A Hyrox training week is a 4-5 hour stress dose distributed across 4-5 sessions. Your body adapts to that stress only if three nutritional inputs are met: enough protein to repair tissue, enough carbohydrate to fuel training and replenish glycogen, and enough total energy to support adaptation rather than tear-down. Miss any of the three and the training does less than it should.
This is the framework Suth Performance athletes use during a 12-week build. It's not flashy. There are no diet protocols here, no carnivore or keto detours, no fasted training claims. Just the basics dialled in.
Protein: the constant
Protein is the simplest variable to get right because it doesn't change with training load. You need the same amount every day, training day, rest day, race day, taper day.
Target: 1.6-2.0 grams per kilo of bodyweight, per day.
For a 75 kg athlete: 120-150 g daily. For a 60 kg athlete: 96-120 g. For a 90 kg athlete: 144-180 g.
Hit it across 4-5 feedings rather than two big meals. Muscle protein synthesis is responsive to per-meal doses of 25-40 g, bigger doses don't help, smaller doses leave gains on the table.
A practical day for a 75 kg Hyrox athlete:
- Breakfast: 3 eggs + Greek yogurt (35 g).
- Lunch: Chicken breast + rice + vegetables (40 g).
- Pre-training snack: Whey shake or 200g cottage cheese (25 g).
- Dinner: Salmon + sweet potato + greens (35 g).
- Optional pre-bed: Greek yogurt or casein (20 g).
Total: 155 g. Hits the upper end of the range. Sources are whole foods with a single convenience shake. No special timing window beyond "spread it out".
Carbohydrate: the variable
Unlike protein, carbohydrate intake should vary with training load. The principle: more carbs on harder days, fewer on easier days. Hyrox training has predictable hard days (the Hyrox-pattern session, the long aerobic) and predictable easy days (mobility or rest).
A simple framework, varying around a 75 kg athlete's needs:
| Day type | Carbs (g) | Examples | |---|---|---| | Rest | 200-250 | Normal eating, no specific addition | | Easy session | 250-350 | Add a portion of rice, oats, or potato to two meals | | Hard session | 350-500 | Larger portions; carb shake during long session; pasta dinner | | Race day | 500-600 | Carb-heavy breakfast; gel or banana during; recovery meal high carb |
Carb sources that work:
- Best: Oats, rice (white or brown), potatoes, sweet potatoes, pasta, fruit (banana, dates), bread.
- Good: Cereal (high-fibre), legumes, quinoa.
- Occasional: Sports gels, dextrose powder (race week only).
The mistake most athletes make is staying at a single carb intake across the week. Either too low (no fuel for hard days = collapsed sessions) or too high (more carbs than rest days need = creeping weight gain).
Fat: the background
Fat is your background macronutrient. After protein and carbs are set, fill the remaining energy needs with fat. Aim for 0.8-1.0 g/kg/day from real food sources, olive oil, avocado, nuts, oily fish, dairy.
You don't need to optimise fat intake. You need to not under-eat it. Athletes who target very low fat (under 40 g/day) report flat sessions, poor sleep, and disrupted hormones. The upper end (over 100 g/day) tends to displace carbs that you need for training fuel.
Hydration: 35 ml/kg + training
The simplest hydration framework that works:
- Base: 35 ml per kilo of bodyweight per day. A 75 kg athlete needs 2.6 L of fluid as a baseline.
- Training surcharge: Add 500-1000 ml per hour of training, depending on sweat rate and ambient temperature.
- Electrolytes: For training sessions over 60 minutes, add 200-400 mg of sodium plus potassium and magnesium. A simple electrolyte tab in your bottle is plenty.
What "fluid" counts as: water, herbal tea, milk, coffee (yes, coffee, the diuretic effect is overstated), broth. What doesn't: anything with substantial sugar that you're not using as training fuel. A daily smoothie can count toward fluids but the volume of fluid is what matters, not the contents.
Practical morning check: pee colour. Pale straw = good. Apple juice = drink water. Clear = you might be over-hydrated; ease off.
Timing: the bits that matter
Three timing windows matter. The rest is overhyped.
1. Pre-training (90 min before). Eat a meal of mixed carbs + moderate protein + low fat. Examples: oats with banana and Greek yogurt; toast with eggs and honey; rice with chicken. Quantity: roughly 1 g/kg of carbs. The point is to top up muscle glycogen without sitting heavy.
2. During training (sessions over 75 min). Take in 30-60 g of carbs per hour. Easiest sources: a banana, a date or two, half a gel, a sports drink. For sessions under 75 minutes, you don't need to fuel mid-session, water + electrolytes is enough.
3. Post-training (within 60 min). A real meal with protein and carbs. Doesn't have to be immediate (the "anabolic window" is largely a myth) but a delay beyond 90 minutes starts to slow recovery. A 4:1 carb-to-protein ratio is fine; just hit your daily totals.
What doesn't matter much:
- Eating immediately on waking. Skip it if you're not hungry; eat by mid-morning.
- "Macros at every meal." Useful as a guideline, not as a religion.
- Carb cycling within a single day. Daily totals matter; intra-day distribution is small effect.
The pre-race week
Race week nutrition is simpler than most race-prep guides make it sound.
- Monday-Wednesday: Normal training week eating. Maintain protein. Keep carbs around your easy-day level (volume is dropping in the taper).
- Thursday-Friday: Carb-up days. Add 50-100 g of extra carbs per day from familiar sources. Aim for 8-10 g/kg/day on these two days.
- Saturday (race eve): Your usual dinner, slightly larger starch portion. No alcohol. Hydrate steadily.
- Race morning: 2-3 hours before the gun, eat a familiar carb-protein meal. 600-800 calories. Examples: bagel with peanut butter and banana, oats with honey and a scoop of whey, rice and eggs.
- Race start: No solid food in the last 90 minutes. Optional: half a gel or a date 30 minutes before, with water.
The most common race-day nutrition mistake isn't undereating, it's eating something unfamiliar. Whatever your race morning food is, it must be food you've eaten before training in the last four weeks. New foods on race day are a recipe for stomach problems at minute 30.
Supplements worth the cost
Two supplements have strong evidence for Hyrox-style training. The rest are marketing.
Creatine monohydrate. 3-5 g per day, every day, year-round. Adds about 5-10% to high-intensity output (sled push, wall balls, anything explosive). Cheap, well-studied, safe. The only "magic" supplement that's actually magic.
Caffeine. 3-6 mg/kg of bodyweight, 45-60 minutes before training or racing. For a 75 kg athlete: 225-450 mg. A strong coffee delivers 100-150 mg; a pre-workout supplement usually 200-400 mg. Watch your tolerance, if you drink coffee daily, your race-day dose needs to be at the upper end to feel anything.
Optional but reasonable: whey protein (convenience), electrolyte tabs (necessary in hot conditions), magnesium (might help sleep). Skip the BCAAs, glutamine, "fat burners", and anything claiming to "unlock" anything.
How Suth Performance frames nutrition
Suth Performance programmes don't prescribe daily macros (we'd need to know your body composition, blood work, and dietary preferences to do that well). Instead, the programme labels each session with its energy demand and offers a nutritional cue: "this is a long session, fuel before and during," "this is a strength session, eat normal carbs," "this is a deload day, drop carbs to baseline."
The framework above gives you what we'd tell an athlete in a coaching call. For most people, that's enough.
What this means for your training
Hyrox training works when you train hard and eat enough. The framework above isn't complicated: 1.6-2.0 g/kg of protein, carbs that vary with the session, fats in the background, hydration steady, two supplements that actually work. Stick to it for 12 weeks and your training stress turns into adaptation rather than accumulated fatigue. Skip it and you'll spend race day wondering why the engine never came together.
[ FAQ ]
Frequently asked
How much protein do I need during Hyrox training?
1.6-2.0 g per kilo of bodyweight per day. A 75 kg athlete should target 120-150 g of protein daily across 4-5 feedings. The upper end of the range matters during peak training weeks (weeks 7-10) when training stress is highest.
Should I carb-load before a Hyrox race?
Yes, but lightly. Two days of elevated carbs (8-10 g/kg/day) before race day, with the final dinner being your usual portion plus an extra serving of starch. Don't do the marathon-style 4-day load. Hyrox isn't long enough to need it.
Do I need supplements?
Two are evidence-backed: creatine (3-5 g/day, all year) and caffeine (3-6 mg/kg, race day only). Whey protein is useful as a convenience, not a magic ingredient. Almost everything else is marketing.
Written by
The Suth Performance teamCoaches and editors
The Suth Performance programming team, led by HYROX Elite 15 athlete Ben Sutherland.
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