# @bret_gornik on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DSNHekWDvGY
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/61609128-bret-gornik-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/145e85b17f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-12-13T13:19:24.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Bret Gornik (@bret_gornik) — https://gondola.cc/bret_gornik

## Caption

Common SkiErg mistakes in HYROX

Most athletes lose time on the SkiErg not because they are weak, but because they misunderstand how to use the machine in the context of a seventy minute race. The SkiErg is the first station and it sets your entire physiological trajectory. If you make these mistakes, you raise your lactate too early, elevate heart rate too fast, and set off a chain reaction you will feel for the next seven runs.

Here are the three most common errors.

1. Too many strokes per minute
A high stroke rate looks fast but usually produces less force per pull. That means you burn more energy for less output. Optimal SkiErg pacing is built on power per stroke, not frequency. Elite athletes often sit between thirty five and forty strokes per minute for controlled efficiency.

2. Damper too high
Setting the damper high creates artificial resistance that feels powerful for ten seconds and catastrophic for the next nine minutes of your race. A lower damper, usually between three and five, allows you to move smoothly through each pull and maintain aerobic control. Remember, you are not doing a max effort. You are preparing your body for the next hour of work.

3. Going too aggressive
The SkiErg punishes athletes who forget that HYROX is a threshold race. If you open at a wattage you cannot repeat, your heart rate spikes, your breathing pattern breaks, and the sled push immediately feels heavier than it should. A controlled SkiErg keeps you inside your working aerobic range where lactate is produced and cleared at almost the same rate. That is how you stay in the race instead of surviving it.

Master these basics and the SkiErg becomes a setup, not a setback.

If you want to build a SkiErg strategy that actually carries you through the rest of the race, send me a message and we can break down your pacing, stroke mechanics, and race plan.

#HYROX #HYROXTraining #HybridAthlete #AEROBICENGINE #SkiErg #RaceStrategy #LiveBetterCo #HYROXAcademy

## Stats

- **Views:** 3,094
- **Likes:** 134
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- **Comments:** 8

## Tags

aerobicengine, hyroxacademy, racestrategy, hyroxtraining, hyrox, skierg, hybridathlete, livebetterco

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