London ExCeL cohort: now enrolling
Our 8-week race-prep programme, built around HYROX London ExCeL this December. First race or fifth, we'll get you to the start line strong. Starts Monday 5 October.
25 places per cohort. £50 deposit, comes off your first payment.
The confirmation email is in your inbox, and somewhere between excitement and "what have I done?" it hits you: race day is real, and it's coming.
Running on your own won't prepare you for the stations. Gym sessions on your own won't teach you to pace 8km of running with work in between. And no YouTube video can tell you whether your sled push holds up under race-day weights, in race-day fatigue.
Or maybe you've raced before, and you know exactly where it went wrong last time: out too fast, burned out on the ergs, a finish time that didn't match your fitness. Either way, the eight weeks between now and London decide how race day feels. Ascent gives them a structure: every session, workshop and conversation designed to get you to the start line with nothing left to guess.
Now LIVE, enrolling
The London ExCeL cohort starts Monday 5 October. Race weekend: 2 to 6 December.
Pay a one-off £50 deposit to lock in your cohort spot. It is deducted from your first month's payment and includes your 8-week running plan.
Member
Full enrolment onto the 8-week HYROX Ascent programme, charged as two instalments of £75. Your Full Package includes:
Non-Member
For non-members joining us for HYROX Ascent, this covers both your gym membership and your programme, charged as two instalments of £215. Includes:
25 places per cohort. £50 deposit, comes off your first payment.
Beyond Walls members at our HYROX simulations and race days.
What's included
Strength & Skill, Engine Development, and HYROX Simulation. Every session scaled to your level by a coach who knows your name.
Three runs a week that build from easy aerobic work to race-pace efforts, designed to fit around your classes.
Four two-hour deep dives on the stations that decide your race: nutrition and race-day rules, sleds and farmer's carry, the ergs, and wall balls, burpee broad jumps and lunges. Proper technique coaching in plain English: how to move the heavy stuff efficiently, how to pace the ergs so you don't burn out early, and the details that prevent no-reps when it burns. Dates are in the journey below.
A weekly 1-hour group call with your coaches. Review the week you've done, walk through the week ahead, and ask anything about race prep. Recorded if you can't make it live.
A body composition scan and benchmark time trial in Week 1, repeated in Week 8, so your progress is measured, not guessed.
A one-page pacing card with your target splits, built from your own simulation times. You'll know exactly how to run your race.
After the race, sit down with a coach, go through your splits, and plan what's next.
Train alongside people preparing for the same start line. Accountability, answers and a fair amount of laughing at the sleds.
The journey
Weeks 1-2
Build the base. Movement quality, aerobic foundations, and your Week 1 baseline: an InBody scan and benchmark time trial so you know exactly where you're starting from.
Weeks 3-4
Longer efforts, heavier carries, bigger engine. This is where the fitness gets built.
Weeks 5-6
Full race simulations with runs between stations. You'll learn what your race pace feels like, so race day holds no surprises.
Weeks 7-8
Sharpen up, then back off. A 75% simulation, a race rehearsal at target pace, and your Week 8 retest to measure how far you've come. No workshops these weeks: everything points at the race.
Week 9
Easy movement, a personalised pacing card in your hand, and the start line at ExCeL waiting.
Your coaches
HYROX Ascent is led by Dr Peter Downer and Jess Braun, alongside the Beyond Walls coaching team.
Peter doesn't just coach HYROX. He races it at the sharp end: a World Championships doubles athlete, qualified for the solo World Championships in Hong Kong 2027, with top-five finishes across Europe, and one of only two UK athletes on the PRVN World Performance Team for 2026–27.
And coaching isn't his hobby, it's his profession. A Master's degree in Sports Coaching, a former Head of Coach Education for England Hockey, 25 years playing and coaching at Premiership and international level, and now the HYROX Level 2 Performance Coach certification, HYROX's highest coaching education status.
That combination matters. Every pacing call, station fix and race plan in this programme comes from someone who has tested it where it counts, and who has spent a career learning how to teach it, whether you're chasing a podium or just want to get round smiling.
Jess is a Personal Trainer and CrossFit Level 1 Coach with a passion for helping everyday people achieve things they never thought possible.
She has competed in seven HYROX races, as well as ATHX and DEKA, so she knows first-hand what it takes to prepare for race day. She also knows what it's like to start from scratch. Jess didn't come from a sporting background, so she understands the doubts, the challenges and the learning curve most people face when they first step into functional fitness.
As a lead coach on HYROX Ascent, her goal is to take the guesswork out of training. Whether you're preparing for your very first race, chasing a faster time, or simply want to get fitter and stronger, Jess will help you build the confidence, knowledge and habits to get there.
Over the years she has coached complete beginners, first-time racers and experienced athletes, always tailoring her approach to the person in front of her, and she has even hopped into races alongside her clients.
Her coaching focuses on purposeful training, quality movement and long-term confidence, not just getting through a workout. Her motto is simple: Train with Purpose. Every session should move you one step closer to your goal, and she'll make sure you enjoy the journey along the way.
By race day
London is 2 to 6 December. The programme starts Monday 5 October. Reserve your place with a £50 deposit today.
25 places per cohort.
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