Inside the mind of Hyrox’s most experienced coach
Tiago Lousa, a Hyrox Master Coach, has done it all. With 35 races across nine divisions—including two Elite 15 appearances and victories at both the European and North American Championships in his age group—Lousa brings hard-earned insight to every athlete he coaches.
A lieutenant colonel in Portugal’s police Special Forces and owner of one of the first Hyrox-affiliated gyms, Lousa was an early believer in the sport’s potential. Today, he leads a global online coaching program and works with athletes ranging from everyday competitors to 2024 Hyrox World Champion Alex Roncovic.
The Hybrid Letter caught up with Lousa in Cyprus, where he was coaching a Hyrox training camp, to talk about why running drives performance, what former pros often overlook, and how mastering transitions and race-day pacing can make all the difference.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
The Hybrid Letter: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Tiago Lousa: I’m 42 and based in Lisbon, Portugal. I have two boys, ages 3 and 13, and I’ve spent my entire professional life in the police. I’m a lieutenant colonel in the Special Forces, but since last August I’ve been on a leave of absence. It’s been a reflective period. I’m deciding whether to return to that role or keep building the sports and coaching work I’m passionate about now.
For the past nine years, I’ve run a CrossFit gym in Lisbon, which became one of the early Hyrox affiliates four years ago. My roots in fitness started within the police force—I initially joined as a sports coach. That background led me into CrossFit, where I became a Level 2 coach. Around 2019, I discovered Hyrox, started competing, and eventually became one of the first master coaches certified by the organization. Today, I coach other coaches and manage a large online training program with a team of coaches who work under my guidance.
I also work internationally. I’m head coach for a German company that runs Hyrox training camps across Europe. Right now, I’m actually in Cyprus leading one of those camps. It’s a great way to interact with athletes from different backgrounds and see how Hyrox is developing across borders.
As an athlete, I’ve been fortunate to compete at a high level. I’ve raced in the Elite 15, finishing third at the 2021 World Championship in Leipzig and ninth at Worlds in Manchester. Since then, I’ve focused more on the age group categories, where I’ve been the European champion multiple times and recently became the North American champion. Last June, I won my age group at the World Championship in Nice.
THL: Prior to Hyrox, what was your training background?
TL: I come from an endurance background. My family was very active—lots of running, cross country, and triathlon. From age 10 to 17, I was in a military boarding school, which was great for developing discipline and physical conditioning. I also did orienteering, which involves running with a map—perfect for combining endurance and decision-making.
In adulthood, I continued with trail races and triathlons, and later moved into Spartan races. I even made the top 10 in the European Spartan Championships, which was a big achievement at the time. Over the past decade, I’ve been combining CrossFit with trail running and obstacle racing. I gravitated toward team competitions because I’ve always enjoyed the dynamic of shared effort and strategy. That mix gave me a good foundation for Hyrox, where both strength and aerobic capacity are key.
The last two years, though, have been dedicated entirely to Hyrox. It’s where I’ve found the most alignment between my coaching, my competitive mindset, and my lifestyle.
THL: You were one of the early Hyrox affiliates. What attracted you to it?
TL: What struck me was how accessible Hyrox was. With CrossFit, you're buying into a methodology and a lifestyle. It’s powerful, but it can be intimidating and highly technical. Hyrox, by contrast, was born as a competition. It didn’t try to be a lifestyle brand at first—it just wanted to get people racing. That gave it a very different energy.
In the early days, Hyrox didn’t even have affiliate gyms or coaches. They built those structures later. I was one of the first to go through their coaching certification, and honestly, the system back then was underdeveloped. But they’ve evolved quickly, learning from CrossFit’s successes—and mistakes.
Hyrox’s strength is in its simplicity. It’s low skill, low injury risk, and highly repeatable. Most of my gym members had no interest in competing in CrossFit. But with Hyrox, more than 90% of them signed up for a race. That’s huge. People like the clarity: same race format, same standards, same equipment. You can measure your progress in a very real way. And the fact that amateurs and elites can race on the same course, on the same day—that’s rare and incredibly motivating.
THL: When someone new starts training with you for Hyrox, what’s your initial focus?
TL: First, we assess their background—are they coming from CrossFit? Endurance sports? Do they have injuries? Regardless of where they’re coming from, they need to understand that Hyrox is an endurance sport. Over 50% of the race is running, and running is the engine behind almost every improvement in this sport.
If someone comes from a strength background, we build their running base cautiously. If they’re an endurance athlete, we work on strength, transitions, and intensity under fatigue. But for the majority—90% of my athletes—the biggest gains come from aerobic development. That doesn’t always mean running. We use rowing, skiing, biking—tools that reduce impact but still train the energy systems.
A lot of people get injured from overdoing it, especially with running. So I emphasize controlled volume and proper progression. We develop endurance without destroying the body. That’s critical.
THL: What’s the biggest learning curve when training former professional athletes?
TL: Managing expectations. Pro athletes are used to winning. They often think that because they’ve trained 20 hours a week in their sport, they’ll dominate Hyrox right away. But Hyrox is different. It’s not just about being fit—it’s about being efficient, adaptable, and strategic.
I've worked with former American football players, ice hockey pros, cyclists from the U.S. National Team. They bring incredible discipline and physical tools. But often, they underestimate the specificity of Hyrox. You have to learn the transitions, the pacing, how to recover quickly between stations. It takes time.
Some stick with it, others drop off if they don’t see immediate success. The current Elite 15 is filled with athletes who have made Hyrox their specialty. Most weren’t stars in other sports. They built their fitness specifically for this, over years.
THL: What’s changed in the Elite 15 since you competed?
TL: It’s much more professional now. Back in 2021, we didn’t have race footage or standardized training plans. I had to figure everything out myself. At the time, most elites ran 40 to 50 kilometers per week and trained maybe 10–12 hours total.
Now? Top athletes run 60 to 70 kilometers and train 20 to 24 hours a week. They structure their lives around Hyrox—training, nutrition, sleep, everything. Running, especially, has leveled up. We were racing at 3:45 per kilometer pace. Now, elites are hitting sub-3:20. And there’s more depth—50 or 60 athletes can now break 58 minutes. It’s a different game.
THL: What are the most common training misconceptions you encounter?
TL: One of the biggest mistakes I see is overusing race simulations. Some coaches run Hyrox simulations every week. That’s counterproductive. A full simulation is exhausting. If you don’t recover properly, you lose five or six days of meaningful training. And if you do it fatigued, you can’t use it as a race benchmark. It becomes meaningless.
Simulations can be useful in doubles—for team coordination. But otherwise, I prefer one or two benchmark tests before a race. Treat it like any other endurance sport: you don’t run a marathon every week to train for a marathon.
Another mistake is focusing on station times in isolation. People post SkiErg splits or sled pushes, but that’s not the race. The real challenge is performing well while fatigued. That’s where training needs to mimic race conditions—technique, transitions, breathing control, mental focus.
THL: What strategies do you use to prep your athletes for race day?
TL: For doubles, we design the work around each athlete’s strengths. The faster runner should start and finish. The stronger athlete should take the middle stations. That way, you maximize output and recovery.
For singles, it’s all about pacing. Recreational athletes are out there much longer, so they need to manage intensity. My golden rule—especially on sleds, lunges, and wall balls—is small sets with short rest. That’s something I carried over from CrossFit.
Take wall balls, for example. One rep is about two seconds for men, 1.7 for women. I coach people to do 10 reps, rest 10 seconds. That’s 20 reps per minute. You can finish 100 wall balls in under five minutes. Another trick is descending rep schemes—30, 25, 20, 15. It feels easier mentally.
We also drill transitions constantly. Our athletes start RowErg intervals standing up. Why? So it becomes automatic in the race. Thousands of reps make race-day execution second nature.
THL: What’s your plan for the rest of the season?
TL: I took some time off after doing a half Ironman and started this Hyrox season slowly. I did some doubles—Madrid, Frankfurt, Bilbao—and a few open races like the European and North American Championships.
Now the real season begins. I’m qualified for Worlds. I went to Paris to try and qualify for the Pro Elite 15 Doubles with my partner, Lucas Storath. We ran a strong race—51:26—but placed eighth, so we didn’t make the cut.
Next is the last-chance qualifier in Barcelona. But to be honest, I’m not pushing to rejoin the Elite 15. I love competing, but at this stage of life, I’m not ready to make the sacrifices it would take to be at that level again. If I were, I wouldn’t be here coaching a camp.
I’m still racing, still pushing, but the focus has shifted. Now, I get as much satisfaction from coaching others as I once did from being on the podium myself.
You can follow Lousa on Instagram.
Data Corner: What matters the most in a Hyrox race?
Hyrox consists of eight 1K runs and eight workout stations. Which components of a race have the strongest correlation to your overall time? RoxOpt, which provides race analysis for Hyrox competitors, has analyzed thousands of races. The analysis shows that running matters the most, and it is not close. For stations, wall balls, and sled pull are the difference makers.
Perhaps even more instructive is what aspects of Hyrox matter the least. SkiErg came in dead last. In other words, a fast SkiErg time is not strongly correlated to a fast overall finish time. The same goes for row and farmers carry.
Athlete of the Week: Angie Zara
Name: Angie Zara
Age: 36
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
When did you start hybrid racing? I was honestly inspired by other strong women in the fitness community. Once Hyrox came to D.C. and the gym I trained at started incorporating Hyrox into its programming, it felt like a no-brainer. I’m someone who’s always looking to grow—physically, mentally, emotionally—and I’m very goal-oriented and data-driven. Hyrox checked all the boxes.
Favorite race to date? It’s a tie between Chicago and Miami. Chicago was especially meaningful. It’s where I hit my bottom in alcoholism, depression, and anxiety just over 10 years ago, right before I moved home for rehab. So to return to that city, as a healthy person in every way, and with a great support system—it was powerful. Miami, on the other hand, was just pure fun. The vibes were good, and the playlist was fire.
Do you have a race goal?I really want to break 1:30 next season! I’ve only been running for the last 14 months of my life, so I’m still building that base. My goal is to keep chipping away—minute by minute—with consistent training.
Favorite station? Lunges, lately. It’s the one station where I feel like I can really go deep, mentally and physically. I can push through the pain and just keep moving.
Least favorite station? Burpees! I don’t know why they take me forever. But I’m determined to get better.
Something you wish you knew when you started racing? That self-talk is just as important as physical training. Learning how to treat myself with compassion after a setback has been huge. Failure is inevitable—how we respond to it builds resilience. It also took me a couple races to really be in the race mentally. But once I found that presence, I realized how powerful it is to focus on the moment and shut out the noise.