It’s hard to believe that doing a Hyrox was never on Jake Dearden’s agenda. Instead, it was a group of friends from his local gym who told the then 22-year-old that he should give the race a go. “I went down to the Birmingham Hyrox and came first in my age group without really training for it,” he tells T3. “I then thought, if I put my mind to it, I might be alright at this.” Three months later, he achieved the world record for his age group in the Open category in Glasgow, with a time of 57 minutes and nine seconds.
The rest is history, and now the 26-year-old is no stranger to success on the competition floor with numerous accolades under his belt, including winning the Pro Doubles at the 2024 Hyrox World Champions alongside his partner, Marc Dean, and qualifying for the Elite 15 World Championships in Chicago this June. He’s also racked up more Hyrox flags than he can count, which he says he just stuffs in his drawer.
With a growing list of accomplishments to his name, Dearden stands as one of the most successful – and youngest – Hyrox athletes. However, his rise to the top comes as a result of relentless hard work, determination, and a dialed-in training regimen and diet. Speaking to T3 at Represent HQ, the athlete shares what a week of training looks like and how he fuels it.
Jake Dearden’s weekly training routine
Jake’s training routine is split between three ‘hard sessions’ and four ‘easy sessions’. It’s pretty full-on. However, the athlete admits he’s not the best at following his own advice when it comes to rest. “I really struggle to fully completely rest,“ he says. "I just feel down. I always tell everyone else to rest, but I can’t do it myself.”
That being said, he says he’ll never attempt to do a ‘hard day’ if his body doesn’t feel up to it, and will rejig his workouts accordingly. Here’s what a week of training looks like:
- Monday: Upper body strength + easy 10K run
- Tuesday: Lower body strength and power + speed session
- Wednesday: x2 easy runs
- Thursday: Full-body strength + tempo session working on speed endurance (for example: x4 2k runs)
- Friday: Easy run
- Saturday: Hyrox simulation workout
- Sunday: Long run
After slipping two discs in his back during his first Pro Hyrox event, which left the athlete unable to walk for months, mobility has become a crucial part of Jake’s training. “People would think ‘that’s a waste of time’, but it helps massively.” He’ll do this three times a week with his personal trainer for 30 minutes at the start of each training session.
Jake Dearden's diet
The athlete's training is definitely reflected in his diet, as he eats a lot – anywhere between 3500 to 4000 calories a day. He tells us he’s a “massive advocate of protein”, aiming for around three grams of protein per kg of bodyweight. “I consume anywhere between 270-300 grams of protein per day,” he says.
“If I’m training early in the morning, I’ll have a couple of bananas with water and electrolytes. Afterward, if I'm on the move, I’ll have two protein shakes, or if I nip home, and have steak and scrambled eggs.
“I then have a chicken and rice meal in the afternoon, go train again, and then I’ll have my evening meal. That’s probably the thing that’s different every day, but it’s usually something simple, like salmon, rice and veg. Then, before bed, I’ll have either a protein yoghurt or a porridge bowl, depending on what I’ve got the next day. If it’s an intense training session, I’ll have high carbs before bed, but if not, I’ll just have some protein.”
Want to experience what it's like to train like Jake? Give his three-move rower workout a go, designed to supercharge your aerobic engine (ideal if you've got a Hyrox coming up). You can also check out how we coped when we joined Jake for a Hyrox workout – a session full of strength work.
