Hyrox Sydney 2026 has wrapped up at the Sydney Showground, and if you were one of the thousands who crossed the finish line across those five days of racing, congratulations. Eight rounds of running and functional stations back to back is no small thing on the body. Post race recovery, delayed onset muscle soreness, load management and a proper return to training are the parts no one tells you about, and getting them right can be the difference between your next PB or your next injury that stops you going again.
After competing in Hyrox Sydney, I’ve seen this gruelling race from both sides: as a clinician helping patients dial in training and manage loads, and as an athlete lining up to compete on race day.
Whether this was your first Hyrox or your 10th, the keys to good recovery remain the same. Here are my top tips post race that I used to get back into training injury free.
The First Few Hours Set the Tone
The work doesn’t stop when you cross the line. What you do in the first couple of hours sets the tone for how quickly everything else on this list falls into place.
During a race you can expect to sweat 1.5 to 2.5 litres of fluid and burn anywhere from 800 to 1500 calories before crossing the finish line. That’s a real deficit, and your body can’t start repairing muscle tissue properly while it’s still playing catch-up on fluid and fuel.
Fluids: aim for 400 to 600 millilitres of water every hour in the first few hours post race, with electrolytes added in if you can. You’ve lost more than just water in that sweat, sodium and other electrolytes need replacing too, or you’ll find yourself drinking plenty and still feeling flat and cramped.
Carbs and protein: your muscles are primed to restock glycogen and start rebuilding in the first two hours after you finish, this window is when your body is most efficient at using what you give it. Aim for 1.0 to 1.2 grams of carbohydrate and 0.3 to 0.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight in that window. For a 75kg athlete, that’s roughly 75 to 90g of carbs and 22 to 37g of protein. Think of a proper meal or a solid recovery shake, not just a protein bar and hoping for the best.
Under-fuelling this window doesn’t just mean a rougher next few days, it delays the repair process that everything else in this guide depends on. Good movement and good sleep can only do so much if your body doesn’t have the raw materials to actually rebuild with. Get this part right and the rest of your recovery genuinely gets easier.
Expect Soreness to Peak on Day Two or Three, Not Day One
This catches people out every time. You’ll often feel more mobile the morning after the race than you do 48 hours later, when DOMS properly sets in. That’s the nature of delayed onset muscle soreness, the microscopic damage from all that eccentric loading, think sled pulls, lunges, the deceleration on every one of those eight runs, triggers an inflammatory response that takes a day or two to fully build.
The usual DOMS timeline runs on a fairly predictable schedule. Day zero to one typically brings general fatigue and stiffness, though you’re often surprisingly mobile. Day two to three is when soreness peaks, this is when stairs become a genuine event and sitting down hurts more than standing up. By day three to five, soreness starts easing, noticeably better each day rather than staying flat or getting worse. By day five to seven, you’re back to close to normal, maybe with some residual tightness but nothing that stops you moving freely.
Normal DOMS is also fairly predictable in how it behaves. It’s symmetrical, both legs or both shoulders rather than just one, it’s a dull, generalised ache rather than a point you could put a finger on, it gets steadily better day by day rather than staying the same or worsening, and it responds to movement, you’ll usually feel looser after a short walk, not worse.
A few signs are worth getting checked rather than waiting out: pain that’s clearly worse on one side than the other, a sharp, localised pain you can point to with one finger rather than a general ache across the muscle, swelling around a specific joint, soreness that’s still getting worse on day four or five instead of easing, pain that doesn’t ease with gentle movement or actively worsens with it, any joint that feels unstable, locks, or gives way, or numbness, tingling, or pins and needles anywhere.
That distinction is the difference between “this is just Hyrox” and “this is worth getting looked at.” DOMS is annoying but predictable. Anything that breaks that pattern, one-sided, sharp, swelling, or simply not improving on schedule, is your body telling you it’s dealing with something more than muscle soreness, and it’s far easier to sort out in week one than after you’ve trained through it for a month.
A Guided Return to Training, Not a Guess
This is where most athletes either overdo it or undercook it, usually because they’re following instinct or someone else’s timeline rather than a plan. Here’s how I’d structure the weeks after race day.
Day One to Three
Everything feels locked up and the temptation is to write off the whole week. Don’t. A slow walk, a light spin on the bike, or even just getting up and moving around the house regularly does more for you than lying flat all day. Keeping the blood flow moving through tissue that’s screaming for repair genuinely takes the edge off the soreness that’s coming for you on day two. Sleep well, eat well and refuel to boost the recovery.
Week One
It’s tempting to compare how you’re feeling to how quickly other athletes bounce back, especially with the Instagram highlight reels rolling in the days after. Recovery timelines are individual, shaped by your training age, your race pacing, and your lead up to race day. Following other people’s return to training is a fast way to overdo things. Listen to your body and slowly reintroduce more each day as it improves.
Week Two
By now most athletes feel close to normal and want to pick up exactly where they left off. This is where load management matters. While your muscles may feel recovered, connective tissue, tendons and your nervous system haven’t quite caught up yet. This is where a lot of small niggles can become big problems. Keep things short and controlled, let the session feel easy, and your body will thank you for it.
How BeFit Can Help
Hyrox is every bit as gruelling as it is rewarding, every long session is designed to build your body to get through a demanding race. After race day it can be confusing, knowing when to rest, when to work, and what the best plan is to get you back on track and ready for your next race.
Our team at BeFit Training Physiotherapy will help with a structured plan post race to get you moving again pain free, restarting your training at the right time, and designing the strength and conditioning plan to get you to your next PB. If you need help structuring a preparation plan, have concerns about a current injury, or want a running assessment before you ramp up your training, our sports physiotherapy team is here to help. No referral is required, and sports massage is available at both clinics as part of your recovery plan.
Book an appointment at BeFit Training Physiotherapy — no referral needed.
Edgecliff: (02) 9327 7749 | Coogee: (02) 7205 2805
References
Fluid Replacement in Sports — Position of the Working Group Sports Nutrition of the German Nutrition Society (DGE), summarising ACSM fluid replacement guidance. German Journal of Sports Medicine, 2020.
Kerksick CM, et al. The 4R’s Framework of Nutritional Strategies for Post-Exercise Recovery: A Review with Emphasis on New Generation of Carbohydrates. PMC7796021.
Nutritional Strategies to Improve Post-exercise Recovery and Subsequent Exercise Performance: A Narrative Review. PMC12297025.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness — Muscle Biomechanics, Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Approaches. German Journal of Sports Medicine, 2024.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, overview. ScienceDirect Topics, Neuroscience.
Gabbett TJ. The Training-Injury Prevention Paradox: Should Athletes Be Training Smarter and Harder? Br J Sports Med. 2016.
Australian Physiotherapy Association. Clinical guidelines. physiotherapy.asn.au.
