Hyrox gear checklist
The Hyrox gear checklist: shoes, kit, hydration and pacing — and the one thing everyone forgets: the hand grip that fails at the wall balls and the sled.
Summary
Solid Hyrox prep covers shoes, kit, hydration and strategy. One point often slips through: hand grip, put to the test by sweat at the SkiErg, farmer's carries and wall balls. TIVA's anti-sweat gel keeps hands dry with no residue — a detail that costs you seconds.
The problem
The Hyrox format is brutally regular: 8 km of running broken up by 8 stations. Halfway through, you're drenched, heart rate high, and a lot of stations ride on your hands — SkiErg, sled pull, farmer's carries, sandbag, wall balls. That's exactly the moment your palms turn clammy and grip starts working against you.
Most checklists stop at shoes and nutrition. Grip you discover on race day, when the SkiErg handle slips or the kettlebells in the farmer's carry try to bolt. It's an avoidable place to lose time.
The mechanism
In Hyrox, your heart rate stays very high nearly the whole time. That continuous effort, combined with heat, drives the sweat glands in your palms — among the densest in the body — to produce sweat at the worst moment. On a grip station, that film of water cuts hand-to-gear friction: you compensate by squeezing harder, your forearms fatigue, and your grip snaps before your legs.
On a clock where a few seconds per station add up, a grip that fails costs you twice: the time lost re-securing the load, and the energy wasted over-squeezing. Securing a dry hand protects both the time and the forearm reserve you need for the finish.
Careful not to mix up the problems: here the enemy is sweat (the slipping hand), not abrasion (skin that tears). If you're tearing your skin on the ropes or bars, that's a different answer — the wax, never combined with the gel.
In practice
The Hyrox gear checklist, station by station:
Shoes. A responsive but stable sole, a drop that suits you, secure lacing. Broken in, never brand new on race day.
Kit. Light shorts/sports bra or tank, moisture-wicking fabric. Anti-blister socks. Nothing that chafes over 90 minutes of effort.
Hydration & nutrition. A hydration plan before the race, maybe a gel/carbs depending on your target time. Tested in training, never improvised.
Small gear. A belt if allowed in your wave, tape, hair ties, a towel. Check the rules for your event.
Grip — the forgotten point. Pack TIVA's [ULTIMATE DRY GRIP] gel, a 99.9% natural formula, to keep your hands dry on the grip stations. Applied with the hands, on dry skin, before the race: shake the bottle, unlock the applicator, 1 to 2 pumps, rub in until absorbed, let it dry for a few seconds. Its big advantage in competition: zero residue — nothing on shared handles, shared kettlebells or your kit, unlike chalk, which makes a mess and isn't always allowed. Menthol cooling effect as a bonus when the heat climbs.
Strategy. Know the station order, your target cadences, your tipping points. Gear doesn't replace pacing, it supports it.
A useful reminder: the gel can be reapplied if you feel traction dropping, but in a race you mostly want to be dry from the gun — hence applying before the start.
Verdict
Tick the basics — broken-in shoes, non-chafing kit, tested hydration — then add the line most people forget: keeping your hands dry. TIVA's anti-sweat gel secures your grip at the SkiErg, the sled and the farmer's carries, with no residue on shared gear. A small line item, a real few seconds saved.
FAQ
Which Hyrox stations are the most grip-sensitive?
All the ones that rely on your hands: SkiErg, sled pull, farmer's carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls. That's where clammy palms make the load slip and force you to over-squeeze.
Isn't chalk simpler?
It does the trick, but it leaves white residue on shared handles and isn't always allowed in competition. The gel acts on sweat at the source, without depositing anything on shared gear.
When should I apply the gel on race day?
On dry hands, just before the start, letting it dry for a few seconds. You can reapply between stations if you feel your grip letting go.
Contenu éditorial TIVA Performance Lab · éléments donnés à titre informatif, non médical · testé dermatologiquement · Made in France.
