Nutrition Strategies for Hyrox Competitions: Preparing for Success

Hyrox is an incredible test of strength, endurance, and grit, and just like your training, your nutrition strategy can make or break your performance on race day. Whether you’re aiming for a PB or just want to feel strong and fuelled all the way through, planning your nutrition in the weeks leading up to competition is key.

Let’s break down the strategies you need, from the weeks before to race week, carb loading, and finally, race day itself.

1.     Weeks Before: Build the Foundation

Your training block is where you build not only your fitness but also your nutrition habits. The goal is to fuel performance, maximise recovery, and maintain energy balance.

• Carbohydrates: Your main training fuel. Make sure each meal contains a good source (rice, oats, potatoes, pasta, fruit). This supports both high-intensity efforts and recovery.
• Protein: Aim for ~1.6–2 g per kg of body weight daily to support muscle repair and adaptation. Whole foods should be your first option, but if you struggle to hit targets, a whey protein supplement can be a quick, cost-effective solution.
• Micronutrients: Don’t neglect variety, colourful fruit and veg provide antioxidants and vitamins that support recovery and immune health.
• Meal Timing: Aim for 3 main meals and 2–3 snacks per day, spaced to align with training. Try to fuel with carbs before sessions, and prioritise protein + carbs soon after to kickstart recovery.
• Trial Your Strategy: Use your longer cardio sessions or simulation workouts to practise fuelling- including trialling carb loading. Why carb load? It maximises glycogen stores, helping delay fatigue during the race. For example, increase carb intake in the 24 hours before a big session and monitor how you feel during and after. This way, you’ll know exactly what works for your body before race week. You can then fine-tune that process, so by race week you’ll know exactly what to eat, when to eat it, and how much you need to perform at your best.

Tip: Don’t leave this until the last minute - experimenting early helps you find what works best for your gut and performance.

2.     Race Week: Fine-Tune & Carb Load

In the final week, tapering training volume usually allows more energy for recovery. This is the perfect time to refine your carb-loading strategy, ideally building on what you trialled in training.

Carbohydrate loading (also known as glycogen loading) is a tried-and-true strategy for endurance athletes, designed to maximise your glycogen stores, your body’s primary source of energy during prolonged, high-intensity exercise (Burke, Hawley, Wong, & Jeukendrup, 2011).

By increasing your carbohydrate intake in the 24–36 hours leading up to your race, you saturate your glycogen reserves, giving you a bigger fuel tank to draw from on race day. Research shows that proper carb-loading can improve endurance and delay fatigue (Havemann et al., 2006), both critical for a Hyrox race.

For HYROX athletes, the guideline is to aim for 6–8g of carbohydrates per kilogram of bodyweight in he 24-36 hours before your race. For example, a 70kg athlete should target 420–560g of carbohydrates, with carbohydrates making up about 65–75% of total calorie intake.

Tip: You're not necessarily eating more calories overall; you're shifting the balance so most of your calories come from carbohydrates.

Focus on complex carbohydrates like potatoes, pasta, rice, breads, and cereals. If appetite or digestion is an issue, lower fibre, quick-digesting options like pancakes, cereal bars, honey, fruit juice, and dried fruit are excellent additions to meet your needs without feeling overly full.

Example Day of Carb Loading for a 70kg Athlete:

• Breakfast: Porridge with banana, dried fruit, honey, and a glass of orange juice
• Mid-morning snack: Bagel with jam
• Lunch: Chicken and rice with a sports drink
• Mid-afternoon snack: Fruit smoothie (with honey and juice) + a cereal bar
• Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread
• Pre-bed: Cereal with milk

Consistency and structure are key here: aim for 3 main meals and 3–4 high-carb snacks spaced throughout the day.

3.     Race Day Fuelling Strategy

Your meal timing will depend on when your HYROX race begins. If you have a later start time, it's important to plan your fueling strategy around it.

Aim to have your last substantial meal 3–4 hours before your race. In the lead-up, continue focusing on high-carbohydrate, low-fibre, easy-to-digest foods to maintain energy levels without feeling overly full.

Examples:

• Pancakes with fruit and honey
• Baguette/ bagel/ sandwich with meat filling
• Pasta with tomato-based sauce
• Chicken noodles
• Rice and some meat

4.     The Final Step: Pre-Race Snack & Caffeine

Having a light, carbohydrate-based snack 60–90 minutes before your start time can help top up your energy stores. This could be either a small snack or a liquid option, like a carbohydrate drink. Aim for around 0.5g of carbs per kilogram of bodyweight.

If you’re still feeling full from your earlier meal, don’t overdo it.

The examples provided offer plenty of flexible options, so you can mix and match to hit your target with your taste preferences.

5.     Hydration

●      Sip on fluids or electrolytes in the hours leading up. You should feel hydrated before the race starts, not chugging at the last minute.

6.     Travel Considerations

If you’re travelling abroad for Hyrox, plan ahead so food stress doesn’t derail your preparation.

●      Snacks for travel: Bring familiar carb-rich foods for the airport and flight.

●      Stick with what your gut knows: Avoid unfamiliar, heavy, or risky foods close to competition.

●      Plan meals: Book restaurants in advance where you can find carb-based, simple options you know your body tolerates.

●      Food safety: Prioritise cooked foods and bottled water where relevant.

Final Thoughts

By the time you reach race week, your training is done - it’s all about execution. Your job now is to fuel smart, stick with what’s familiar, and trust the process you’ve practised.

Remember: your strategy should leave you feeling energised, not restricted.
You’ve worked so hard to get here, now it’s time to show up, fuel up, and enjoy the experience.