HYROX, the rapidly growing fitness competition, combines functional strength, cardiovascular endurance, and grit. With its unique blend of running and functional exercises, HYROX challenges both the body and mind. Success in this demanding sport requires more than just training hard—it demands proper fuel. Nutrition plays a pivotal role in optimizing performance, recovery, and overall energy levels. In this article, Sports Performance Nutritionist Joana Romão shares expert tips to enhance your HYROX experience through proper nutrition, focusing on three key areas: daily routine, training and competition, and supplements.
1. Daily Routine: Building a Strong Foundation
A strong foundation begins with everyday nutrition. Joana emphasizes consistency in meeting energy needs and ensuring nutrient balance:
- Start with Nutrition: Before considering supplements to achieve your goals, focus on planned nutrition.
- Health First: Without good health and energy, you won’t be able to perform well, so prioritize a nutritious diet full of variety.
- Avoid Restrictive Diets: avoid very restrictive diets aimed at weight loss, as they can adversely affect your recovery, performance and health
- Hydration: Stay hydrated throughout the day, aiming for at least 1.5 litres daily. Dehydration can negatively affect your health, performance, and recovery.
- Don’t drink much water in one sitting; sip it throughout the day.
- Carbohydrates Are Essential: Avoid completely restricting carbohydrates. They are crucial for any athlete to perform effectively and recover properly.
- Prioritize Carbohydrates for Energy
Include complex carbohydrates like oats, sweet potatoes, or whole grains in your daily diet to maintain glycogen stores and sustain energy between and during training and competition - Healthy Fats: Include healthy fats like avocado, nuts, and olive oil for sustained energy and hormone support.
- Eat Your Greens: Don’t forget your “greens”! Consume a variety of vegetables and fruits daily for antioxidants and essential micronutrients.
- Calorie Intake on Intense Days: On intense and long training days, increase your calorie intake to meet the additional energy demands, it will help you recover faster.
- Balanced Meals: Plan balanced meals that combine protein, carbohydrates, fiber and fats for consistent and complete nutrition
- Protein Sources: Include protein sources such as eggs, meat, fish, yogurt, milk, and cheese during the day, to support recovery and muscle growth.
2. Training and Competing: Timing Your Fuel
HYROX sessions are intense, and proper fueling before, during, and after training or competitions can make or break your performance.
Train your nutrition as you train your mind and body to compete
Pre-Training Nutrition:
To ensure long-lasting energy, consume a meal rich in complex carbohydrates (such as oats, bread, rice, or pasta) 2-3 hours before training.
- Quick Energy Boost: For an extra boost, have quick carbs like a banana, fruit juice, dates, honey, or a sports gel about 30 minutes before training.
- Post-Workout Recovery: Eat a combination of protein and carbohydrates after your workout to promote energy recovery and muscle synthesis.
- Carbohydrate Intake during: Aim to consume between 30 and 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour during long training sessions. You can use isotonic drinks, sports gels, or even fruit.
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day and consider electrolytes if training lasts more than an hour or takes place in hot conditions.
- Afternoon Workouts: Avoid drinking coffee, energy drinks, or sports gels with caffeine before your afternoon workouts, as they can negatively affect your sleep quality.
Race Day Preparation:
Avoid trying new foods or supplements on race day; test them during training to ensure they work for you.
Test your race-day nutrition: Test your fuelling strategy during training to find out what works best for your stomach and energy levels on race day.
Don’t skip breakfast, or any pre-race meal: eat a balanced meal 2–3 hours before training or a race, focusing on easily digestible carbs, moderate protein, and low fat to avoid gastrointestinal discomfort.
3. Supplements: Supporting the Basics
While whole foods should be the cornerstone of any nutrition plan, supplements can provide targeted support. Joana advises considering the following based on your specific needs:
Choose Supplements Backed by Research
Opt for scientifically proven supplements like creatine, beta-alanine, nitrates, sodium bicarbonate, glycerol, or caffeine to enhance your performance. Avoid trendy or unverified products, and consider consulting a professional for guidance.
Always select supplements tested for purity and safety. Look for certifications from organizations like NSF, Informed Sport, or other reputable third-party bodies to ensure they are free from contaminants and banned substances.
Creatine: Consider taking creatine supplements (3-5 grams daily) to boost energy, strength, and recovery. It’s important to follow “food first” principles when using supplements but keep in mind that diet alone may not provide enough muscle creatine for performance benefits.
Avoid taking creatine on an empty stomach. Muscle creatine uptake is maximized when it’s paired with carbohydrates since insulin helps with absorption.
Individuals with the lowest muscle creatine levels, such as vegans or vegetarians, may experience the most significant performance improvements from supplementation.
Use Protein Powder Strategically: Consider using protein powder if your daily protein intake falls short or for convenience after workouts.
Caffeine: To maximize the benefits of caffeine while minimizing potential side effects, start with a low efficient dose of 1.5 mg/kg (approximately 100 mg) taken 30 minutes before your morning workout.
It’s important to note that abstaining from caffeine in the days leading up to a competition does not provide any additional advantages during the event itself.
Be cautious with your caffeine intake; high doses can lead to side effects such as gut discomfort, poor concentration, confusion, anxiety, and disrupted sleep.
Remember, caffeine does not actually provide energy but rather masks feelings of tiredness. For optimal results, limit your caffeine consumption to no more than two cups of coffee a day, and avoid caffeine after 2 PM.
Beta-alanine: To achieve significant improvements in performance, it’s important to take beta alanine multiple times a day for at least four weeks.
When consuming beta alanine, you may experience a tingling sensation at certain doses. To enhance absorption and better manage these tingles, try dividing your daily dose across your main meals.
Highly trained individuals might notice smaller benefits from beta alanine supplementation.
Taking beta alanine before a workout can provide a “power feeling,” but the amount consumed at that time is typically too small to have a meaningful impact on performance.
Additionally, beta alanine and sodium bicarbonate may work together to improve your body’s buffering capacity.
Nitrates: To maximize the benefits of nitrate supplementation, it’s best to avoid using mouthwash products or chewing gum that contains beetroot juice.
For acute doses, aim for 350-600 mg of nitrates (such as one shot of Beet It) taken 2-3 hours before your workout or race.
Keep in mind that supplementation with beetroot juice may temporarily cause your urine and stools to turn pink. This is a harmless side effect, so there’s no need to worry.
Sodium bicarbonate: A common side effect is gastrointestinal upset, to avoid it, try to load 120-150 minutes prior exercise, consume it slowly over 30-60 minutes, drink more water (10mL/kg) and consume it with a carb rich meal to assist absorption.
Sodium bicarbonate supplementation can be difficult to get right, trial in training to develop an individual protocol that works best for you.
Multivitamin: Compared to a multivitamin, eating a rainbow of different whole foods daily offers additional value beyond meeting nutrient requirements. Real food also provides protein, carbohydrates, fibre, and phytochemicals, which offer a wide range of health and performance benefits.
Often considered a quick fix for poor fruit and vegetable intake, but it is not the same because of the lack of range of phytochemicals naturally found in food.
A large dose of antioxidants in some MV may impair training adaptations and can be dangerous sometimes
Nutrition: Your Competitive Edge
In HYROX, small margins often separate personal bests from average results. Following Joana Romão’s tailored nutrition advice, athletes can maximize energy levels, recover faster, and sustain peak performance across training and competition. Remember, nutrition is not just about fueling—it’s about strategically enhancing your body’s ability to perform and adapt to the sport’s rigorous demands.
Are you ready to take your HYROX game to the next level? Start with your plate.
