Post-Race Progress: How to Keep Improving After a Great HYROX Performance
You just had a good race.
Not a “survived it” race. Not a “well, that was a learning experience” race.
A good one.
And weirdly… that can be harder.
Because when something goes poorly, the plan is obvious: fix the hole, patch the leak, get better at the thing that wrecked you.
But when it goes well?
Now you’re staring at the same question the pros ask themselves:
How do you keep improving when you’re not clearly “broken” anywhere?
In this episode of the RMR Training Podcast, the full squad (Meg Jacoby, Ryan Kent, and me) digs into what to do after a strong performance—how to set goals, avoid the classic traps, and keep stacking progress without blowing yourself up.
The Unexpected Part: It’s Bigger Than the Results
Before we even got into training talk, I had to say this:
The community showed up heavy after Phoenix.
Between the love, the messages, the support, and the “yeah… we saw what happened” energy… it reframed the whole week for me.
There was negativity in my head after race day. I won’t pretend there wasn’t.
But the response reminded me of the real truth:
HYROX isn’t just competition. It’s community. It connects people. It makes life better.
Judging issues are frustrating, but they’re a small slice of the whole pie. The big pie is what this sport gives us—structure, identity, grit, and a tribe of people who get it.
So: thank you. Seriously.
Alright. Now let’s talk about what happens next.
The Core Problem: When a Race Goes Well, Direction Gets Fuzzy
When there’s a clear weakness, training has a bullseye.
But after a great performance, athletes tend to fall into one of two camps:
Camp 1: “Time to Prove It”
You hit a PR and immediately feel pressure to validate it.
You rush back into hard sessions, push workouts too early, and start training like you’re trying to convince yourself the race wasn’t a fluke.
That’s a slippery slope.
Camp 2: “We Did It, We’re Done”
You hit your goal and the fire cools off fast.
You drift for a few weeks, lose routine, and suddenly you’re trying to rebuild momentum from scratch.
Neither is ideal.
The goal is a third option:
Recover fully, protect what worked, and make small upgrades on purpose.
The Biggest Trap After a PR: Changing Too Much
This came up hard in our conversation:
When you finally pop a great race, the urge is to “level up” training immediately.
But if what you were doing just produced your best result…
Why would you blow it up?
Consistency is progress.
Meg nailed it:
Doing it again… is improvement.
Repeatability is a skill in this sport.
Different course, different conditions, different judging, different day—if you can stay within a tight window of your best performances, you’re trending up even if you don’t PR.
And at higher levels?
PRs don’t happen every race. That’s real life.
The Post-Race “Reverse Taper” That Actually Works
Kent dropped a rule I love:
Don’t chase a quality workout until your easy aerobic volume is back.
Practical version:
Day 1: Rest (or very easy movement)
Day 2: 30 minutes easy
Day 3: 45–60 easy
Day 4: 75–80 easy (back near normal)
Then: reintroduce intensity carefully
Your soreness isn’t the full story. Your nervous system can be fried even if you “feel fine.” That’s when people get hurt.
If you doubled up (singles + doubles), this matters even more.
What to Improve in a 4–6 Week Window (Be Realistic)
If you race again in 4–6 weeks, you’re not building a brand-new engine.
You can:
clean up execution
improve station pacing
sharpen one weakness
build confidence through exposure
But expecting huge jumps every time? Not realistic.
A strong play in a short window is:
Raise the floor, not the ceiling.
Translation: get better at not bleeding time.
The “Execution” Gains Most Athletes Ignore
This might be the most actionable part of the episode:
Most people only think pacing matters on the run.
But pacing matters on stations too.
And a lot of athletes lose minutes because they don’t have a station plan—especially on:
burpee broad jumps
lunges
wall balls
The rule: don’t make race-day decisions you haven’t practiced in training.
If your wall ball plan is “vibes,” you’re gambling.
Kent shared a simple strategy:
EMOM wall balls (e.g., 25 reps every minute)
It keeps you out of panic mode, gives structure, and protects you when you come in cooked.
Meg shared her unbroken mindset:
Pick a number, commit, and know there’s a “this sucks” window you have to pass through—then it stabilizes.
Different styles, same theme:
Have a plan. Practice the plan. Use the plan.
The Post-Race Blues Are Real (And Normal)
Another sneaky thing that shows up after a great weekend:
You come down from the race high… and Monday hits like a truck.
It’s not weakness. It’s biology and identity.
Your nervous system goes from:
🔥 adrenaline + purpose + community
to
🫠 normal life + routine + silence
Best fix? Don’t force intensity—force routine.
Lift. Go easy. Do something you enjoy. Get moving. Get back on the tracks.
Motivation usually follows motion.
The Takeaway: Protect What Worked, Upgrade With Precision
If you crushed your last race, your next job is not to reinvent yourself.
Your next job is to:
recover properly
rebuild your routine
repeat the performance
make one or two small, targeted upgrades
stay healthy long enough to stack blocks
That’s how you go from “one great race” to being consistently dangerous.
