I didn’t set out to create a fitness brand.
I set out to compete.

My name is Steven Bainbridge, Founder and CEO of 8ROX.

For over 38 years, sport, performance and coaching have been at the centre of my life. As a PGA Professional, entrepreneur and coach, I’ve spent my career helping people improve, challenging conventional thinking and understanding what it really takes to perform.

But just over a year ago, I started a completely different journey.

I entered the world of hybrid racing.

Like thousands of others, I started as a complete newcomer to the sport. I wanted to challenge myself, get fitter, train harder and experience the atmosphere of my first race.

What I didn’t realise was that this journey would eventually lead me to create 8ROX.

It started with my first race.

I remember the excitement of entering my first event. The training, the preparation, the nerves and the feeling of becoming part of something much bigger.

I was hooked.

Like many people entering the sport, I wanted to feel part of the community. I wanted the clothing, the equipment and the products that represented this new lifestyle.

I remember wanting a HYROX hoodie.

But then I started thinking about what I actually wanted to wear.

I didn’t necessarily want to walk around wearing event merchandise. I wanted something cooler. Something premium. Something that represented the sport and the lifestyle without looking like I’d just come from a race.

Something I could wear to training, to an event, to the gym, or simply out for coffee.

I wanted a brand that represented who we are as hybrid athletes, not just the races we enter.

And that was the first spark behind 8ROX.

Then came the frustration.

As I became more involved in training and racing, I started looking more closely at the products available.

And the more I looked, the more frustrated I became.

Running shoes were being marketed as hybrid racing shoes. In some cases, it seemed that an existing running shoe had been given a different colourway, some new branding and a hybrid label.

But where was the actual product development for the demands of hybrid racing?

A hybrid athlete doesn’t just run.

We push and pull heavy sleds. We perform explosive movements, lunges, burpees, carries and wall balls. We transition repeatedly between running and functional exercise, often under extreme fatigue.

The demands on footwear are completely different from those of a conventional road running shoe.

So why were we being sold products that didn’t appear to have been designed around those demands?

And it wasn’t just footwear.

I questioned grip socks, performance clothing, race vests, shorts and other accessories.

Were these products genuinely being developed for the sport? Or were existing products simply being repackaged and marketed to a rapidly growing audience?

I couldn’t understand why more brands weren’t starting with the athlete, understanding the demands of the event, and then designing the product around those needs.

I believed there had to be a better way.

So I decided to build it.

Over the past year, I’ve dedicated an enormous amount of time to researching, sourcing, developing and testing products specifically for hybrid athletes.

I’ve spoken to manufacturers, explored materials, challenged designs, studied performance requirements and worked to understand what athletes genuinely need from their equipment.

I’ve approached this with the same mindset I’ve brought to coaching throughout my career.

Every detail needs a purpose. Every design decision needs a reason. Every product needs to earn its place.

If we’re developing a hybrid training shoe, we need to consider running efficiency, stability, grip, lateral support, durability and how it performs across the different movements of a race.

If we’re developing grip socks, we need to think about movement inside the shoe, comfort, friction, moisture and performance under fatigue.

If we’re designing a race vest or T-shirt, it needs to perform when an athlete is working at maximum intensity, while still looking good enough that they’re proud to wear it outside the gym.

And when it comes to lifestyle clothing, I believe performance athletes deserve the same level of design, quality and style as anyone else.

I don’t want 8ROX to sell products simply because there’s a market for them.

I want us to sell products because there’s a genuine reason for them to exist.

I’m not just building the brand. I’m living the journey.

During the same period that I’ve been building 8ROX, I’ve continued to push myself as an athlete.

From entering my first hybrid race just over a year ago, I’ve progressed through the sport and qualified for the HYROX World Championships.

And that journey has taught me more than any market research report ever could.

I’ve experienced the early nerves of entering an event, the challenges of training, the frustration of setbacks, the demands of race day and the incredible satisfaction of achieving something you once thought was beyond you.

I’ve experienced what our customers experience.

I’m still learning, still training, still racing and still looking for ways to improve.

That matters to me because I never want 8ROX to become a brand that loses touch with the people it was created for.

More than a clothing company.

My vision for 8ROX has grown far beyond the original idea of creating better products.

I want to build a global home for hybrid fitness.

A place where someone entering their very first race feels just as welcome as an elite athlete chasing a world title.

Where people can find genuinely purpose-designed performance products, access great coaches, improve their training, connect with other athletes and become part of a community that supports their ambitions.

Whether you’re trying to finish your first race, break a personal best, transform your fitness or compete at the highest level, I want 8ROX to be part of that journey.

Because I’ve been on that journey myself.

And I’m still on it.

The promise behind 8ROX.

There will always be new products, new trends and new brands entering this sport.

But I want 8ROX to stand for something different.

We won’t put our name on a product simply because we can sell it.

We won’t call something a hybrid performance product just because it’s fashionable.

And we won’t compromise our standards simply to get something to market faster.

Our ambition is to create products that are considered, purposeful, tested and developed with the athlete in mind.

Products that perform when you need them.

Products that look as good as they feel.

Products we’re proud to put the 8ROX name on.

Designed with purpose. Built for performance. Created by athletes, for athletes.

That’s why I started 8ROX.

And that’s the standard I intend to build this company around.

Steven Bainbridge
Founder & CEO, 8ROX
HYROX World Championship Qualifier
PGA Professional | HYROX Certified Coach

8ROX — Hybrid by Design.