Among the 9,000 participants at the Hyrox event held in Bengaluru earlier this month was a grandmother in her late 50s who struggled to complete the challenge, even breaking down a few times along the way.
On the morning of April 11, she woke up feeling jittery and anxious. “The fact that there had been so much time, effort, and financial investment, including registration, travel for the entire family, gear, and training, created an unspoken pressure. What if I wasn’t able to live up to all those expectations?” she thought.
Ashu Jain not only completed the circuit but also secured a third-place podium finish in her age group.
Not many around her looked like her as she ran from one challenge to the next. Surrounded by younger participants completing the tasks with far greater ease, she felt overwhelmed. But she had not trained for nothing, and quitting midway was not an option.
Eventually, she not only completed the circuit but also secured a third-place podium finish in her age group. She competed in the women’s open 55 to 59 category.
About Hyrox
Hyrox, a globally popular fitness racing series, is a standardised indoor competition that combines 8 km of running with eight functional workout stations. It follows a fixed format: athletes complete a 1 km run before reaching a workout station, repeating this sequence eight times.
The stations typically include SkiErg (1,000m), sled push (50m), sled pull (50m), burpee broad jumps (80m), rowing (1,000m), farmers carry, sandbag lunges, and wall balls.
Each participant pays nearly Rs 9,000 to take part in the race. The enthusiastic turnout at the Bengaluru event, with around 9,000 participants generating close to Rs 8 crore in revenue, sparked an online debate over whether people are paying such a hefty price for Instagram validation. The event also became the subject of jokes online, with some suggesting that the urban middle class was paying large sums for basic equipment and an Insta-worthy photo with a finisher’s medal.
The final wall-ball task was the toughest for Ashu Jain, and she even broke down as the balls kept missing the target. But, she kept going.
“Being fit is important, but why are people spending so much on a one-day event? It seems less about fitness and more about seeking validation,” wrote Twitter user Ankit Kedia in a viral post.
Jain, however, dismisses this argument. “Nothing pushed me like Hyrox. It gives you something to chase, otherwise it gets boring. It gave me a target. Without that, it’s just a repetitive routine,” she says.
Unless you train properly, you will not have a medal to flaunt on Instagram.
“You can’t do it just for Instagram. It’s extremely tough and requires proper training. Some athletes say the focus is more on influencers than on serious competitors. But if an influencer shows up and does not perform, it shows. The timings are entirely based on your performance,” Jain adds.
“For the amount spent, considering the organisation and the environment they created, it felt like value for money. There are also options across budgets, especially in the hybrid fitness space,” she says.
How this grandma trained for Hyrox
Jain began training for Hyrox in December 2025 after recovering from a serious injury. She trained in Dehradun under her coach alongside other young fitness enthusiasts preparing for the race. More often than not, she was the last to finish the runs because the others were much younger. It was often demotivating, but she realised that performance can vary with age and kept pushing herself.
“I am the oldest in my gym. While training, I was the slowest, often lagging behind because the others were more experienced and trained regularly. I was training just to complete the circuit, not with a competitive mindset. But I am so happy that I secured a podium finish,” she says.
She is now looking forward to participating in the upcoming Delhi Hyrox event, scheduled to take place in July this year.
Jain has not always been into fitness. In fact, she describes herself as someone who had nothing to do with sports while growing up. Fitness came much later in life, in her 50s, when she was diagnosed with hypertension and high cholesterol. In 2022 (at the age of 54), she began with short walks and entered a gym for the first time in 2024. At 56, she started her gym journey.
With over three lakh followers on Instagram, Ashu Jain wants people to understand that it is never too late to start a fitness routine.
That is a lesson worth taking note of.
– Ends
Published By:
Medha Chawla
Published On:
Apr 20, 2026 17:46 IST