Hyrox or CrossFit? Why Some Gym Owners Are Betting on Both

Hyrox has become impossible to ignore. And for CrossFit and functional fitness gym owners, it raises a timely question: Should I get on board?

1.6 million: That’s how many people participated in a Hyrox race in 2026, and that number is expected to be upward of 2 million in 2027.

Hyrox has become impossible to ignore. And for CrossFit and functional fitness gym owners, it raises a timely question: Should I get on board?

Not everyone is convinced. Some owners remain hesitant to go down the Hyrox road, viewing it as a fad that will soon fade. Others are apprehensive to invest in new equipment and resources, or they worry Hyrox will negatively impact their loyal community.

On the other side of the fence are gym owners who have gone all in. And some of them are seeing it pay off in a big way, either as a significant revenue generator, or at the very least as a powerful client retention tool and a way to enter a new market.

So, should CrossFit and functional fitness gyms embrace Hyrox?

Gym owners Joe Cebulski and Larry Reeves, and coaches AJ Schrag and Ashley Fraser all say yes.

Client Retention and Member Generation

Fraser, the general manager of Islander Athletics in St. John’s, Newfoundland, which was largely focused on CrossFit, decided to venture down the Hyrox path in 2025, and it has had a large impact on client retention.

“Expanding our class offerings has kept many at-risk members more engaged,” Fraser said, adding that because the programming is more “inclusive, predictable, and involves no complex skills” like CrossFit, it has helped the gym attract people who are “hesitant to try CrossFit.”

The result: Since July 2024, Islander Athletics has increased their membership from 182 to more than 330. As for their four-days-a-week Hyrox classes, they always generate a wait list. And most recently in August, the gym hosted a Hyrox simulation event and it led to 25 new sign-ups.

Reeves, the owner of CrossFit Liberate in Athens, GA has had a similar experience since he affiliated with Hyrox in April, 2025 as he saw it as “an opportunity to reach a segment in our city who wanted group training, but not necessarily CrossFit,” he said.

For Reeves, his Hyrox has been cyclical, but significant nonetheless.

“When there’s a race in Atlanta, or somewhere within driving distance, our member number goes up as folks want to find a place to train and prepare for the race,” he said. More specifically, he said he generally picks up between five and 10 members in the lead up to a nearby event. 

Arguably the bigger win for Reeves, however, has been how it has engaged current CrossFit members. 

“It’s a retention tool, and it’s something current members try when CrossFit starts to take a toll on their bodies,” he said.

A Powerful Revenue Generator

Shrag, a long-time personal trainer, did his first Hyrox race in New York in 2024, and was hooked. He went home and became a Hyrox Level 1 coach and approached a local gym, Catalyst Gym in Stamford, CT about launching a HYROX camp there.

Owner Joe Baglione agreed, and Shrag hosted the gym’s first Hyrox camp in October 2024. The demand was so big, he had to add additional time slots, en route to grossing $15,000.

Since then, Baglione has been running successful seasonal camps in the lead up to races. The most recent one grossed $30,000.

For gym owners considering adding Hyrox, Shrag is adamant that if you’re going to do it, you need to go all in. 

“You have to build a community around it. You can’t do it as an after thought or a one off,” Shrag said. “Build a community around it. That’s the secret.”

Second, investing in the right equipment matters. 

“We bought all the Centr sleds, sand bags, medicine balls. People who are new to the fitness world get intimidated if they can’t feel and touch the stuff they’ll be using during a race, so having the equipment is vital,” he added. 

Cebulski, the owner of 8th Day Gym, a 30,000 square foot CrossFit facility in Grand Rapids, MI—and the coach of 2026 Hyrox Elite 15 World Champion Alyssa McElheny—is another who has experienced a significant new revenue stream from adding Hyrox classes at the end of 2025, which he calls strength endurance classes. 

He too, “went all in with it,” which included equipping his gym with 10 lanes of turf and 20 SkiErgs, among other equipment, to really provide people with the Hyrox experience.

The result: Prior to Hyrox, Cebulski’s gym generally had between 500 and 550 people, and now they’re consistently up over 600 members. Further, each time he runs a Hyrox simulation event, it’s “a huge revenue generator for us,” he said. 

He’s set to run one this month. So far a few hundred people have registered, and he is set to gross between $7,000 and $9,000 that day alone.

“It only takes up half a day and it’s way easier than running a CrossFit competition,” he said.

Like Shrag, Cebulski believes the key to his success has been to treat his Hyrox business seriously, rather than as an add-on or after thought.

“Don’t be cheap and cut corners. If you’re going to do it, make it look and feel special, and create an experience, organizationally, coaching wise, and atmospherically, so that people want to come and be there,” he said.

The Big Picture: Fitness is Fitness

For gym owners who are still hesitant to add Hyrox services as they think the fad will blow over soon, or because they think it conflicts with the fitness mythology their gym currently focuses on, Cebulski offered this: “Fitness is like the weather.”

“It’s going to ebb and flow and change and there’s nothing wrong with that. Hyrox is just a weather pattern that has moved in and it suits millions of people,” he said.

And when you do roll out a Hyrox program well, it has the potential not only to help more people with their health and fitness, but it also can help the business in a big way, Cebulski said. At least, this has been his experience. 

“We have built an ecosystem that has synergy and respects each other and runs and functions well and I make a very very good living doing it,” he said.