HYROX Sandbag Lunges: Weights by Division, 100 m Standards and Pacing

Sandbag lunges are station 7: 100 metres of alternating walking lunges with a sandbag on your shoulders, after six stations and seven kilometres of running. Depending on your stride that is roughly 90 to 130 lunges. The weight is modest on paper. The difficulty is that every rep has a knee touch and a full stand-up, judged strictly, on legs that have already pushed and pulled a sled.

Independent guide; not affiliated with HYROX, DEKA or Spartan.

Sandbag weights by division (Season 26/27)

Bags are colour-coded at the station: white, grey and black.

Division	Sandbag	In lb (approx.)
Women Open	10 kg (white)	22 lb
Women Pro	20 kg (grey)	44 lb
Men Open	20 kg (grey)	44 lb
Men Pro	30 kg (black)	66 lb
Doubles Women	10 kg	22 lb
Doubles Women Pro / Men / Mixed	20 kg	44 lb
Doubles Men Pro	30 kg	66 lb
Relay Women / Men	10 kg / 20 kg	22 lb / 44 lb
Relay Mixed	Women 10 kg, men 20 kg

Unchanged from Season 25/26. The wrong bag is a disqualification. Every station's loads by division are in the weights lookup.

Course and movement standards

• 100 m, usually as lengths with turning points. Pick the bag up from the marked area beside the start/finish line and return it there at the end.
• Start standing tall with both feet behind the line.
• The trailing knee must clearly touch the ground on every lunge.
• Every rep finishes standing tall with knees and hips fully extended.
• Lunges alternate legs. You may lunge continuously or pause between reps with both feet parallel, but no steps or shuffles between reps.
• The front foot must fully cross the white line at the end of each length and at the finish. At turning points you do not need to lunge around the turn, but you restart behind the line.
• The bag must remain fully supported on you. It cannot rest on the ground, a barrier or your feet.
• The final rep is complete when the leading foot first touches the ground beyond the finish line (clarified for 26/27).
• Doubles: handovers go sideways or backwards, never forwards.

Penalties

• Knee not touching or not standing tall: 15 seconds per infraction.
• Bag removed from the shoulders: 15 seconds (first), disqualification (second).
• Resting the bag on any surface: 15 seconds per infraction. For 26/27 this replaced the automatic disqualification for a second drop; there are no warnings.
• Incorrect weight: disqualification.

Technique cues

Bag position. Across the back of the shoulders, behind the neck, hands on the ends or on top. Pull the bag down into the traps so it does not bounce. Some athletes carry it on one shoulder; it is legal but harder to keep stable for 100 m.

Stride length. Moderate. An overlong stride means a deeper knee touch and more time standing up; a short stride means more reps. Around 0.8 to 1.0 m per lunge is typical, giving 100 to 125 reps.

Stand tall every rep. The most common no-rep is a half-stand, where the hips never fully open before the next step. Pause for a beat at the top if you have to. It is still faster than a 15-second penalty.

Torso. Upright. Leaning forward puts the bag's weight through your lower back and makes the knee touch awkward.

Breathing. Exhale as you drive up out of the lunge. Keep it rhythmic; this station is as much a breathing exercise as a leg one.

Pacing targets by finish-time bracket

Planning targets from published split data (men's; women typically 10 to 20 seconds slower at the same bracket).

Target finish	Sandbag lunges 100 m	Per rep (110 reps)
Sub-60	2:45 to 3:30	1.5 to 1.9 s
60 to 75	3:30 to 4:30	1.9 to 2.5 s
75 to 90	4:30 to 5:45	2.5 to 3.1 s
90+	5:45 to 7:15	3.1 to 4.0 s

Continuous, unbroken lunging is a sub-75 habit. If you need breaks, plan them at the turning points where you already stop. Build your race budget in the pace planner.

How to train it in a regular gym

1. Loaded lunges: 4 x 25 m at race weight plus 5 to 10 kg, strict knee touch and stand tall, with a partner judging.
2. Race-distance lunges: 100 m at race weight after 1 km of running, once a week in the final two months. Then run another 1 km; the last run after the lunges is the hardest of the race.
3. Leg strength: Bulgarian split squats, rear-foot-elevated lunges and step-ups. Single-leg strength lets you stand tall without a wobble when fatigued.

No sandbag? A barbell across the back (awkward but legal in training), a weighted vest plus a lighter bag, or a plate held overhead for 25 m at a time all work. A real sandbag is cheap; see the sandbag guide. Gyms built for this kind of training are filterable in the gym directory.

Equipment needed

A sandbag at your division weight, ideally the same style as event bags (a tube bag that sits across the shoulders), plus 25 m of floor. Knee sleeves are allowed and popular here.

Before and after

The farmers carry comes before and the wall balls finish the race after the final 1 km run. Run 8 after the lunges is the slowest run of the day for nearly every athlete, so budget for it. See upcoming races in the events calendar.

Updated October 2026 for the HYROX Season 26/27 rulebook.