If you are plugged into the functional fitness world at all, you have probably heard the buzz. XENOM -- branded as "The Decathlon of Fitness" -- officially launched on February 27, 2026 with $15 million in backing and a vision to become the global standard for competitive fitness. And the first competition in the history of the series? It is happening right here in Frisco, Texas on June 27-28 at the Ford Center at The Star -- the Dallas Cowboys headquarters and practice facility.

As a coach with over 20 years of experience in the functional fitness space, I have been waiting for something like this. Here is everything you need to know about XENOM, why it matters, and what it could mean for athletes in Frisco and beyond.

What Is XENOM?

XENOM is a new competitive fitness series built around a fixed 10-event format that tests maximal strength, gymnastics, and aerobic capacity over a two-day weekend. Unlike the CrossFit Games, where workouts change every year and athletes do not know what they are walking into, XENOM uses the same 10 events at every competition. Same events. Same scoring. Every single time.

That distinction is important. It is what makes this feel less like an exhibition and more like an actual sport. Think about track and field -- the decathlon does not change its events from year to year. You know exactly what you are training for, and your performance is measured against a consistent standard. XENOM is applying that same logic to functional fitness, and honestly, it is about time someone did.

The series was founded by Keith Barlow, who holds a CrossFit Level 2 certification and is the co-owner of Fittest, a PR agency that has worked with brands like HYROX, Puma, and Red Bull. Rogue Fitness is the foundational equipment partner, and the $15 million seed round was led by WndrCo -- the investment firm run by Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks.

How the Scoring Works

This is where XENOM gets interesting from a coaching perspective. Instead of a traditional race-style leaderboard where first place simply beats second place, XENOM uses a points-based scoring system called the Elite Performance Index (EPI). It is modeled after decathlon scoring in track and field.

Each of the 10 events generates a score calculated as a percentage of an elite-level benchmark. Athletes can score higher or lower than 1,000 points per event, and the scores are weighted so that improvements across different fitness domains are rewarded equally. Your total across all 10 events is your EPI score -- a single number that represents how well-rounded you are as an athlete.

That number follows you. It is comparable across events, across locations, and across time. You compete in Dallas in June and London in August? Your EPI score tells you exactly where you improved and where you fell short. This is powerful for athletes who want to track long-term development, and it is powerful for defining what a truly well-rounded athlete actually looks like.

If you have been in the CrossFit world long enough, this concept might sound familiar. Back in 2003, Greg Glassman published an article in the CrossFit Journal called "How Fit Are You?" where he proposed five tests designed to measure fitness across broad time and modal domains -- absolute strength, relative strength, and gymnastics foundations. That article was ahead of its time. It was trying to answer the same question XENOM is answering now: how do you objectively measure well-rounded fitness? XENOM is essentially the modern, 10-event version of that idea -- with standardized scoring, global infrastructure, and the backing to make it last.

The Events We Know So Far

XENOM has announced three of the ten events, with the remaining seven rolling out in the coming weeks. Here is what we know:

  • Event 1 -- Snatch 1RM: Athletes have nine minutes to establish a one-rep max snatch with four attempts at 90-second intervals. This is a pure maximal strength test. It rewards years of technical development and raw power. For anyone coming from the weightlifting world, this is where you shine.
  • Event 5 -- 3K Run + 2K Echo Ski: A 3,000-meter run directly into a 2,000-meter Echo Ski with no time cap. This is a straight-up aerobic capacity test. No barbells, no gymnastics -- just engine.
  • Event 7 -- Gymnastics Triplet: A combination of toes-to-bar, dual dumbbell hang snatch, and bar and ring muscle-ups. This is the kind of event that separates good athletes from great ones. The gymnastics component will make or break your overall score.

Just looking at these three events, you can see the range. A max snatch, a long cardio grind, and a gymnastics-heavy triplet. This is not a competition you can specialize your way through. You need to be strong, you need to have an engine, and you need to be skilled. That is what makes the decathlon concept work.

Divisions and Who Can Compete

XENOM offers three divisions within both individual and same-sex pairs categories:

  • Elite: Advanced loading and technical standards designed for the top athletes in the functional fitness space. This is the highest level.
  • RX: Prescribed competition standards for experienced athletes. If you have been training and competing for a few years, this is likely your division.
  • Compete: Scaled loading and movement complexity within the full 10-event format. This is the accessible entry point for athletes newer to competition who still want the full experience.

Each event holds 2,000 athletes. For the inaugural competition in Frisco, individual registration is $500, pairs are $450 per person, and spectator tickets are $25.

How XENOM Compares to HYROX and the CrossFit Games

The competitive fitness landscape has gotten crowded, and XENOM is entering an arena with two established players. Here is how they stack up from a coach's perspective:

CrossFit Games: The original test of fitness. The Games have always been about the unknown and unknowable -- athletes do not know what events they will face until competition day. That makes for great television, but it does not create a standardized sport. It is an exhibition of preparedness, not a repeatable benchmark. XENOM fixes this by locking in the events.

HYROX: HYROX took functional fitness and made it extremely accessible. Eight 1-kilometer runs broken up by eight workout stations with moderate loads. The format is standardized, the times are comparable worldwide, and the barrier to entry is low. But here is the thing -- there is no barbell in HYROX. There are no gymnastics. There is no max strength test. For a lot of CrossFit athletes, HYROX just does not scratch the itch. The moment you throw a barbell into the mix and add gymnastics, you have the attention of a completely different athlete pool.

XENOM: XENOM sits in the space between the two. It has the standardized, repeatable format that HYROX pioneered, but with the technical complexity and strength demands that CrossFit athletes crave. Will the athlete pool be smaller than HYROX? Probably -- the skill ceiling is higher. But it could pull athletes from CrossFit who were never interested in HYROX, and it could pull from the weightlifting world too. There are a lot of strong, athletic lifters out there who could crush a max-calorie bike test but whose gymnastics will determine where they finish overall.

We have seen fitness competitions rise and fall over the years. Spartan Races and Tough Mudders exploded in popularity and then faded. HYROX has the numbers right now, largely from accessibility, but how long does that hold? I think XENOM has more potential as a lasting sport because of the skill ceiling and the standardized scoring. But it is extremely early, and the execution of Event 001 will tell us a lot.

What Will Make or Break XENOM

From a coaching standpoint, the thing I am watching most closely is movement standards. This is what separates a real sport from a fitness event. In Olympic weightlifting, the standards are clearly defined and consistently enforced by trained judges. In CrossFit, standards have always been a point of contention -- what counts as a rep, what does not, and how consistently that gets enforced across heats and competitions.

Take the snatch, for example. Is XENOM going to judge it to an Olympic standard -- full lockout, feet in line, controlled overhead? That would be my preference. Or is it more of a point-A-to-point-B standard where you just need to get the bar overhead? Same question applies to movements like wall walks, muscle-ups, and toes-to-bar. The harder movements are the hardest to define and judge consistently.

If XENOM gets the standards right -- clearly defined, consistently enforced, with a high skill ceiling -- this could be the thing that finally turns competitive fitness into a legitimate, lasting sport. If they get it wrong, it becomes another event series that is fun for a few years and then fades.

Event 001 Is in Our Backyard

Here is the part that makes this personal for us at Black Iron Athletics. The first XENOM competition in history is happening at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, TX -- the same city where we have been coaching athletes since 2013. This is not happening in Los Angeles or Miami first. It is happening right here.

The Ford Center is a world-class venue. It is the indoor practice facility for the Dallas Cowboys, and it has the infrastructure to host a competition of this scale. Two thousand athletes over two days, with spectator seating and a full production setup. For Frisco, this is a massive event and a signal that our city is being recognized as a hub for competitive fitness.

Season 001 includes 11 events across the U.S. and Europe, with Frisco followed by London on August 29-30, then Miami and Paris. The long-term goal is 60-plus events per year worldwide. But it all starts here on June 27-28.

How to Prepare for XENOM

If you are thinking about competing in XENOM -- or if this article just got you fired up to train -- here is the reality: you need to be strong, you need to move well, and you need an engine. There is no way to fake your way through 10 events that test maximal strength, gymnastics, and aerobic capacity.

This is exactly the kind of athlete we build at Black Iron Athletics. Our programming covers all three of those domains every week. We train Olympic weightlifting, we train gymnastics and bodyweight skills, and we build aerobic capacity through structured conditioning work. That is not a coincidence -- it is how well-rounded fitness has always been developed.

Whether you are eyeing the Elite division or the Compete division, the path starts with consistent, intelligent training under coaches who understand the demands. At Black Iron Athletics in Frisco, TX, we have been doing this for over a decade. We have coached competitive athletes, weightlifters, and everyday people who just want to be better. If XENOM has your attention, we can help you get ready.

At the end of the day, fitness is fitness. Anything that gets people excited to move, to push their limits, and to chase a standard is a good thing in my book. XENOM is the most intriguing thing to happen in this space in a long time, and I am excited to see where it goes.