Hybrid races like Hyrox have develop into fashionable for a motive. They’re enjoyable to coach for, with a number of completely different elements to problem you and preserve it attention-grabbing, and so they push your physique to its absolute restrict. Whereas most athletes put tons of thought into coaching, diet can usually be the lacking piece. When you’re new to Hyrox (or competed as soon as and realized mid sled-push that you simply underestimated the diet piece), this weblog is for you.
We’re breaking down the physiological calls for of hybrid coaching and the way correct diet may help you prepare tougher, recuperate sooner, and carry out your finest on race day.
What’s Hyrox?
Hyrox is a hybrid endurance race that mixes working with useful health. The format contains 8 x 1km runs, each adopted by a exercise station (ski erg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmer’s carry, sandbag lunges, and wall balls). For many opponents, the race takes between 75-90 minutes to finish, placing it someplace between a 10k and a Crossfit metcon when it comes to period and depth. The range within the occasion challenges athletes not solely aerobically, but additionally calls for endurance, explosiveness and psychological grit.
What’s Hybrid Coaching?
Hybrid coaching is a mix of power and endurance. For instance, assume lifting and working or biking and CrossFit exercises. This type of coaching is demanding as a result of it challenges your physique to be highly effective, environment friendly, and sturdy sufficient to work for lengthy durations of time. This presents a singular problem in relation to fueling as your physique wants to have the ability to entry and make the most of completely different vitality methods and recuperate rapidly between efforts.
Extra particular to Hyrox, competing requires excessive depth efforts (stations like sled push and pull), endurance (complete run is roughly5 miles), and power and energy (as with the 100 wall balls on the finish!). This implies you’re taxing each your anaerobic (quick intense bursts) and cardio (longer, sustained vitality) methods. If fueling isn’t dialed in, you could be setting your self up for elevated danger of insufficient vitality and nutrient consumption, damage and burnout.
Zone 2 coaching (low to reasonable depth cardio work) is usually used throughout hybrid coaching to develop metabolic flexibility. Merely put, metabolic flexibility is your physique’s capacity to modify between completely different gasoline sources. Nonetheless, with a purpose to capitalize on this effectivity, your each day fueling habits must help it.
Foundational Vitamin for Hyrox
Carbohydrates: Your Foremost Hyrox Power Supply
Carbohydrates are important for each excessive depth and endurance efforts. Glycogen, the saved type of carbohydrate in your muscle groups and liver, is your main gasoline supply in a Hyrox race. With out sufficient carbohydrate consumption, you run the chance of hitting a wall arduous throughout coaching or competitors. Sufficient carbohydrate consumption aids in:
- Replenishing muscle glycogen so you will have vitality in your subsequent exercise
- Delaying fatigue in coaching and competitors
- Supporting excessive energy output throughout stations
- Sustaining psychological focus and resolution making
Whereas future content material will get you higher acquainted with how a lot carbohydrate you want and when, take a while to get snug together with carbs all through the day, particularly simply digestible carbs earlier than your exercises and prime quality sources to help in restoration after.
Protein: Restore and Restoration
Protein helps muscle restore, limits muscle breakdown and helps your physique adapt to the stress of hybrid coaching. That is particularly vital with a excessive coaching demand. Sustaining muscle mass whereas coaching arduous and rising mileage could be tough- protein (with an excellent power coaching program! ) is your ally right here. You additionally need to consider protein as a structural and metabolic nutrient – not one that you simply need to burn for vitality. For this reason reaching your protein wants, however not exceeding them in giant quantities, is right.
Fats: Assist for Endurance and Restoration
Whereas carbs and protein could are typically the main target, fats performs a massive position in supporting Hyrox athlete diet. Fat are vital for offering sustained vitality for decrease depth efforts and relaxation days. It additionally helps hormone manufacturing, mind well being and joint operate. Fat additionally play a task in nutrient absorption, particularly nutritional vitamins A, D, E, and Ok that are vital for restoration, bone well being, and extra.
Hydration and Electrolytes
With busy schedules and an affinity for espresso, we get that it’s simple to miss hydration. However prioritizing fluid consumption means optimizing use of the vitality vitamins lined, regulating physique temperature, and finally enhancing your coaching and competitors experiences. Only a 2% fluid loss impairs bodily and psychological efficiency. What’s a 2% fluid loss? For some, it’s once you discover you’re thirsty. Think about these tips forward of and through your hybrid coaching and discover what hydration merchandise is perhaps finest for you right here.
Wish to study extra? Enroll to be the primary to know once we launch our subsequent Hyrox diet articles, recipes, sports activities diet product critiques, and programming.
Written by Ellie Meyers MS, RD, CPT a sports activities dietitian to professional and collegiate athletes who often attends Hyrox coaching periods and accomplished her first Hyrox competitors in NYC in 2023.
