Malaysia will see its first HYROX race in December 2026. Tickets sold so quickly that organisers added an extra race day. For a fitness format that barely existed in Malaysia a few years ago, HYROX’s rise has been fast and global, and gym owners are racing to be part of it. So what does it take to build a business around a trend moving this quickly, and does becoming a HYROX affiliate pay off?

Herny Suraya, Co-owner of Fitologist Hub, and Matt Chong, Co-Founder of District 13, join us to talk about it. Both gyms have been around longer than HYROX itself, and both have kept their focus as functional training gyms.

We get into:

• The investment: What it costs to become a HYROX affiliate, from fees to equipment.

• Keeping members: What makes people stay once they’ve completed a goal like a HYROX race.

• Standards and regulation: How gyms keep coaching, safety, and programming standards up when a hot trend draws crowds, and whether anyone can open a gym or call themselves a coach.

• The bigger gap: Why 84% of Malaysian adults don’t take part in any sport or fitness activity, and what would help the industry reach more people.