How to do a Wall Ball:
- Starting Position: Stand facing a wall, about an arm’s length away, holding a weighted medicine ball at chest height. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart.
- Squat: Initiate a squat, lowering your hips down and back while keeping your chest upright and your weight in your heels. You want to reach a full squat position where your hips are below your knees.
- Explosive Ascent and Throw: As you drive up explosively from the squat, extend your arms and throw the medicine ball towards a designated target on the wall (typically 9 or 10 feet high, depending on the division in Hyrox).
- Catch and Repeat: Catch the ball as it rebounds off the wall, absorbing the impact by immediately descending back into a squat. Repeat the movement for the required number of repetitions (in this case, 100).
Key aspects of the 100 wall balls in Hyrox:
- Final Station: It’s the very last exercise before the final run to the finish line, making it a grueling test of endurance and mental fortitude when you’re already fatigued.
- Repetitions: You need to complete all 100 repetitions to finish the station.
- Weight and Target: The weight of the medicine ball and the height of the target vary depending on the Hyrox division (e.g., men’s pro is a heavier ball to a higher target than women’s open).
- Standards: Hyrox has strict standards for the wall ball, including achieving proper squat depth and hitting the target with the ball for each repetition to count.
Why 100 Wall Balls is Significant:
- Endurance Challenge: Performing 100 repetitions of a compound movement like the wall ball, especially after the preceding 8km of running and 7 strength stations in Hyrox, is a significant endurance challenge.
- Full Body Workout: Wall balls engage multiple muscle groups, including your legs (quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings), core, shoulders, and arms, making 100 reps a demanding full-body effort.
- Mental Toughness: Pushing through the discomfort and fatigue of 100 wall balls requires significant mental toughness and the ability to maintain focus.
- Time Impact: Your performance on the wall ball station can significantly impact your overall Hyrox race time.
In summary, “100 wall balls” in the context of Hyrox is a challenging final exercise requiring you to perform one hundred repetitions of the wall ball movement with a specific weight and to a specific target, testing your strength, endurance, and mental fortitude. Sources and related content
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64
https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/get-active/home-workout-videos/