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Hyrox for Gyms: Why 92% of Finishers Are Already Members (And How to Cash In)

Hyrox for Gyms: Why 92% of Finishers Are Already Members (And How to Cash In)

A former Disney exec explains the flywheel turning fitness's fastest-growing sport into a gym owner's best friend

John Franklin
August 14, 2026

What's up, Gym World?

Hyrox for gyms isn't a niche trend anymore. It's quietly become one of the best retention and lead-gen tools an independent gym can plug into.

Mateo sat down with Andrew Sugerman, CEO of Centr, the fitness and wellness company behind the official equipment used in Hyrox races worldwide, to break down why.

Before fitness, Andrew spent 12 years at Disney running Marvel comics and Disney's entire social media footprint. Then he left the Magic Kingdom for Hyrox, and he's helped turn it into one of the biggest growth levers gym owners have right now.

From Marvel Comics to Hyrox

Andrew’s Disney years were spent running publishing and digital media, overseeing Marvel comics, and every social channel associated with Disney. At one point, he was managing 1.4 billion Facebook followers across Disney’s properties.

💬 Managing a billion followers is a different kind of pressure than most gym owners deal with, but the job was the same one every gym owner has: make people feel something when they see your name.

Andrew had also personally raced two half-Ironmans and multiple marathons, so when a fitness company sitting at the intersection of physical, digital, and content came calling, he made the jump. That company became Centr, the equipment and training ecosystem now inside more than 4,000 gyms, and is now Hyrox’s official equipment partner.

The Number That Changes Everything

Here's the stat that should get every gym owner's attention: 92% of Hyrox finishers are already members of a local gym.

💬 Compare that to almost any other endurance sport. Marathon training pulls people out of the gym and onto the road. Hyrox does the opposite. It puts people in the gym, on a schedule, with a coach, week after week.

The growth numbers back it up:

2.5 million athletes are expected to compete in Hyrox globally this year, roughly double the number of marathon finishers worldwide
The US is doubling its city footprint in 2026, from 8 cities to 16
New York City alone had 55,000 athletes competing last year

We've seen this play out firsthand on Gym World. Conor Oakley rebranded his CrossFit gym as Forged Fitness and now runs Hyrox-style competitions that add over $2,000 in revenue every event, with the full breakdown of his system here. And Empyre Fitness added Hyrox classes to a space that wasn't even built for it, and it still worked.

Bringing Hyrox Into Your Gym

You don’t need to rebrand as a Hyrox box to benefit.

Andrew’s advice for gym owners on the fence: start small.

Run a local simulation. Give members a benchmark time in your own space, without the pressure of an actual race.
Use it as a retention hook. A benchmark gives members something to chase and a reason to keep showing up.
Build a pyramid, not a cliff. A small group will go to compete in a real race. More will do a local sim. Most will just train toward a benchmark and never leave your floor.
Track who shows up. A benchmark event is only a growth strategy if you follow up on it like any other lead source.

💬 One reason Hyrox works differently than past fitness fads like Tough Mudder or Spartan Race:

it’s the same course every time, so athletes can compare a time today to a time six months from now.

That consistency is a big part of why the training carries over so cleanly into gym membership.

A Gym Partnership Marketing Blueprint Worth Stealing

Mateo asked Andrew what to look for when forming a brand partnership.

His answer: look for a triple or quadruple win, something that helps your business, the other business, and the customer, all at once.

💬 Andrew’s red flag for a bad partnership:

the other side only talks about what they want, without listening to what you or the customer actually needs.

For gym owners building this kind of gym partnership marketing with a local business, his rules are simple: go deeper than a logo swap, design it to feel integrated rather than like an ad, and make a real bet instead of “toe dipping.” Half-committed partnerships tend to fail in ways that confirm the fear that led to the half-commitment.

Andrew’s Gym Branding Tips

His framework, adapted for gyms:

Decide who you are before you post anything. Everything downstream should reflect that decision.
Treat every coach as a brand ambassador. Members experience your brand through the people who greet them at the door.
Check every post against that identity before it goes out. If it doesn’t match who you are, don’t post it that way.

The alternative, in his words, is coming across as a commodity: “We’re a gym, and we’re closer to your house.” That’s not a brand. That’s a location.

Where AI Fits Into Coaching

Andrew thinks AI will get very good at individualized programming, factoring in injuries and goals at a level that’s hard for one person to track. But he doesn’t think it can replace the human element, and that’s exactly where gym owners should double down.

AI can support motivation and community, but it can’t replace them.

That’s the lane gym owners still own.

TL;DR

Hyrox for gyms is a real growth strategy. 92% of finishers are already gym members.
The sport is still early. 2.5 million athletes this year, and the US city count is doubling in 2026.
Real partnerships need a triple or quadruple win, not a toe-dip.
Branding is a consistency problem, not a budget problem.
AI will help with programming, but the human connection is still what members pay for.

This is a solid option for building a stronger community within your gym without breaking the bank.

cheers,