Life Time Rolls Out Race-Prep Training Class, Stoking Hyrox Rivalry

Life Time is debuting Hybrid XT group training as operators increasingly seek to challenge Hyrox’s grip on the fitness-competition market

Life Time is beefing up its group training offerings with Hybrid XT, a new program to get athletic competitors in fighting shape for its LT Games and other hybrid fitness competitions.

The coach-led program will roll out across select clubs throughout the year.

Participants can expect a combination of conditioning, functional strength training and athletic movement patterns.

“What I love about Hybrid XT is that it trains everyone like athletes, not just competitors,” brand leader Juan Herrera-Perla said. “The combination of conditioning and strength helps you work harder, recover better, and move with more confidence. Members at any level will notice they’re getting stronger, faster and more capable inside and outside the club.”

The announcement comes as LT Games, Life Time’s Hyrox-style competitive fitness event, returns to Minneapolis on April 25 for its second competition. 

The 17-stage event, presented by performance apparel brand Ten Thousand, has contestants move through a series of challenges that combine treadmill runs, rowing, ski erg intervals and weighted lifts. Each stage uses a weight-to-repetition scaling system that lets athletes choose heavier weights with fewer reps or lighter weights with more volume.

The event is open to both members and nonmembers of the luxury athletic country club.

Race to Compete

Life Time is far from the only operator eyeing hybrid fitness, a space that’s been dominated as of late by fitness racing brand Hyrox. 

Boutique fitness brand F45, itself a Hyrox partner, recently jumped in with Peak500, a new fitness event launched with Red Bull. CR Fitness Holdings, a leading Crunch Fitness franchisee, is launching its own group fitness competition: Battle HIIT Out, where teams of four tackle a mix of workout stations and cardio intervals.

The events are multiplying, too. Adidas-sponsored ATHX hosted its first U.S. event last month in Miami Beach, while Xenom, dubbed the “Decathlon of Fitness,” is gearing up to debut its own event June 27-28 at the Dallas Cowboys’ practice center, fresh off a $15 million seed round. Additional stops are planned in London, Miami and Paris.

In the meantime, as competition closes in, Hyrox appears to be playing the long game and cultivating the next generation of Hyroxers. 

The fitness racing brand is bringing its youth race series, Youngstars, to the U.S. on Sept. 19-20, with a follow-up in Anaheim, California, in December. The push comes as Hyrox sets its sights on Olympic inclusion by 2032.