of forcing everything into one massive training block.
That’s experience talking.
Younger athletes often feel pressure to crush every session. More mature athletes understand that adaptation happens when recovery is managed properly.
This shift is why many experienced HYROX competitors continue performing at high levels well into their 40s. They understand:
And that usually leads to more sustainable long-term progress.
Another major topic was fueling.
For years, endurance athletes glorified underfueling. Long runs without carbs became common. Hard sessions while depleted were viewed as mentally tough.
Now, the science — and the results — are showing something very different.
Ryan and Rich both discussed how adding carbohydrates during training has dramatically improved:
Even during easier aerobic sessions, they’re taking gels and fueling intentionally.
That matters because HYROX is an extremely glycolytic sport. Athletes need carbohydrates to sustain high outputs across running and stations while limiting fatigue buildup.
Proper fueling also improves recovery between sessions, which becomes even more valuable as athletes age.
The old mentality of “earning your carbs” is disappearing fast in elite endurance sports.
One of the more interesting training concepts discussed was “gray zone” training.
Traditionally, endurance athletes are told:
But HYROX exists in a middle ground.
Athletes spend long periods operating just below threshold while repeatedly accumulating fatigue from stations. That means moderate-intensity aerobic work may actually have tremendous value for the sport.
Ryan explained that he recently started incorporating more sustained moderate-intensity efforts into training and immediately noticed improvements in:
This style of training helps athletes:
Which is basically HYROX in a nutshell.
The answer from both athletes was simple:
yes.
In fact, both of them believe there’s still another level ahead.
That’s important because many athletes mentally limit themselves long before their bodies actually do.
The conversation highlighted how valuable experience becomes over time. Older athletes understand pacing better. They understand recovery better. They manage stress better. They know how to train consistently instead of emotionally.
And consistency still wins.
Especially in HYROX.
The athletes who improve long term are usually not the athletes with the most talent. They’re the athletes who stay healthy enough to continue stacking quality training over years.
HYROX is still evolving rapidly.
Training methods are improving. Athletes are becoming faster. Recovery strategies are advancing. Fueling science is improving. And performance standards continue rising every season.
But one thing is becoming increasingly clear:
Age alone is not the limiting factor people once believed it was.
Smart programming, recovery, aerobic development, strength maintenance, and fueling all play enormous roles in long-term performance.
That’s why athletes like Rich Ryan and Ryan Kent are still finding ways to improve after decades of training.
They’re still curious.
Still learning.
Still adapting.
And that mindset may be the biggest competitive advantage of all.
If you want structured HYROX training designed to improve:
check out the RMR Training App.
Inside you’ll find:
Whether you’re training for your first HYROX or chasing elite-level performance, smarter training always wins.
Because your best race might still be ahead of you.
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