Eating around training: what, when and how much

No powders, no hype. Your body doesn't ask for the same thing every day — and when you let your food move with your training, you come in fuelled and recover better. Here are the rules of thumb.

The principle in one paragraph

On a hard training day you eat more carbs around the effort (fuel) and get protein in afterwards (recovery). On a rest day the carb need drops and you keep protein high. Your weekly average stays on your goal; you only shift the carbs to the days you use them. That's exactly why one fixed plan for every day is suboptimal.

Timing — the rules of thumb

Before training

Eat carbs in the hour before; for most people 30–60 minutes out works better than two hours out. Keep it easy to digest — not too fatty or fibrous, or it'll sit heavy.

During

For most Hyrox sessions around an hour you need nothing; water is enough. For long sessions (longer than ~75 minutes) you can take small amounts of carbs, around 30–60 grams per hour — a sports drink, a gel or a piece of fruit. The point is to top up fuel, not to fill your stomach mid-effort.

After training

Get carbs and protein in relatively soon after a hard or depleting session to recover and refill your glycogen stores. A common target is roughly 20–40 g of protein with a decent dose of carbs. After an easy session it doesn't have to be immediate — as long as your day's total adds up, the famous "anabolic window" is far wider and more forgiving than the supplement industry suggests.

Hard day versus rest day

• Hard day: bigger carb portion around training, protein high, drink enough.
• Rest day: fewer carbs, protein steady, focus on recovery and sleep.

Shifting carbs to the days you actually train is what keeps your weekly macros on target without leaving you flat for the hard work. If you batch-cook, meal prep for Hyrox shows how to build that carb shift into three day-templates.

Fuelling a Hyrox race day

A Hyrox race is a long, mixed effort — running intervals stacked between heavy functional stations — so race day is a fuelling problem, not just a fitness one. Eat a familiar carb-focused meal two to three hours before the start, low in fat and fibre so it digests cleanly. Keep sipping water up to the gun, and if your heat is later in the day, plan your meals backwards from your start time rather than eating on autopilot.

In the days before a race, lean your intake slightly more towards carbohydrate to top off glycogen — you don't need a dramatic carb-load for an event of this length, just a few well-fuelled days. Caffeine, if you already use it, can help; race morning is not the day to try it for the first time.

Does any of this change with age?

The principles hold at any age. Recovery can take a little longer as the years add up, which makes the post-session protein and your sleep matter even more, but the timing rules themselves don't change — a well-fuelled 45-year-old and a well-fuelled 25-year-old eat around training in much the same way.

Hydration

Don't wait until you're thirsty to drink — by then you're already behind. Spread your fluids across the day and drink a little extra around training. If it's long and sweaty, mind your salt too; electrolytes matter more than most people think once you're losing a lot of fluid.

Race week, briefly

Race week is not the time to try new things. Stick to your familiar meals, eat enough carbs in the days before, and don't experiment on the morning itself. The best race-day nutrition is the one you've already rehearsed in training.