What to eat before a HYROX® race

Do I need to carb load before a fitness race?

No. A full carb load, at about 8 to 12 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight for one to three days, is studied for events that last longer than 90 minutes. For shorter events, reviews describe a simple top-up the day before. Many finish times sit near that line (our reading), so aim for the generous end.

Your goal time decides where you sit in the range. If you expect to finish well under 90 minutes, a normal carbohydrate-rich day is plenty. If you expect to take longer, move to the upper end. What is a good finish time has the benchmarks, and the race split calculator turns your goal into a total time.

What should I eat the day before a fitness race?

Eat your normal foods, shifted toward carbohydrate, over four or five meals and snacks. Aim for about 7 to 8 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight, which is 490 to 560 g for a 70 kg athlete (our arithmetic). Keep fat, fibre and anything unfamiliar low, and do not eat a heavy dinner late.

The ISSN position stand pairs a high-carbohydrate day with reduced training volume, so keep the day before short and easy or take it off. A long session would spend the glycogen you are trying to store. Everything below is our recommendation within the ranges above.

• Build breakfast, lunch and dinner around rice, pasta, potatoes, bread or oats, with a lean protein and a little vegetable.
• Add two or three carbohydrate snacks between meals, such as bananas, rice cakes, toast with jam or a carbohydrate drink.
• Sip water through the day. Pale yellow urine in the evening is a practical sign that you are drinking enough.
• Choose a dinner you have eaten before big training sessions, not a new restaurant, and finish it two to three hours before bed.
• Skip alcohol. It adds nothing to your race and can cost you sleep.
• Go to bed at your usual time and lay out your kit and food, so the morning is calm. The race day checklist lists what to pack.

What should I eat for breakfast on race day?

Eat a carbohydrate-rich meal three to four hours before your wave, at about 2 to 3 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight. The studied range is 1 to 4 g/kg in the 1 to 4 hours before the start. Pick foods you have eaten before long sessions: low in fat and fibre, moderate in protein.

The ISSN position stand quotes a study in which a high-carbohydrate meal four hours before 105 minutes of cycling raised both muscle and liver glycogen. An overnight fast lowers liver glycogen, which is why a morning wave is better served by a meal than by an empty stomach.

If a 05:00 breakfast is not realistic, eat a smaller meal one to two hours before instead and drop to 1 to 2 g/kg. The same position stand cites two studies in which solid and liquid carbohydrate promoted glycogen resynthesis similarly, so a drink is an option if your stomach is nervous.

When should I eat before my wave starts?

Count back from your wave. Eat the main meal three to four hours before, arrive about 90 minutes to two hours before, and keep the last hour to small sips and a light snack. The rulebook fixes only the start tunnel, 10 minutes before your wave. All other times below are our recommendation.

Nutrition for the race itself works differently. Water is offered at least once around each pass through the transition zone and a sports drink may be available, but you must carry any other nutrition from the start, and you cannot take food or drink from anyone except the aid stations. Fuelling during a fitness race covers what to carry. Race day: timeline and what to expect covers check-in and warm-up.

What should I avoid eating before a fitness race?

Avoid anything new, and keep fat, fibre and big portions low in the last meals. Your stomach has to cope with 8 km of running and eight stations, often bent over. The ISSN position stand lists a favourable balance with the digestive system, and not eating or drinking too much, as a priority in the final hours.

• New foods, drinks or supplements. Race morning is not the time to test.
• High-fibre food in the last two meals, such as bran cereal, beans, lentils and raw salad.
• High-fat or fried food, such as a cooked breakfast, cheese-heavy dishes, cream sauces and pastries. Fat digests slowly, and one review suggests limiting fat before the race if gut comfort is a concern.
• A very large meal, or a large volume of drink, in the last hour.
• Alcohol the evening before.
• Anything that has upset your stomach in training, even if it is a normal food for you.

What about caffeine and drinks before the start?

Caffeine is optional. If you use it, use a dose and timing you have already tried in training, never for the first time on race day. Amounts and timing for caffeine and carbohydrate during the race are in our fuelling guide. Before the start, drink steadily and avoid gulping large volumes in the last 15 minutes.

• Drink water with breakfast and sip through the morning.
• Have your usual coffee or tea only if it is part of your routine.
• Use the toilet before you walk to the start tunnel, not after.
• Treat supplements as a separate decision: supplements, what has evidence lists the studied doses.

How do I test my race-morning meal in training?

Rehearse it in the longest sessions of your plan. Eat the same meal at the same time before a long mixed session or race simulation, then check how your stomach and energy hold up. Do this at least twice, and settle on the plan two weeks before the race.

1. Pick a long mixed session or a race simulation from the peak weeks of your 12-week plan, at the time of day your wave will start.
2. Eat your planned meal at the planned time before it, three to four hours ahead.
3. Note how your stomach feels at each run, and how your energy holds in the last third.
4. Change one thing at a time: the amount, the timing or the food, never all three.
5. Repeat in the next simulation and keep the version that felt best. Then stop changing it.