The SkiErg is station 1 in a HYROX race: 1,000 meters on a ski machine right after your first 1 km run. It is the first station of the day, your heart rate is already up from the start-line adrenaline, and it sets the tone for everything that comes after.
Most people treat it like an arm workout. That is the mistake. A good ski stroke is a full body movement driven by your hips and core, and once you learn it, 1,000 meters feels a lot shorter. Here is how we coach it.
The SkiErg rules that matter
These come from the official HYROX 26/27 Singles rulebook. Always check the current rulebook for your event, because standards can change between seasons.
- Distance: 1,000 meters for every division.
- Monitor: a judge resets the monitor before you start.
- Feet on the platform: both feet stay on the SkiErg base the whole time. Your heels can hang off the edge, but they cannot touch the floor.
- Jumping is allowed: you can use a dynamic or jumping motion, as long as you land back on the base plate.
- Damper: it is preset to 6 for all divisions, and you can change it as often as you want.
- Finishing: when you hit 1,000 meters, stay on the platform, raise an arm and wait for the judge to confirm before you leave. Leaving early counts as an incomplete station.
Stepping off the base is a warning the first time and 15 seconds for each one after that.
How to do a good SkiErg stroke
Think of each stroke as a small, fast hip hinge with your arms along for the ride. Here are the pieces.
1. Start tall
Stand about a foot from the machine, feet hip width apart. Reach up and grab the handles with your arms long and your body tall, almost on your toes. This is your loaded position. The higher and taller you start, the more distance you have to pull through.
2. Drive with your body, not your arms
Start the pull by crunching your core and hinging at the hips, like you are closing a heavy hatch above your head. Keep your elbows slightly bent and fixed. Your body weight does most of the work in the first half of the stroke.
3. Finish with the arms
As your hands pass your face, press the handles down past your hips with your triceps. Your hips push back, your knees bend a little and your hands finish just past your thighs. The knees bend, but this is not a squat. If your knees are doing most of the moving, you are squatting the machine.
4. Recover with control
Let the handles rise and stand back up tall with your arms extended overhead. Recovery is your rest. Take a breath here and don't rush back to the top just to start pulling again.
5. Breathe on rhythm
Exhale hard on the pull and inhale on the way back up. One breath per stroke keeps your heart rate from spiking and gives your strokes a steady beat.
Damper setting
The damper changes how heavy each stroke feels, not how fast you go. Higher feels like pulling a bigger load. It burns out your arms and lats sooner. Lower feels light and needs a faster stroke rate. Most people do well somewhere around 5 to 7. The race preset of 6 is a fine place to start. Pick your number in training so you aren't guessing on race day, and only touch the lever at your event if you have practiced with a different setting.
How to pace the 1,000 meter ski
The SkiErg is the first station, which makes it very easy to go out too hard. You still have seven runs and seven stations after it. Here is a simple pacing plan.
- Know your split. The monitor shows your pace per 500 meters. In training, find a 1,000 meter pace you could hold and still run well after. That is your race pace.
- First 250 meters: settle in. Hit your target split and find your breathing rhythm. Do not sprint the start.
- Middle 500 meters: lock in. Same split, same stroke. Long, strong pulls beat short, frantic ones.
- Last 250 meters: you can push a little, but finish feeling like you could do more. Run 2 and the sled push are next, and your legs need to show up for both.
- Use the run in. Run 1 is nearly always too fast. Hold back on it so you start the ski with your breathing under control.
How to train for the SkiErg
If your gym has a SkiErg, use it once or twice a week. If not, you can still build the movement and the engine.
- Technique, every session: 3 to 5 minutes of easy skiing at the start of a workout, focusing only on starting tall and driving with your hips.
- Intervals, once a week: 5 to 8 rounds of 250 meters at race pace with 1 minute rest. This teaches you what your target split feels like.
- Run and ski practice: 3 to 4 rounds of a 600 to 1,000 meter run straight into 500 meters of skiing. The skill you are training is skiing with your heart rate already up.
- No machine? Banded straight arm pulldowns, kettlebell swings, cable pulldowns and hanging knee raises build the same hinge, lats and core. Rowing builds a similar engine.
Build up gradually. Your lats, triceps and core will be sore the first few times you put real volume on the ski.
The rower is the other erg in the race and uses a similar engine. Read HYROX Rowing Technique: How to Pace the 1000m Row next.
Common SkiErg mistakes
- Pulling with straight, locked arms or only with the arms.
- Squatting the stroke instead of hinging at the hips.
- Cranking the damper to 10 because it feels stronger.
- Sprinting the first 250 meters and paying for it on run 2.
- Rushing the recovery and never taking a full breath.
- Stepping off the base at the end before the judge confirms.
Where to start
New to hybrid racing? Grab our free 2-week Hybrid Race Starter Plan. It lays out your first two weeks of runs, stations and strength, so you know exactly what to do each day.
Want a coach in your corner? Founding 1:1 Coaching gives you a plan built around your schedule and your weak stations. Racing soon? Hybrid Race Prep (8 Weeks) takes you through every station with progression built in.
Start tall. Drive with your hips. Hold your split. Change your state.
New State is not affiliated with HYROX®, Concept2, DEKA, Spartan or any race organizer. This content is general fitness information, not medical advice. Check with a qualified professional before starting a new training program.