Why Your Triceps Are on Fire During the SkiErg

Maybe you’ve been there. You’re deep into a 1,000-meter SkiErg evolution, you hit the 500-meter mark, and suddenly the backs of your arms catch aflame, and it's more than uncomfortable.

You try thinking about something else. No good. You adjust your technique—use your legs more, try the “butterfly.” Even still, that deep burn rages on like an inferno of pain.

Eventually, you’re forced to stop, shake out your arms, and let your triceps recover.

If you’ve raced HYROX, you know how costly those precious moments on the course can be.

And, yes, everyone’s natural movement pattern is a little different, the reason your triceps catch fire usually comes down to three fundamental mechanical errors—each rooted in how you move through the Four Phases of the SkiErg Motion.

Breaking Down the SkiErg Stroke

1. Reach – Extend long. Whether tall or short, use the full extension of your body to recruit more muscle groups generate force, sharing work, in the next phase.

2. Catch – Grip firm, brace your core, and engage your lats as the handles load with tension. Whole body muscular tension is a MUST at this moment. 

3. Hinge & Drop – Like a powerful ball slam: send hips back, brace core tight, and drop shoulders through. This is how you generate force—not with your arms. Up to this point, the arms have done nothing more than keep you connected to the handles.

4. Pull, Stand, & Release – Use momentum from your hinge to drive the handles through toward your hips as your extend through your knees and hips back to a stand while returning your arms and handles fluidly back to the Reach.

If energy leaks anywhere in that chain, another muscle group will compensate. Guess who usually pays the price? Your triceps.

The Three Biggest Technique Mistakes

1. No Hinge & Drop
Many athletes hinge without dropping, or drop without hinging. Your Hinge produces the starting force while the Drop builds the momentum into the next phases of the motion. Without both, you lose power from your lower body and force your arms to do all the work—cue triceps burnout.

2. The Over-Skier
You hinge and drop too deep—almost touching your shoes. This fully extends the elbows, forcing your triceps into max contraction every stroke. Over time, they burn out fast.

3. The Straight-Arm Skier
Keeping your arms locked straight keeps the triceps under constant tension through both the Pull and the Release. That’s a one-way ticket to arm fatigue and slower splits. 

How to Fix It

Break the movement into parts. Practice each phase until it feels smooth and coordinated. Build from full-body tension and rhythm, not just arm pull.

Film yourself. Watch where you lose momentum or leak energy. Correct those leaks, and you’ll notice your triceps lasting longer and your split times dropping quickly.

The Takeaway

The SkiErg is an incredible tool for building HYROX-specific endurance and power as well as an important Rox Zone challenge in the race. Becoming familiar with the phases of the ski motion will help not just generate faster SkiErg times, but improve your efficiency to ensure you don't experience fatigue from your effort. 

So next time you feel that burn creeping in, remember: it’s not your triceps that failed—it’s your mechanics asking for refinement.

Train the movement. Engage the mind. Refine the craft. Because in racing as well as in daily living, efficiency is key.