Hyrox nutrition: what to eat before, during and after the race
No special diet needed during training: the real adjustments happen in the 48 hours before the race, during the effort, and in the hour after you cross the finish line.
A Hyrox race typically lasts between 60 and 100 minutes depending on level, long enough for nutrition to affect performance, but not so long that it calls for a complex protocol. What matters comes down to three specific moments.
48 hours before: carb-load, without overdoing it
Established sports nutrition guidelines for an effort of this length point to roughly 7 to 10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight over the two days before the race, from easy-to-digest sources: rice, pasta, potatoes, bread. No need to double your portions overnight, just favour these foods at every meal and limit excess fibre and fat, which slow digestion without adding useful race-day energy.
The pre-race meal
Three to four hours before the start, a full but simple meal: easy-to-digest carbs, a moderate portion of protein, little fat and little fibre. One to two hours before, a light snack is enough if needed (banana, fruit puree, cereal bar), and never try a new food on race day.
During the race
For an effort under 90 minutes, water alone is usually enough, unless it's very hot. Beyond that, an isotonic drink provides hydration, fast carbs and electrolytes together, useful in particular on the running segments between stations. Nothing solid to eat during the race: the alternating run/station format doesn't leave a real window for it anyway.
Right after the finish
The body absorbs best in the 30 to 60 minutes after the effort: a snack combining carbs and protein (a smoothie with fruit and a protein source, for example) kickstarts recovery more effectively than a full meal eaten later. For hydration, a useful benchmark: each kilogram lost during the effort corresponds to roughly 1 to 1.5 litres of rehydration drink to make up in the following hours.
No specific supplements needed to get started
No supplement is essential for a first race. The brands mentioned in the equipment guide (Myprotein, Hyrox's official nutrition partner, Nutripure, Nutrimuscle) cover the needs of anyone looking to fine-tune their diet during heavier training periods, notably on the 12-week intermediate programme, where the higher training volume calls for more consistent attention to overall calorie intake.
The rest of the time, outside the 48 hours around a race, no special diet is needed to make progress: a balanced, adequate diet is more than enough.