Over 40 and Stressed: My HYROX Fresh Start at 42

Full English translation of the original German article and transcript. Ages, plans and event dates reflect the original publication on 3 April 2026.

HYROX, stress relief and new challenges after 40: Reza Mehman reflects on life as a father, entrepreneur and athlete.

Over 40 and Stressed: Starting Again at 42

Over 40 and stressed: Reza Mehman knows that feeling all too well. Reza is 42, an entrepreneur, father and podcaster. In the first episode of his new series, he talks about his latest sporting challenge: HYROX. After 25 years of basketball and increasing knee problems, it was clear that he needed a new sport. Together with blind Paralympic judoka Lennart Sass, he is preparing for a HYROX doubles race in Cologne. It is about fitness, stress relief and work–life balance. How do you pursue your goals after 40 without neglecting your family and career? This episode launches a series about the real challenges of life as a man over 40.

Summary

One-sentence version: At 42, Reza Mehman launches a new podcast series about HYROX, stress relief and finding balance as a father and entrepreneur.

Short version: Reza Mehman is 42, an entrepreneur and a father. His new podcast series is aimed at people over 40 juggling many demands and everyday stress. After 25 years of basketball, he has discovered a new sport in HYROX. He is training for a doubles race in Cologne with blind Paralympic judoka Lennart Sass. Alongside sport, he discusses work–life balance, digital stress and finding your centre as a father, entrepreneur and person.

Extended version: Reza Mehman introduces himself in the first episode of his new podcast series. He is 42, a father of two, an entrepreneur and a podcaster with numerous projects. After knee problems forced him to stop playing basketball after 25 years, he found a new sporting challenge in HYROX. He is training with 26-year-old blind Paralympic judoka Lennart Sass for a HYROX doubles race in Cologne on 16 April. Lennart won bronze at the Paralympics in Paris. Reza speaks openly about the difficult balancing act of daily life. Family, work, Dinner im Schloss and his own training programme all need to fit together. Future episodes will also address stress, cortisol, weight loss, social media and the fine adjustments of everyday life after 40.

Context: Who, What and Why

Who is speaking: Reza Mehman, 42, an entrepreneur from Heidelberg, father of two, host of the Reza Mehman Podcast and organiser of Dinner im Schloss in Heidelberg.

What it is about: Reza introduces his new podcast series about life after 40. This episode focuses on his decision to take part in a HYROX competition at 42 and how he uses sport to manage stress.

Why it matters: More and more people over 40 are looking for ways to remain active and manage stress despite professional and family pressures. HYROX is one of the fastest-growing fitness sports worldwide.

Three key questions answered:

How do you take on a new sporting challenge such as HYROX at 42?
How do you fit sport, family, entrepreneurship and hobbies into your life?
Why does Reza consider sport one of the best ways to manage everyday stress after 40?

Introduction — What this episode is about
Summary — The main points at a glance
Context — Who is speaking and why
Topics and Context — The main themes
Key Takeaways — The central statements
Frequently Asked Questions — Questions about the episode
Selected Quotes — Standout statements
The Full Conversation — The complete transcript

Topics and Context

1. Sport and Fitness After 40

From basketball to HYROX: how sporting goals and possibilities change after 40, and why new challenges matter.

Keywords: HYROX, sport at 42, fitness over 40, knee problems and sport

2. Work–Life Balance as a Father and Entrepreneur

The constant back and forth between family time, work and personal goals. How do you find the right balance?

Keywords: work–life balance for fathers, entrepreneurs and family, time management over 40

3. Stress Management and Mental Health

Stress as one of the biggest negative influences in modern life. Sport as a tool for dealing with cortisol and burnout.

Keywords: exercise for stress relief, lowering cortisol, men’s mental health

4. HYROX as a Growing Sport

What HYROX is, how it differs from CrossFit and why it is becoming so popular.

Keywords: HYROX explained, HYROX doubles, HYROX Cologne, fitness trends

5. Inspiration Through Para Sport

Training with blind Paralympic judoka Lennart Sass and what people with disabilities can teach us about drive and motivation.

Keywords: Lennart Sass, para judo, Paris Paralympics, inclusive sporting partnership

Key Takeaways

Taking on a new sporting challenge at 42 is more demanding than expected, but incredibly rewarding.
HYROX consists of eight one-kilometre runs with set exercises between them, forming a structured competition format.
Stress is one of the biggest negative influences in the lives of people in the global West.
Sport is one of the best ways to relieve stress and become a more balanced person.
Regular exercise can help you focus on your family, children and professional projects.
Everyone should set themselves a personal sporting challenge, whether a 10-kilometre run or HYROX.
In Reza’s illustration, losing just one kilogram means carrying 10,000 fewer kilograms cumulatively over 10,000 daily steps.
Social media has a major influence on our stress levels and, in Reza’s view, most people use it in ways that affect them negatively.
The aim is not to maximise time with your children, but to improve the quality of the time you share.
A deadline and a broad training plan can positively change your entire daily routine.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is HYROX and how does it work?

HYROX is a growing fitness sport with exercises similar to CrossFit. You run eight one-kilometre sections and perform set exercises after each kilometre. The workout programme is always the same, which distinguishes HYROX from CrossFit.

Can you take part in HYROX after 40?

Yes. Reza Mehman is taking part in his first HYROX at 42. The training demands are greater than expected, but with the right preparation and motivation, he considers it achievable. Appropriate training and managing his weight are important to him.

Who is Lennart Sass?

Lennart Sass is a 26-year-old para judoka who has been blind since he was 16. He is among the world’s leading para judoka and won bronze at the Paris Paralympics. He is Reza’s HYROX doubles partner.

How does exercise help with stress?

According to Reza Mehman, exercise is one of the best ways to reduce stress. Reza says that people who exercise regularly are generally more relaxed and interact better with those around them. They also have more focus for their children and professional projects.

What is Dinner im Schloss in Heidelberg?

Dinner im Schloss is an annual event in Heidelberg centred on entrepreneurship and business. It features panel discussions with leading speakers, including guests such as Johannes Kliesch from SNOCKS and Pip Klöckner. It takes place on the last Tuesday in April.

Why did Reza Mehman start a new podcast series?

Alongside his podcast on politics and business, Reza wanted a channel for more personal topics. These include sport, stress management, fatherhood and life as a man over 40 with many demands to juggle.

How do you balance sport, family and work?

Reza describes it as a constant back and forth. A clear challenge with a deadline, around which you organise your weekly schedule, makes the difference. For Reza, quality matters more than the sheer amount of family time.

Selected Quotes

“I am 42 years old, a father of two, an entrepreneur, and I have a few hobbies that have got out of hand.” — Reza Mehman

“Stress is one of the most powerful influences we face today, at least in the global West.” — Reza Mehman

“I see sport itself as one of the best ways to really reduce stress.” — Reza Mehman

“Even if I lose one kilogram, over 10,000 steps a day that means I have carried 10,000 fewer kilograms.” — Reza Mehman

“It has an incredible effect on you to work towards something with a rough plan and a rough deadline.” — Reza Mehman

“If I have a way to reduce stress, I am generally a more relaxed person, perhaps even a better person.” — Reza Mehman

“I find the energy and drive this guy brings incredible, considering that he has been blind since he was 16.” — Reza Mehman

The Full Conversation

Introduction and Background

Reza Mehman:

Hi everyone, my name is Reza. I am 42 years old, a father of two, an entrepreneur, and I have a few hobbies that have got out of hand. Some of the people listening right now can probably relate to that. I am certainly not the only person on this wavelength.

There is already my podcast, the Reza Mehman Podcast. There I talk about various topics relating to politics and business, and mindset is important to me too. I thought I would start a new podcast series. I do not want to work within the rigid structures of my existing podcast and only talk about political and economic issues and so on. Instead, I want to talk about what it is like to still try to stay young at 42, be a good father, be an entrepreneur and pursue your hobbies. I want to explore various topics in this new podcast series.

From Basketball to HYROX

Today I want to talk about what it is like to become really active in sport again at 42. A little background: you could say I have played basketball all my life. Although I am not the right height for it, I played basketball for a very long time, and I really enjoy it — or really enjoyed it.

I stopped playing basketball two years ago, partly because my knees were no longer in such good shape. My time playing basketball, including at club level, was somewhere between 25 and 27 years, roughly speaking. I took it seriously. When I noticed about two years ago that my knees, Achilles tendon and the ligaments in my feet and legs were no longer quite keeping up, I decided to take a short break.

Of course, that raised the question of what I would do next in sport. I normally do quite a lot of strength training. That can also get boring over time. So I recently decided to take part in a HYROX race.

What Is HYROX?

You could almost call HYROX a fitness trend. In terms of the exercises, it is similar to CrossFit. I would say the only major difference from CrossFit is that the workout programme is relatively fixed — not just relatively, it is very fixed. You run eight times one kilometre. After each kilometre, you perform certain exercises, which are always the same.

Training Partner Lennart Sass

I discovered the sport for myself a while ago and decided to take part in a HYROX race, not on my own but in doubles with a good friend of mine — or someone who has become a good friend, if I may call him that. His name is Lennart Sass. He is a 26-year-old para judoka who has been blind since he was 16. He is one of the world’s top para judoka. For example, he won the bronze medal at the Paralympics in Paris and will most likely take part again in LA in 2028.

Of course, at 26 he is in his prime, age-wise. Taking on a new fitness challenge at that age is naturally different from doing so at 42. But I am enjoying it enormously.

Training Demands and Hobbies That Got Out of Hand

I have to say, though, that the training demands are definitely greater than I expected. As I mentioned at the start, you need to know that I have a few hobbies that have got completely out of hand.

I will briefly list a few so that you can get to know me a little better. Alongside being an entrepreneur, which is how I earn my living, I have my podcast series, the Reza Mehman Podcast, which naturally takes up a lot of time. I love doing it, of course. But you can imagine that it is not something you can make good money from in Germany unless you are perhaps among the top two or three per cent of all podcasters here. It is a huge amount of work, but I enjoy it immensely. I think I am now in my fifth or sixth year, roughly speaking. I have released several hundred episodes, of course, and I intend to keep going.

Dinner im Schloss

Alongside that, I also run an event in Heidelberg. It is called Dinner im Schloss and takes place once a year. It is an event centred on entrepreneurship and business. We have truly outstanding guests speaking on panel discussions and, of course, lots of attendees. You have to picture it like this: once a year, this event puts me under maximum stress. It is always at the end of April, on the last Tuesday in April, and the preparations take an enormous amount of time. From January onwards, the tension naturally increases for me as Dinner im Schloss gets closer.

I have had leading speakers such as Johannes Kliesch from SNOCKS, the finance minister of Baden-Württemberg, Tatjana Kiel from Hamburg, and this year Pip Klöckner. I am incredibly excited that he will be joining us and that I will be able to speak with him.

You can imagine that this is something I enjoy enormously, including parts of the preparation and the conversations with people. Of course, not every part of the preparation is fun. But interacting with people and the day itself are wonderful. I prepare it, and naturally I am stressed on the day too, but overall I come out of it feeling positive.

Time Management and Family

Now I have also decided to take on HYROX, and you might wonder how I fit it into my schedule. That really is a major issue, because I also try to be a good father to my kids, and anyone with children can probably relate. It is always a back and forth: how can I spend plenty of time with my children and family, while also pursuing my own goals and wishes?

In this case, with HYROX, I set myself a goal. I do not know whether I will manage it, whether we will manage it, but we are entering the HYROX race in Cologne on 16 April. Dinner im Schloss is on the 28th, by the way. We are competing on 16 April, and I want our time to be better than the average time for all men’s HYROX doubles teams.

That might sound achievable at first, but you have to remember that the people entering HYROX are generally quite fit. In my view, the average time will therefore already be very good. Nevertheless, that is what I am aiming for, and of course I have to prepare for it.

Body Weight and Losing Weight

You might be able to see it a little in the video, but I am not exactly the lightest guy. First, I had to get into running. Naturally there is strain on the knees. It is a completely different type and style of training, and it helps if you carry a few fewer kilos around.

I recently came across something very interesting, just to illustrate it: even if I lose one kilogram, over 10,000 steps a day that means I have carried 10,000 fewer kilograms. That is an incredibly large number, and it really brought it home to me again. Losing weight has therefore become relevant to me again over the last few weeks and months, because I currently weigh around 90 kilograms. I would like to get down to about 88 kilograms and stay there if possible. I should probably weigh a little less if I were going by BMI and so on, but being a strong guy matters to me too.

Why This New Podcast Series?

You might now ask why I am making this whole new podcast series. The main reason is that I enjoy discussing issues beyond what is happening in the outside world. I cover political topics and so on on my regular podcast channel. On this channel, I would rather speak to people in a similar situation to mine: people with lots of things to juggle who are trying to keep their stress levels consistently lower.

Stress as a Central Theme

I want to discuss stress more often in this series. I think stress is one of the most powerful influences we face today, at least here in the global West. It is one of the biggest and most negative influences in our lives. And anything can trigger stress. Even too much exercise can cause stress, as can bad news, or naturally pressure at work, projects and so on.

Nevertheless, I think learning to deal with stress is one of the most important things we need to do in this day and age.

We also experience digital stress. I really have to say that I need to be careful about this myself, but I will discuss that in one of the next episodes. I take a very critical view of what social media does to us. We give ourselves over to it and, for example, check social media very frequently in one form or another, whether Instagram, YouTube or something else. Social media has a very big influence. You can use it very positively, but I think most people unfortunately use it negatively, and I want to talk about that.

A Challenge for Everyone

What I particularly want to highlight in today’s episode is HYROX. I have really found it for myself. I can only recommend that everyone take on a new challenge. It does not necessarily have to be HYROX. It could be, I do not know, a 10-kilometre run if you are not a runner at all, a half marathon if you have just started running, or something bigger. In any case, set yourself a challenge and train for it, because it has an incredible effect on you to work towards something with a rough plan and a rough deadline.

For example, about a year ago I first decided for myself that I would probably like to take part in HYROX. At some point, that decision naturally became firmer, and I approached Lennart and so on. But I noticed how I began to turn my daily routine, my weekly schedule and parts of my life in that direction.

Sport for Stress Relief and Quality of Life

And I have to say, there is something so positive about that. I view almost all sports very positively, with perhaps a few exceptions such as extremely dangerous sports. But I see sport itself as one of the best ways to really reduce stress. Strange as it may sound, it also helps you be a good person and find your centre regularly. I think that if I have a way to reduce stress, such as exercise, I am generally a more relaxed person, perhaps even a better person. My interactions with those around me improve. I have more focus for my children, for example, when I get to spend time with them. Or I have more focus for my projects. So sport has many positive aspects.

A Look at Training With Lennart

To bring you a little closer to HYROX, I will briefly play a few videos showing what a typical training session with Lennart and me looks like.

As you have seen, it is tremendous fun. I have to admit that I also enjoy talking plenty of nonsense with Lennart. I find the energy and drive this guy brings incredible, considering that he has been blind since he was 16, cannot see anything, and still goes full steam ahead. That is an incredible inspiration to me.

What Comes Next and an Invitation

In future, I will report more often on HYROX on this channel, but also on other projects I have going on, such as Dinner im Schloss and my podcast projects.

Feel free to send me questions about how I approach certain things in my life, such as how I try to keep my cortisol levels in check or reduce belly fat. These are important issues that, it feels, hardly anyone talks about because everyone is caught up in the daily hustle and simply trying to get ahead somehow.

But I think about those small things, those fine adjustments: how do I focus on having a good time with my children? I am not talking about maximising the amount of time with the kids and family, because children should naturally spend time with other people too. They have school and nursery and need to socialise. I cannot expect them to be around me 24/7. It works the other way round too: I need my own social life. Sport and similar activities are also important to me. I have to go to work and earn money. This is a really important topic I also want to discuss, and if you have specific questions, please send them in.

That is all for today, and I will be back soon. Thank you for listening. Bye, bye, bye, bye.

How Our HYROX Project Continued

We have now completed our race together. In my look back at HYROX Double 2026, I talk about trust, inclusion and our finishing time. You can learn more about my event on the Dinner im Schloss website.