Jay Park has been breakdancing since he was a teenager, has built a hip-hop empire across two continents, and regularly performs for tens of thousands of screaming fans. But on Sunday afternoon at the National Stadium at The Kallang, the 38-year-old Korean-American artist took on something entirely new: a HYROX race.
Competing in the men’s doubles category at AIA HYROX Singapore 2026 alongside his trainer Park Chan-So, better known as Eddy, Park crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 8 minutes and 52 seconds.
It was a debut that capped a whirlwind preparation period marked by an ankle injury, late-night training sessions squeezed in after 13-hour workdays, and a travel schedule that stretched from Hong Kong to Japan and back before he could finally lock in on race day.
Park’s participation was part of a partnership with AIA Singapore, which has been the official title partner of HYROX in Singapore since 2025. As the insurer celebrates its 95th anniversary in Singapore this year, the collaboration with Park was a natural fit: a global artist known for his discipline and drive, taking on a fitness challenge that demands both physical endurance and mental resilience.
“I always like to push myself, whether it be with exercise, or with music, or with my career,” Park said at a pre-race media session arranged by AIA Singapore. “And so when the opportunity came about, I was like, why not, right? I’m used to difficult things and things being hard.”
Coming Back From Injury
The road to the start line was far from smooth. In October last year, Park tore 80 per cent of the ligament in his ankle, an injury sustained while attempting a side flip, and spent a month on crutches. He only started running again in February, with his first run taking place in Malaysia.
The shortened timeline meant Park could not prepare with the thoroughness he would have liked. Between performing at ComplexCon Hong Kong and Head in the Clouds in Japan, filming Show Me The Money, and managing boy band LNGSHOT under his music label More Vision, there was little room for dedicated HYROX-specific training.
“I couldn’t really focus on it, right? Because I had to focus on so many other things,” Park admitted. “Now I’m here for this, so I’m focused on this.”
Late Night Workouts
For someone juggling the roles of R&B artist, music producer, CEO, and HYROX competitor, the question of when to train had a simple answer: whenever he could.
“You just got to squeeze it in, to be honest. No excuses,” Park said. “So after like a 12, 13-hour day, and then I will work out at like 11pm.”
He recounted arriving in Singapore after wrapping Show Me The Money, grabbing a meal, getting an hour of sleep, and heading straight to train on battle ropes and other HYROX stations.
“Even though you feel exhausted and you feel like you want to rest, it’s like if you have HYROX the next day, then you just got to thug it out. You just got to do it.”
A Different Kind of Fitness
Park was candid about the difference between training for the stage and training for a HYROX race. Preparing for a concert meant synchronising with a team of over 100 dancers, choreographers, lighting crews, and the band. HYROX is a different ballgame entirely.
“For something like [HYROX], it’s more I have to make sure that my stamina is good, my strength is good, that I’m eating the right things,” he explained. “The workouts for this and the workouts for trying to look good on stage is very different.”
One of the perks of training for HYROX was that Park could eat more because he had to “expend so much energy”. Park added, “For HYROX, I’m not trying to look like MOMMAE with six packs. No, I want to perform well.”
Going into AIA HYROX Singapore, Park had identified anything involving weight and legs as his biggest challenge, particularly the lunges and the sled push, which put pressure on an ankle still recovering from last year’s injury. His best station, he reckoned, would be the burpees, thanks to his light frame and a lifetime of breakdancing. He also felt he would be good at the farmer’s carry, where years of b-boy training had given him a “very strong grip”.
Beating the Target
Before the race, Park’s trainer Eddy had set a target of 1 hour and 5 minutes. Park was not so sure. “The more and more I study about HYROX, I’m thinking that that’s a very ambitious goal,” he said.
As it turned out, he came close. The pair crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 8 minutes and 52 seconds, just under four minutes off their target, finishing 13th in their 35-39 age group out of more than 300 pairs. For a debut racer who had torn his ankle ligament months earlier and only started running again in February, it was a more than respectable showing.
The pressure from fellow K-pop stars had been real, too. SHINee’s Choi Minho, who competed at AIA HYROX Singapore on Friday morning with partner Hong Beom-Seok, had claimed first place in the same age group category. “It doesn’t help that Minho from SHINee got first place. So it’s a lot of pressure. Damn,” Park had said before the race, laughing. “Yeah, he’s a little bit younger than me, so…”
But for Park, this was never about podium finishes. “For me, it’s not about what place I get, right? Even though there are a lot of other people competing, for me, I’m not competing with them. I’m competing for myself,” he said. “If I set a goal, then no matter what, how long it takes me, I have to do it. That’s just kind of what mentality I have.”
A Third Home
Park, who has visited Singapore between 25 and 30 times over the course of his career, called the city-state his third home after the US and Korea, and was glad his HYROX debut happened here.
“Thank you for everyone that has been supporting me throughout my whole career,” he said. “And yeah, I’m glad that my first time doing HYROX is in Singapore.”
As for what comes next, Park left the door open. He said he would love to compete in more HYROX events but acknowledged the reality of his schedule. “I can’t just take time out of my day to go compete in a bunch of HYROXs,” he said. “I would love to one day, once I have more time on my hands. But right now, it’s very brutal. The schedule is very brutal.”
It is the kind of attitude, balancing peak performance with the demands of everyday life, that made the partnership between Park and AIA Singapore feel like a natural one. Health, as Park put it, is about finding balance. “It is okay to enjoy and indulge every once in a while. But if that becomes a habit, then you’re not taking care of your health,” he said. “I think finding that balance is very, very important.”
His parting words to the Singapore crowd before the race were simple: “Be healthy, be kind to one another, and be blessed.”
This interview was made possible by AIA Singapore. AIA Singapore has been the official title partner of HYROX in Singapore since 2025, and the partnership between AIA Singapore and Jay Park is part of the company’s efforts to empower people to live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives and is part of its 95th birthday celebrations in Singapore.
