What Watch Is Best for Hybrid Training? An Overview and Recommendations

1. What do we need from a watch when doing hybrid training?

Heart Rate—Important, but Not Always Measured at the Wrist

Heart rate is one of the key parameters during hybrid training. It allows you to monitor intensity both while running and throughout the entire session. The problem arises during exercises such as sled push, sled pull, farmer’s carry, or burpees. A firm grip, tension in the forearm muscles, wrist flexion, and dynamic arm movements can cause delays or errors in optical heart rate monitoring from the wrist. Polar itself points out that optical heart rate monitoring can be less stable during strength training stations than while running. Therefore, if your workout is truly intense, a chest strap or a high-quality heart rate wristband is a very valuable addition. This doesn’t mean, however, that you have to buy one right away. For regular running or strength training, wrist-based heart rate monitoring may be sufficient. You’ll appreciate the chest strap most during intervals, HYROX workouts, and sessions where you need to track your heart rate precisely.

GPS and Pace

In classic running training, accurate GPS is, of course, essential. In HYROX, what matters most is the ability to control your pace over successive 1-kilometer segments. It’s not just about checking your average pace after the workout. During a race, the more important question is: Did I run the first kilometer too fast? That’s why the following features are useful: current pace, lap pace, lap time, and the ability to easily mark subsequent segments.

Intervals and LAP

This is one of the features worth paying for. A good watch should let you create, for example:

1 km of running → 2 min of work → 1 km of running → 2 min of work

or simply allow users to mark the next station with a single button.

During a very intense workout, one-button operation is more important than a flashy touchscreen.

Strength and Functional Profiles

Accurate exercise recognition is a nice bonus, but I wouldn’t overestimate this feature. During HYROX, we don’t necessarily need the watch to recognize every repetition of wall balls or burpees. It’s more important that it records the following correctly:

• station time,

• heart rate,

• total workout time,

• subsequent LAPs,

• the duration and pace of running intervals.

Data should help analyze your workout, not just look impressive in the app.

2. The Watch and HYROX

HYROX is a great test of the watch's capabilities because it combines virtually all the challenges of hybrid training:

And this is where a very important difference between watches comes into play:

COROS — currently the most “hybrid” approach

COROS has introduced Hybrid Fitness mode, which is perfectly suited for this type of workout. It is available on the PACE 3, PACE 4, PACE Pro, NOMAD, and APEX series, among others.

The watch can guide the user through the following stages: run → station → run → station → ...

In Race mode, all eight HYROX stations are available, and the watch displays, among other things, your pace while running, heart rate, the time for the current event, total time, and

the next station. Importantly, in the 2026 update, COROS also added the ability to automatically detect the transition between a run and a station, so you don't have to press the button every time. This is a huge advantage during races.

What about Garmin?

Garmin handles running, intervals, strength training, recovery, and workout analysis very well, but it isn’t currently designed as conveniently for a full HYROX workout as COROS is. In practice, users can utilize the cardio/obstacle racing profile, manual laps, or a pre-set workout. For HYROX, however, you often have to configure how the session is recorded yourself.

And this is a good example of why more features ≠ a better watch for a specific use.

3. Recovery—Does the watch know if we can work out?

This is especially important for people who do hybrid training. The body must cope with both muscular and cardiovascular stress at the same time.

That is why the following are valuable:

- HRV,

- sleep,

- resting heart rate,

- training load,

- workout history,

- recovery time,

- willingness to train.

But be careful: the watch doesn’t make decisions for us. This is one of the most important points to note. “Recovery 36 h” doesn’t automatically mean you can’t train for 36 hours. Similarly, a “Training Readiness 42” score doesn’t mean training is off-limits. These are indicators to help you make decisions, not a diagnosis of your body’s condition. Garmin, for example, calculates Training Readiness based on factors such as sleep, recovery time, HRV, training load, and sleep and stress history. COROS, on the other hand, emphasizes that its Recovery metric is based primarily on fitness level, training load, and remaining energy—currently, sleep, HRV, and muscle fatigue are not directly factored into this calculation. Therefore, the watch should be a tool for observing trends, not an oracle.

If, for several days:

- HRV decreases,

- the resting heart rate increases,

- sleep is worse,

- subjective fatigue is increasing,

- and my training results are getting worse,

This is a much more meaningful indicator than a single "recovery" result.

4. Is it worth buying an HR strap for the HYROX?

Yes. If you take HYROX seriously, an HR belt or wristband is one of the few accessories that actually makes sense. The biggest problem with optical heart rate monitoring arises during stations that require a strong grip and arm movement. During:

running → wrist-based heart rate can be very accurate

During:

sled push → farmer's carry → sled pull → wall balls → wrist-driven HR may be less stable.

Therefore, when analyzing workouts, the data from an external heart rate sensor will be the most valuable.

5. What data should you really be monitoring during HYROX?

You don't need to have 10 parameters on the screen.

While running:

1. Pace

2. Heart Rate

3. LAP Time

4. Distance

During the stop:

1. Heart Rate

2. Station Time

3. Total time

After practice:

1. Pace per kilometer

2. Duration of each station

3. HR in specific sections

4. Decrease/maintain pace over the next few kilometers

5. Total time

And this is exactly where you can see the advantage of a watch that handles LAPs and segments well over a watch that has 50 extra health features but requires you to tap the screen during a workout.

6. A REVIEW OF WATCHES FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

🏆 Best Watch for Hybrid Training

COROS PACE 4

The best balance between price, weight, battery life, and features that are actually useful during hybrid workouts. The biggest advantage comes from Hybrid Fitness, which is designed specifically for switching between running and functional training stations.

🏆 The Best Watch for HYROX

COROS PACE 4

Here, the choice is even simpler. With its dedicated Hybrid Fitness mode, a sequence of eight stations, running intervals, pace, heart rate, time, and the ability to automatically detect transitions, COROS is currently the most natural choice for HYROX itself.

🏆 Best value for the features

COROS PACE 4 / Suunto Race S

If the HYROX is a good option → COROS PACE 4. If you're looking for a more versatile outdoor and sports watch and can find the Race S for around 1,100 zł → the Suunto Race S is a very strong alternative.

🏆 Best for someone who combines running and the gym

Garmin Forerunner 570

In my opinion, this is the most sensible Garmin choice for most people who don't need absolutely everything the 970 model has to offer. It provides very robust tools for running, training, and recovery, and is lighter and less expensive than the flagship models.

🏆 Best for recovery and sleep

Garmin Forerunner 970 / Polar Vantage V3

Garmin offers very comprehensive tracking of sleep, HRV, training load, recovery time, and Training Readiness. With the 970, the Training Readiness score is updated based on several different sources, rather than a single measurement. Polar is also very strong in the areas of recovery and sleep, so the Vantage V3 will be a great option for anyone who wants to focus on those aspects.

🏆 Best for sports + everyday use

Apple Watch Ultra 3

If you have an iPhone and want a single device for sports, messaging, music, payments, maps, health, and everyday life, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is a very strong option. You can also use a dedicated app for HYROX.

🏆 Best Overall (No Budget Limits)

Garmin Forerunner 970

If money isn’t an issue and you want the most comprehensive training ecosystem possible, I’d go with the 970. It has very robust running and recovery tools, HRV tracking, sleep monitoring, maps, multi-band GPS, and advanced training load analysis. However, if “no budget constraints” specifically means the best watch for HYROX, I’d still choose the COROS, because its native support for Hybrid Fitness is simply better suited to the nature of the competition.

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Compiled by: Justyna Kurasz