We tried 2025’s biggest fitness trends from padel to Hyrox – here's what we thought

I cannot take my eyes off the screen overhead. The list of exercises is endless. Relentless. Torturous.

I’m here to experience the cult of Hyrox, the fitness talking point of 2025.

Conceived in Germany, Hyrox is the biggest indoor fitness event in the world. The competition starts with a 1km run, followed by a functional workout. You repeat this eight times, with a different workout after each 1km lap. In order, they are: 1km SkiErg, 50m sled push, 50m sled pull, 80m of burpee-broad-jumps, 1km row, 200m kettlebell farmers carry, 100m sandbag lunges, then 100 wall balls.

Last month, over 500 athletes took part in a simulation event at Cork’s Marina Market, with classes popping up the length of the country.

At a glance, you fool yourself into thinking this might just be doable. While I was never someone who thrived on exercise – I consistently dodged PE – later in life, I discovered the endorphin buzz of a HIIT workout, and the headspace that could only be carved out by a 10k run. A few burpees, I tell myself, shouldn’t really faze me. But Hyrox is so much more than a few planks and jumping squats.

‘Where’s your partner?’ a voice asks. Partner? I hadn’t even read the rules. I’m here solo, and utterly out of my depth. Despairing, I spot two friendly-looking women at the back of the gym.

Hoping against hope that they are first-timers too, it turns out that the incredible Eimear and Ciara have competed in Hyrox competitions in Dublin twice – and another in Malaga. I’m with the elite.

Ciara and Eimear must see the blind terror in my eyes. They smile reassuringly, telling me I can join them and we can divide the circuit by three. Later I’d realise this is what Hyrox is all about. There’s a community at play here at KJ Strength and Performance in Carrigaline. Owner James was one of the first to bring Hyrox to Munster two years ago. Now his classes are sold out.

It turns out nearly half his Hyrox class travelled to Malaga together to compete. And as I run in between each set, the athletes I was so intimated by minutes earlier, are encouraging me, even as they overtake me. Because people generally turn up in pairs (though you can compete alone) Hyrox is a social workout. There’s camaraderie. I’m starting to understand the appeal of this workout. Unfortunately, I’m simultaneously realising the absolute torture too.

We start with the ski machine. Ciara and Eimear perfect my technique and by the time I’m done, I’m wheezing on my 1k run. My new best friends reassure me, the ski is a cardio killer. Don’t fret they soothe, as they run gazelle-like before me, out of sight. And they are right. The sled stations are brutal but with the focus solely on strength, the runs in between are more manageable.

Hyrox competitions end with the wall ball, and so we wrap our class with this repetitive squat and reach agony. Over and over until the siren sounds.

Afterwards, there are hugs, congratulations. I meet a couple I know and they tell me how addicted they are to this extreme fitness. Another husband and wife compete in competitions together as a team. Ciara and Eimear, who met at this gym, talk of the Hyrox friendships they’ve forged. I glance for the last time at the screen. We missed just one set on the Hyrox checklist – the ‘farmers carry’. I feel it’s important to complete the circuit, I tell Ciara and Eimear, and I spot their knowing smiles. They know a Hyrox convert when they see one.

kjstrengthandperformance.ie

Denise tries.... barre

I have been a part-time Pilates girly for about two years now — I go to a mat-based class in my local gym once a week, except for those Mondays when I’m feeling lazy — so when I saw a free barre class running in the Marina Market on a Sunday morning in January I thought ‘sure I could do that’.

And that’s how I joined dozens of women who filed into a large room to be led through the movements by Emma Barry-Murphy of Barre By Emma. Barre was tipped as one of the fitness trends to watch for 2025 but it’s been on my radar for quite a while thanks to a four-week challenge Emma worked on last year with Feelgood for the Irish Examiner. Best described as a blend of ballet and Pilates aided usually with the help of a supportive wall-mounted bar, barre boasts strength and flexibility benefits for those who try it.

A dancer I am certainly not, but thanks to Emma’s calm instructions I soon found myself feeling closer to a ballerina than I thought possible. Many of the moves are familiar from a range of other exercise types, including planks. However, others are quintessentially ballet-coded: arabesque, plié, and relevé among them. That Sunday morning, the energy in the room was electric. 

It was mid-January, so the cold felt sharp but we soon pulsed our way to a sweat, banishing all winter chills. Much like Pilates or yoga, what I found was the big moves, while they seem daunting, are actually the easy ones. 

It’s those little tweaks and movements that had me aching the next morning. The smallest circling of arms for seconds that felt like hours had my shoulders feeling a healthy ache that I’ve never experienced with Pilates and I can only imagine the kind of toned arms you could develop over time if doing barre consistently. 

It is definitely not just a pretty workout pic for Instagram.

marinamarket.ie/events and barrebyemma.com.

Irene tries... reformer pilates

I am lying down with my legs in the air. The stretch, deep into my hips, is sublime. Tight muscles and stiff joints ease each time I pull down and out on the long straps looped around my feet. A stubborn right knee complains before going with the flow. I could easily do this exercise for the entire class, but our instructor, Nadine McCarthy, has a full-body programme to complete in 45 minutes. And it’s all about core strength, built through gravity and resistance.

The reformer pilates machine looks like a one-stop jungle gym for adults. It’s perched inches from the ground and includes a sliding platform, straps, pulleys, foot bar and resistance springs. It’s all about working against your body weight and the springs to challenge, lengthen and strengthen your body.

Though I struggled with coordination initially – where to place my feet and hands and in what order – I soon picked up the exercises. More importantly, I can work at my level by switching between the five springs.

A welcome addition is a squeezable plastic ring. When used between the knees during the lower body workout, it pushes the resistance to a new level. The intense burn was worth the warm glow that followed. With each repetition and by focusing on the breath came a sense of flow, of being in the moment. Of course, all this sliding and suspension comes at a tidy cost. A session is €23, but you can save by buying a bundle. Was it worth the investment? Well, my body felt realigned for days after the class, and I didn’t have an ache or pain. I’ll be back.

maxphysio.ie

Breda tries... somatic movement

A busy work schedule, home life, or social life can often cause us to struggle to slow down and connect with our bodies.

We forget that between completing one task and starting another or rushing from one event to another, we haven’t paid attention to what our bodies need — calm and restoration in a chaotic world full of the stress of the everyday hurry.

After an injury last year, and subsequent illnesses, I was restricted for months as to how I could move my body. I became quite down about not being able to stick to a routine or schedule when it came to exercise, the gym and my hobbies such as hiking. This led me to spiral even further and I found myself entering a hole of self-doubt, questioning my self-worth. Looking for a way to move my body without straining my injury, I came across somatic exercises.

Said to be a bit like yoga, a bit like meditation, and yet their own thing entirely, somatic exercises are trending on social media of late, and for good reason. It was when I began doing somatic exercises, using simple YouTube videos from home, that I realised just how much pent-up stress and anxiety my body was holding onto.

Somatic which comes from the Greek word ‘sōmatikos’ meaning ‘of the body’, combines movement, breathwork, and mindfulness to improve physical and mental health. They help relieve pain and unlock natural healing and are a great way to relieve anxiety and alleviate stress.

Putting into practice what I had learned from home, I recently attended a flow yoga class run by Abbey at Urban Social Cork which was the perfect way to finish this experience of making somatic exercises part of my daily routine. Since starting somatic exercises, I have felt a lot more like me again. I’ve become more confident, I’m more in tune with my body’s signals, I’m managing stress and my emotions, and have become more focused. So, for anyone who is feeling the stresses of everyday life, somatic movements could just be the answer.

@urbansocial.cork on Instagram

Nicole tries... padel

What do presenter Tommy Bowe, footballer Stephanie Roche, model Glenda Gilson and a journalist with a penchant for signing up for the latest fitness craze (that’s me) all have in common? A grá for padel. The sport has been hyped up as one of 2025’s hottest fitness trends after A-listers like David Beckham and the UK’s Princess of Wales Kate Middleton put it on the map of women’s magazines and TikTok (that’s where all trends start these days, right?). Padel courts have been popping up all over the country – this summer, Dublin got its first dedicated padel club in the form of House of Padel in Belgard, and the largest indoor padel court in the country has just opened in Limerick.

A hybrid of tennis and squash, it is played on a court (the surface can vary, but most courts here are artificial turf) surrounded by glass walls and a fence. It’s mostly played in doubles, which lends itself to being a great social activity, but I played it one-on-one with my friend Katie. Neither Katie nor I had any real experience with tennis (unless you count bored summers hitting a tennis ball off the walls), but found it only took us a while to get the hang of it. As eager spinners, we were both surprised to find ourselves dripping in sweat halfway through our hour-long booking at House of Padel. 

Unlike spinning on a bike, where you’re very aware of the fact you are actively exercising, we were just having fun, laughing at pathetic throws and cheering when we got a good rally going, it didn’t really feel like exercise. When I checked my Whoop after the hour, I found my strain (how the watch measures exertion) wasn’t much lower than an all-out 45-minute spin class.

The one drawback of the game is it can be costly unless you have a committed group of pals. During peak times, an hour slot at House of Padel, for example, can hover around the €60 mark– but divided by four, that works out cheaper than my spin class.

Would I do it again? It’s a resounding yes – I am already rounding up friends for my next go.

houseofpadel.co