#58 - HYROX Elite 15 Athlete Zara Piergianni's Journey + Tips on Improving Your HYROX time

My guest today is HYROX Elite 15 athlete Zara Piergianni. We delve into a range of topics including her sporting background and her journey to the elite level of HYROX. We talked about how to assess various station weaknesses and covered lots on training and race tactics and strategies.

We also have a section on audience questions – those of you who were kind enough to send in questions for Zara, thank you!

It was an inspiring and insightful chat with an incredible athlete who's absolutely smashing it on the HYROX scene. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Note this conversation was recorded in January 2025.

Fully Timestamped Chapter List

00:00:00 Trailer for Zara Piergianni

00:00:47 Zara's Bio

00:01:32 Jumper & Swimming Pool Story

00:03:14 Growing Up in a Sporty Household

00:06:43 Parenting & Sport Encouragement

00:09:02 Post-Uni Gap & Travel Years

00:12:16 Farm Work in Australia & Relationship Strength

00:13:48 Future Plans for Children

00:16:16 Discovering CrossFit in Mid-20s

00:18:40 CrossFit as Foundation for HYROX

00:20:37 Off-Season Recovery & Knee Injury Management

00:23:22 Accessory Work & Learning Through Training

00:25:42 Machine Training & Joint Load Management

00:28:16 Assault Bike Benefits & Compromised Training

00:30:22 Struggles Hitting Zone 2 on the Bike

00:33:36 Station Weaknesses: Lunges & Wall Balls

00:38:26 Training Volume & Minimal Effective Dose

00:41:23 Rest Days vs Active Recovery

00:42:45 Intra-Race Fuelling & Gels

00:43:47 Fuelling for Doubles & Relay Events

00:46:15 Audience Q: Exercises for Better Burpees

00:48:35 Audience Q: Time Spent on Mobility

00:49:46 Audience Q: Staying Motivated During Tough Weeks

00:51:56 Quickfire: Overrated & Underrated Round

00:56:16 Competing at Top Level & Imposter Syndrome

00:58:19 2025 Goals & Personal Intentions

01:00:02 Next Race & Coaching Info

01:01:20 Closing Message & Outro

***LINKS***

Zara’s Instagram:

https://bit.ly/4hDb1lS

MY STUFF:

Awaken Out Of Context Podcast (YouTube & Podcast Links):

https://bit.ly/3tk8FVv

Follow Me On Instagram (@awakenoutofjason):

https://bit.ly/3RAkKQj

#hyrox #athlete #coach