Current HYROX female world record holder and three-time world champion Lauren Weeks is in the thick of her HYROX season.
Weeks is simultaneously chasing around her toddler and coaching other athletes.
Remind me: Weeks’ 2024/25 season started with a bang in the Netherlands at the end of last year, where she took first place and finished with a time of 58:12.
- Worth noting: Weeks won her third world championship 10 months after giving birth to her daughter Lily. She is confirmed for two more races this season before the 2024/25 World Championship.
The American athlete is a force and competes at the highest level of her sport, but started as a CrossFitter.
Weeks first learned about CrossFit as an ocean lifeguard in New York. It was a male-dominated field at the time, and Weeks was the only female on the squad. She would see the guys attempting CrossFit workouts but never tried it out.
- “I was just too shy and embarrassed to ask to join in, even though I was intrigued by what they were doing. But I didn’t forget,” Weeks told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview.
Weeks then moved to South Carolina in 2014, where she continued ocean guarding and immediately started CrossFit. She was hooked.
- “Both my husband and I are big believers in the whole methodology of CrossFit. That’s why we continued our education. And with my training, sure, there’s a ton of endurance work, but at the base, we still believe in the CrossFit methodology,” Weeks added.
At one point, Weeks’ goal was to make it to the CrossFit Games — she qualified for Regionals as an individual in 2018 and again for Semifinals in the team division in 2021. While her endurance was on par with the other elites, Weeks struggled with her strength.
- “I had the engine to be good enough to get through the Open to only get to Regionals and then get super embarrassed because I could not lift the heavyweights that everybody else was lifting,” said Weeks.
Fueling Her Competitive Spirit
Simultaneously with her Games run, Weeks was presented with a new fitness race to feed her competitive drive.
Enter HYROX.
The first U.S.-based HYROX races were in Miami, FL, and New York City in 2019.
Weeks competed in the Miami race and was instantly hooked.
- “At the time, it was not on a big scale. There was no clout. I just loved it and kept showing up to the next one because it very much ticked many boxes that I like to do,” said Weeks.
HYROX racing has grown immensely in popularity in the U.S. over the last few years.
Races sell out within minutes, and race day events are overflowing with athletes and fans.
The sport and brand have also become exceedingly popular within the CrossFit community. Many affiliates across the country now offer HYROX-style training programs and classes. According to Weeks, there is room for growth in having HYROX-specific training gyms.
- “CrossFit is a methodology. When you go to a gym, that’s what it is, and you’re practicing that methodology, versus, yes, there’s training and education HYROX is trying to expand and make a methodology out of, but right now, it’s just a race,” said Weeks.
The HYROX brand is currently working to address this by offering adaptable and multi-functional HYROX performance centers or floor plans. However, this would require the opening of a HYROX-specific training gym. HYROX recently hit 5,000 training clubs (or affiliated gyms) worldwide.
Good Foundations
Aside from being a professional athlete, Weeks is also a coach for hybrid athletes under her and her husband’s brand, The Hybrid Engine. Weeks and her husband, Anthony Peressini, each hold a CrossFit L-2 and CrossFit L-3, respectively, and incorporate CrossFit-style training methods into their programming for HYROX athletes.
For her training specifically, Weeks says that since she started doing HYROX, her training knowledge around running has changed dramatically.
- “That’s where I’ve, for sure, grown the most, which is my capacity and my speed in my run. I think I came in with a good foundation for the stations, which I believe many CrossFitters would. It was specifically the running that I’ve had to kind of attack to be able to be competitive,” added Weeks.
Her world record for the HYROX Pro race is 58:03, set in Vienna on February 9, 2024.
As her daughter Lily’s primary caretaker, Weeks speaks candidly about her training and ability to balance caring for her daughter with her work.
- “To be fully honest, balancing is really hard. Every day, I have my programming given to me by my husband, and it is rare that I get everything done that I’m supposed to. It just doesn’t happen,” said Weeks, who lives with her family in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While it’s difficult to maintain the amount of training Weeks has to do to stay in elite shape, she shares that her daughter has mentally and physically made her the athlete she is today.
- “She 100% has made me a better athlete in more ways than I could probably even describe,” said Weeks.
Weeks plans to continue competing for as long as she can. With HYROX growing so popular, Weeks has an advantage because she’s taken the last few years to fine-tune her training and work through weaknesses.
In a few weeks, there is one more qualifying race for the World Championship in Glasgow, Scotland.
Weeks will compete in Houston, Texas, in the doubles division to try to qualify for the World Championship in the elite doubles division as well as the individual division.
The HYROX World Championship 2025 is set to be held in Chicago, IL, June 12-15, 2025.
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Featured Image: HYROX via Lauren Week
