Looking for Hyrox nutrition tips? Learn how to fuel your body effectively to maximise your performance in this intense global fitness competition. The newest fitness craze is coming to Sydney in just over a week and whether you are partaking or not, you may benefit from some useful fuelling strategies. For those of you who don’t know yet, Hyrox is a global fitness competition that combines endurance and functional fitness exercises. To ensure you perform at your best for any event, it is crucial to fuel your body correctly in the days leading up to the race and on the race itself.
Read on to how you can use nutrition to maximise your performance on the day.
Hyrox Nutrition Tips – Before the event
Carbohydrate Loading
We have a limited storage capacity of carbohydrates to use on race day. Fuelling begins 24-48 hours before the day to ensure that your glycogen stores are fully stocked. You want to increase your intake of complex carbohydrates. This can easily be done by increasing the amount complex carbs you consume at each meal.
What you do not want to do is exceed a normal amount of food intake without practicing. This will increase the chances of cramps and feeling sluggish. Aim for foods with high carbs and low fat and fibre like white rice, pasta or bagels. Enjoying a sugary cereal, or a crumpet with jam before bed can be simple yet effective ways to top up glycogen stores.
Hydration
It is always very important for your overall health and wellbeing to be adequately hydrated. When partaking in a demanding activity such as hyrox, the importance of hydrating increases even more. You should be aiming for 2-3L/ day. Ensuring that you are adequately hydrated in the week leading to the event will reduce pressure to drink loads on the day and frequently need to go to the toilet.
The day before and the morning of you want to drink enough, but ensure not to over hydrate either. Adding some salt or a hydrolyte to your water will help with effective hydration too.
Protein Intake
As always, you should ensure that in the days leading up to the event you are maintaining regular protein intake evenly spread throughout the day. This will ensure adequate muscle repair and recovery which will be needed for heavy sled push, pulls and lunges on the day.
Meal timing
As hyrox start times differ drastically depending on which wave you are competing in, everyone’s fuelling strategies will be a little bit different. The general meal timing tips will start the evening before. The evening before should include a balanced dinner with plenty of carbs, some protein and fats. An example could be grilled chicken pasta and veg, or lean beef with rice and salad.
On the day of the event itself, it’s crucial to have a well-planned breakfast that provides enough energy without causing gastrointestinal discomfort. 2-4 hours prior to the event you should eat a carb rich meal (whether this is breakfast or lunch will depend on your start time). This allows enough time for your body to digest the meal and absorb necessary nutrients. Also ensuring you are fuelled for the race. If you are competing later in the day, treat your first meal like the evening before and use your lunch as the carb rich meal.
Oats with a banana and honey is a great example of a suitable breakfast. While a white baguette and some chicken may be useful at lunch. 30-60 minutes before the start time, top up your carbohydrate stores with some fast-absorbing energy. Something like a cereal bar, some sugary jellies, a gel or a mandarin are useful here and easily transportable.
If you struggle to eat in the mornings, you may look to opt for a meal replacement containing carbs. This is easy for your stomach to digest. A smoothie with fruits and oats may also be a useful option.
During the event it is important to stay hydrated when you are working hard. Gels are likely not going to be required unless the event is expected to go beyond 1.5 hours.
Hyrox Nutrition Tips – After the event
Don’t underestimate how important this is!
The last thing you want is to reach the PB you were aiming for and to not be able to move for a month due to inproper post event nutrition.
Replenish
As your body’s main fuel source during the session was carbohydrates, these stores are likely extremely depleted. Therefore getting carbs in as soon as possible to replenish these depleted glycogen stores will aid faster recovery. Do not feel bad for rewarding yourself with sugary jellies.
Rehydrate
Ensure to drink water with an electrolyte or an electrolyte drink to replenish lost fluids.
Repair
You also want to include protein to aid muscle recovery and repair the fatigued muscles. Prior to the fast-digesting carbs, ensure another balanced meal to fully recover from the event.
In summary
In summary, these Hyrox nutrition tips will help you fuel your body correctly before, during, and after the event, ensuring optimal performance and recovery. Fuelling for Hyrox or a similar event generally follows these guidelines. However the important thing to remember is you know your body best. Again, never try any new foods on race day. Only ingest food that you know won’t cause any digestive issues. Don’t overeat either if you haven’t tried extra carbs before.
Trying out your nutrition strategy in your training is recommended to see what works best for you and avoid any surprises on race day. Good luck!
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