How HYROX has become a serious growth lever.
What’s up, Gym World?
Most gym owners see HYROX as a weekend event. For Joe Baglione, it was an opportunity.
Joe — better known as “Joe Bags” — owns Catalyst Movement in Stamford, Connecticut. He turned HYROX into an extra $80K–$100K a year on top of his existing membership base, and he did it mostly with the sleds, wall balls, and rowers he already owned. I sat down with him to see how he did it.
Watch the full story below or read on for the highlights.
Before HYROX: a waitlisted, premium gym
Stamford is packed with ex-Manhattan professionals paying big-city rent for slightly bigger apartments and an easier commute. Joe opened Catalyst on the retail floor of a nine‑story residential building, with hundreds of potential members literally living upstairs.
His setup:
- $250/month unlimited, capped at 150 members
- Build (strength/CrossFit‑style) and Burn (conditioning/bootcamp) programs
- Coaching standard: you’re a coach first, athlete second—no coaches squeezing in their own workout 30 seconds before class
💬 Classes are waitlisted every day, with 8–10 people on most lists. Once he hit his cap, Joe needed a way to grow revenue without cramming in more memberships.
That’s where HYROX came in.
How HYROX landed in his lap
Catalyst’s Burn bootcamp track had lost direction and turned into generic sweat sessions for “cardio bunnies” who just wanted to run and breathe hard. Around the same time, a coach from Lifetime down the street, AJ Schrag, walked in.
💬 AJ was already deep into HYROX. He’d raced multiple times, was coaching HYROX-style sessions at a nearby Lifetime, and ran a local run club that regularly drew close to 100 people.
There was one problem: he couldn’t run official HYROX programming at Lifetime because of corporate rules. So, he asked Joe if he could run it out of Catalyst instead.
Joe looked at what was already happening:
- AJ consistently pulled 30+ people per class at his corporate gym
- His run club regularly put 100 people on the streets
- Catalyst’s Burn program needed a real identity
- HYROX used movements and equipment Joe already had: sleds, wall balls, lunges, rowers, skis, and running
So, Joe gave AJ Sundays. That decision turned Sundays into his most profitable day.
The HYROX season
HYROX runs like a traveling circus: they roll into different cities, run massive events, and move on. New York is one of their biggest stops, with upwards of 30,000 athletes over a week‑long event at the pier.
Joe built a HYROX “season” around that calendar.
Here’s how it works:
- Season: January through HYROX New York (end of May / early June)
- Frequency: 2 camps per month on Sundays
- Volume: ~16 camps per season
- Time: 9:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
- Headcount: ~75 people per camp (often more in the lead‑up to New York)
- Staff: one coach (AJ)
Pricing started at $35 per single session, then moved to packs:
- 10‑pack: $250
- 8‑pack: $220
- 6‑pack: $180
💬 The packs sell out quickly, with about 75 people on packs, plus additional one‑offs. Joe expects to generate $25K–$30K this season from camps alone.
As the camps grew, the “race‑obsessed” crowd wanted more. Joe now writes individual HYROX programs for multiple athletes, in addition to camps and classes. Those clients tend to:
- Train at Catalyst more often
- Upgrade to higher‑value memberships
- Bring friends into camps or classes
Affiliation and equipment
HYROX affiliation runs about $150 per month, but Joe didn’t jump into it right away.
He tested the camps first. When 75 people were consistently showing up on Sundays, a HYROX rep stopped by, saw the packed room, and suggested Catalyst become an official Training Club.
But Joe didn’t want to box the gym in under another brand. After six months of continued growth, he finally decided to affiliate.
Here’s what changed once he did:
- HYROX featured Catalyst in their weekly newsletter
- The gym got early sign‑up codes for races
- Being an Official HYROX Training Club became a marketing asset that members actually cared about
💬 Joe also upgraded his hardware, buying the same sleds, wall balls, sandbags, and kettlebells used at HYROX events. By doing this, he could market the camps with the message: train with the exact equipment you’ll use on race day.
How to steal this if you don’t have an “AJ”
Here’s how to run Joe’s play:
1. Anchor to a real event
Find the closest HYROX event in your region and work backwards 12–16 weeks. Block two Sundays per month on your calendar and brand it as a season: “HYROX Prep Series – [Your City].”
Having a real race date gives people a reason to commit.
2. Start with current members (for free)
If you’re starting from zero, here’s Joe’s advice: offer the first few camps as a free value-add to members and let them invite friends. Once non-members start showing up regularly, start charging.
You don’t need new gear to begin. Wall balls, sleds, lunges, rowers, skis, and running are enough.
3. Find or develop “your AJ”
You have two options. You can develop from within by finding a coach who likes endurance, events, or competing, and make them the face of the program. Or you can recruit externally by searching Instagram for “HYROX [Your City],” looking at local race results, and reaching out to people who clearly love the sport.
4. Build the ecosystem around camps
Once you’ve proven demand, add a weekly HYROX class. Track who comes to camps but doesn’t train at your gym. These are your warm leads to sell memberships to. Offer private HYROX programming for the diehards.
The goal is to turn a 16-Sunday series into year-round revenue.
TL;DR
If you’re ignoring HYROX because you think it’s just the latest trend, Joe’s words were blunt: you’re leaving money on the table.
You don’t need to rebuild your schedule or buy a truckload of new toys.
Here’s what you can do this week:
- Open your calendar
- Find the HYROX event closest to you
- Block two Sundays a month for 12–16 weeks before it
- Decide what your first camp will look like and who’s going to lead it
Once you’ve got dates and a leader, the rest is logistics. And if you want to see what a packed HYROX camp looks like in a real gym, go creep @catalystmvmt on Instagram.
cheers,
j
