With thousands of athletes, DJs, nightclub-style production and a growing community behind it, METRIX is taking a different approach to the fitness-racing boom Fitness competitions have become very good at making you suffer.
METRIX wants to make you enjoy it, too. The immersive fitness competition returned to Magazine London this September, transforming the industrial Greenwich venue into a combination of fitness arena, nightclub and social space. Thousands of athletes took part, with women accounting for 62% of competitors, while DJs from Atlantic Records provided the soundtrack as pairs battled through five brutal fitness stations.
It is a deliberately different proposition to the increasingly crowded world of hybrid racing. METRIX isn’t simply asking how quickly you can get through a course. Instead, it puts competitors through a series of intense 10-minute efforts, gives them time to recover, and wraps the whole thing in music, lighting, entertainment and a distinctly social atmosphere. The result is a competition that feels as much like an experience as a race.
What Is METRIX?
The format is straightforward, although completing it is anything but. Competitors work in pairs across five stations. First comes 10 minutes on the SkiErg for maximum metres, followed by 10 minutes of burpees over a line, then 10 minutes on the rower, 10 minutes on the bike and finally five minutes of sled pushes followed by five minutes of shuttle runs.
The catch? Each station is about going as hard as possible. Partners use a “you go, I go” format, with one person working while the other recovers, before swapping over. Once the 10 minutes are up, competitors get four minutes to recover and move to the next station.
It creates a very different physiological challenge from a traditional endurance race. You can empty the tank knowing you have a defined recovery period ahead, only to discover that four minutes disappears remarkably quickly when your heart rate is through the roof. And while the sled push and shuttle runs bring an element of strength and running into the final station, the competition is predominantly a test of cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance and your ability to repeatedly produce hard efforts.
Why is METRIX Different?
The comparison is inevitable to other competitions. But the METRIX is actually quite different.
For example HYROX asks competitors to manage their effort over a longer continuous race, combining running with functional stations. METRIX is more stop-start, with short periods of maximum effort followed by structured recovery. There is considerably less running, while the SkiErg, rower and bike play a much bigger role. Then there’s the atmosphere.
At METRIX, music and production aren’t an afterthought. The competition floor is surrounded by lighting, DJs and spectators, creating something closer to a fitness rave than a conventional race venue. That is deliberate.
Co-founder Will McLaren has described METRIX as sitting at the intersection of fitness, music, culture and live entertainment. The aim isn’t to create another version of an existing race, but to make competitive fitness feel more like somewhere people actually want to spend their day.
Meet The Founders
The concept comes from personal trainers and fitness entrepreneurs Will McLaren and Toby Spooner, who have combined their experience in coaching, performance and business to build METRIX.
McLaren is a former Royal Marine and former head coach at KXU London, bringing a background rooted in high-performance training and military discipline. His approach to METRIX has been shaped by the idea that a competition can be demanding without becoming intimidating.
Spooner comes from an exercise science and performance background and has worked across personal training, exercise physiology, cardiac rehabilitation and strength and conditioning. Together, the pair wanted to create something that could appeal to serious athletes without excluding the person who simply enjoys training and wants a new challenge.
That thinking is built into the workout itself. The equipment is familiar to anyone who trains in a commercial gym, while the partner format means competitors can share the workload rather than being left to battle through the entire event alone.
The Music Is Part Of The Workout
Spend enough time around fitness competitions and you’ll quickly realise that atmosphere can change everything. At METRIX, the music is central to the experience. Atlantic Records DJs provide the soundtrack while competitors move between stations, with the lights, crowd and production creating a club-like environment around the workout.
It sounds like a gimmick until you’re halfway through 10 minutes on the rower and a good track drops. Suddenly, you’re looking at the clock slightly less and the person next to you slightly more.
The four-minute recovery periods also become part of the experience. Rather than simply standing around waiting for the next race to begin, competitors move through the venue, grab a drink, recover and prepare for the next station while the atmosphere continues around them. It’s a small change, but it makes the competition feel less clinical.
The Partners
METRIX is also deliberately social. Competitors enter as pairs, with men’s, women’s and mixed categories, while gyms, companies and groups can book waves together. Around 30–40% of attendees at the latest London event came through gym affiliates, with one gym bringing around 100 participants. That means the competition becomes something to train towards with your mates rather than simply an individual test.
The social aspect is underlined as on the Saturday day of the event large crowds stayed around enjoying food and drink outside chatting away and making friends! Eventually only leaving becasue the venue needed to close!
METRIX’s philosophy is summed up by its own phrase: “Start together. Finish together.”
It’s an idea that seems to be working. The brand says around 30% of competitors return after their first event, suggesting the experience is becoming something people want to repeat rather than a challenge they tick off once. And if you want to compete but don’t have a fitness-obsessed friend willing to suffer alongside you, METRIX has even introduced matchmaking, pairing competitors based on fitness level and preferences.
Growing Fast
The latest London event brought METRIX’s 2026 calendar to a close, but the brand is already looking towards a much bigger year. Its 2027 UK circuit will visit London, Manchester and Cardiff, with more than 10,000 attendees expected across the series. There are also plans for METRIX’s first international event.
That expansion follows rapid growth since the first events. The latest London competition attracted thousands of competitors and attendees, while the brand has increasingly positioned gyms and fitness communities at the centre of its growth.
The fitness-racing boom has already proved that people are willing to train harder when there’s a finish line to work towards. METRIX is asking a slightly different question: what if the journey to that finish line was just as appealing?
With the right music, your mates beside you and thousands of other people pushing themselves around you, suffering through 10 minutes on a SkiErg suddenly doesn’t seem quite so bad.
Well, almost.
If you have been inspired you can find your next METRIX competition here
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