Fuelling HYROX: What to Eat and Take in the Weeks, Days and Hours Before You Race
HYROX is about 90 minutes of running stitched together with eight stations that are built to break you. Most of us finish somewhere between 75 minutes and two hours — which, in fuelling terms, makes it a proper endurance event. Fuel it like you train it and you will not fall apart on run 6. Have a read below: exactly what to eat and what to take, from a few weeks out all the way to the finish line. Nothing fancy, all of it backed by the science.
The one-line version: eat enough carbs to fuel your training, top up your glycogen the day before, have a familiar carb-rich breakfast 2–4 hours out, caffeine an hour before the gun, and sip carbs plus electrolytes if you will be racing longer than about 75 minutes. Everything else below is polish, not foundation.
Your fuelling runway
The slow-burn supplements have to start weeks out. Everything else sharpens in the final days and hours.
The plan, phase by phase
4–6 WEEKS OUT — build the base
Eat enough carbohydrate to fuel your training: the harder the week, the more you need. Spread protein across the day for recovery (around 1.6–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight is a sensible target). This is also when the slow-burn supplements have to start, because they take weeks to work — creatine and beta-alanine (more below). And start rehearsing your race-day breakfast in training so the morning is nothing new.
RACE WEEK — keep the tank full
Keep your carbs up while your training volume drops away in the taper. Hydrate consistently across the day, not all at once. Lock in your day-before meal plan and start getting a little extra sodium in.
36–48 HOURS OUT — carb up (if you will be out there over 90 min)
Lift your daily carbs to roughly 8–12 g per kg of bodyweight to top off your glycogen stores. This matters most for anyone racing longer than 90 minutes — which is most first-timers. Keep it digestible; do not bury yourself in new fibre.
THE DAY BEFORE — easy does it
Familiar, carb-rich meals, lower in fibre to keep your gut settled, plenty of fluid, a little extra salt. No experiments, no big nights, nothing you have not eaten before a hard session.
RACE MORNING (2–4 hours out) — the pre-race meal
1–4 g of carbs per kg of bodyweight, low in fat and fibre, and something you know sits well — porridge and banana, toast and honey, rice, a bagel. Keep sipping fluid with a bit of sodium. Caffeine about 60 minutes before the gun (see the cheat sheet).
DURING THE RACE — top up if you are out there a while
Under about 75 minutes you can mostly run on what you have banked — a carb mouth-rinse or a couple of sips will do. Over about 75–90 minutes, aim for 30–60 g of carbs an hour: an easy-to-stomach gel or a few mouthfuls of sports drink grabbed in the Roxzone, plus electrolytes. The run straight after a fuel is exactly why you practise this in training.
AFTER — recover
Carbs to refill the tank and 20–40 g of protein to repair. Rehydrate with fluid and a little salt. Then go and enjoy the medal.
The supplements — what actually earns a place
Core first (proven), then the emerging ones (promising, but be honest with yourself).
Core — well evidenced
CARBOHYDRATE — the big one
| Where | Your fuel tank (muscle glycogen) |
| Best for | Not blowing up on the back half |
| How | Follow the phase plan above |
| Evidence | Rock solid — this is the foundation |
CAFFEINE
| Dose | 3–6 mg per kg bodyweight |
| When | ~60 min before the start |
| Best for | A reliable lift to endurance and focus |
| Watch | Sleep, jitters — trial your dose first |
CREATINE
| Dose | 3–5 g every day (or 20 g/day for 5–7 days to load faster) |
| When | Daily for weeks — NOT a race-day thing |
| Best for | Sled, lunges, wall balls and repeated efforts |
| Evidence | The most proven supplement there is |
BETA-ALANINE
| Dose | 4–6 g every day for weeks |
| Best for | Buffering the burn in the 1–4 min station efforts |
| Watch | Harmless skin tingles |
| More | See our lactic-acid post |
SODIUM BICARBONATE
| Dose | ~0.3 g per kg, 60–180 min pre |
| Best for | Buffering hard 30 s–12 min efforts |
| The catch | It can wreck your stomach — and you are about to run 8 km |
| Verdict | High risk in a running race. Only if you have trialled it hard and tolerate it. Food-grade only |
Emerging — promising, less settled
NITRATE / BEETROOT JUICE
| Dose | ~5–9 mmol nitrate, 2–3 h before (last dose 90+ min out) |
| Best for | A small bump to endurance economy |
| Evidence | Modest and varies a lot person to person — worth a trial, do not bank on it |
Quick gut-check
Tap each question to reveal the answer.
When should you first try your race-day breakfast and gels?
In training, well before race day. The golden rule is "nothing new on race day" — your gut needs practice as much as your legs do.
Which supplements need weeks to work, not a race-day dose?
Creatine and beta-alanine. They build up in the muscle over time. Taking them for the first time on race morning does basically nothing.
You will finish in around 100 minutes. Should you fuel during the race?
Yes. Over about 75–90 minutes, aim for 30–60 g of carbs an hour plus electrolytes — banked glycogen alone may not get you home with power to spare.
The bottom line
The foundation is simple, and it is 90% of the result: eat enough carbs to fuel your training, top up before you race, have a breakfast you trust, and fuel on the move if you will be out there over about 75 minutes. Creatine and beta-alanine are worth starting weeks out; caffeine is a dependable race-day lift; bicarb and beetroot are optional polish with real trade-offs. Train your gut like you train everything else — and never, ever try something new on race day.
One important note: this is education, not medical advice. Sodium bicarbonate is a big hit of sodium and a genuine gut gamble mid-run — trial it properly or skip it. If you have any blood pressure, kidney or heart concerns, or you are on medication, talk to your doctor before adding any supplement.
Two sample race-day plans
Same principles, just shifted around the clock. These are worked examples for a 70–80 kg athlete — scale the grams up or down to your own bodyweight if you sit outside that range, and only ever use foods you have already practised in training.
RACE AT 10 AM — the early start
| ~6:00 am | Main pre-race breakfast (≈4 h out). ~2 g/kg carbs (about 150 g) — a big bowl of porridge with banana and honey, or toast / a bagel with jam. Low fat, low fibre, familiar. ~500 ml fluid with electrolytes. |
| ~8:30 am | Light top-up (≈1.5 h out). ~50 g carbs — a banana plus toast and honey, or a sports drink. Keep sipping fluid with a little sodium. |
| ~9:00 am | Caffeine (≈60 min out). 3–6 mg/kg — a strong coffee or ~200–300 mg. A few final sips of fluid. |
| 10:00 am | GO. If you will be out there over ~75 min: a gel (~25–30 g carbs) around halfway, sports-drink sips in the Roxzone, electrolytes throughout. |
| After | Carbs to refill plus 20–40 g protein, rehydrate with fluid and salt. |
RACE AT 3 PM — the afternoon start
| ~7:30 am | Normal carb-rich breakfast. For an afternoon race your breakfast carbs still count — porridge, eggs if you tolerate them, toast, fruit. Go easy on heavy fat and fibre. |
| ~11:15 am | Main pre-race meal (≈3.5–4 h out). ~2–3 g/kg carbs (about 150–200 g) — white rice or pasta with a lean protein, white bread, a banana. Low fat, low fibre, nothing greasy or new. |
| ~1:30 pm | Light top-up (≈1.5 h out). ~50 g carbs — a banana, toast and honey, or a sports drink. |
| ~2:00 pm | Caffeine (≈60 min out). 3–6 mg/kg. Sip fluid with electrolytes — arrive hydrated, not bloated. |
| 3:00 pm | GO. Same as the early start: 30–60 g carbs an hour if you are out there over ~75 min, electrolytes throughout. |
| All day | Sip fluid with a little sodium steadily — afternoon races are won and lost on staying topped up without overeating. |
| After | Carbs plus 20–40 g protein, rehydrate. |
WHAT ABOUT CREATINE AND BETA-ALANINE ON RACE DAY?
Both of these work by building up in your muscle over weeks — so race morning is not when they do their job. The benefit is already banked from your daily habit in the lead-up. Keep taking your normal daily dose on race day to stay consistent, but do not expect an acute hit and do not try to “load” on the morning of.
| Creatine | Your usual 3–5 g, any time of day — consistency is what matters, not timing. (Doses below suit a 70–80 kg athlete — scale if needed.) |
| Beta-alanine | Your usual 4–6 g, ideally split into smaller doses (~1.6 g) to dodge the tingles. |
The golden rule, one more time: nothing on these timelines should be new on race day. Rehearse your exact breakfast, top-ups and gels in training first.
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