ATHX Nutrition: Fuel the Work

I've done ATHX myself, I've trained for it and I've worked with athletes preparing for functional fitness and endurance events. One thing I've learned is that you can do a lot of hard work in training and still leave performance on the table if you get your nutrition wrong.

ATHX is a bit of a nutritional juggling act. You're combining running with repeated high-intensity functional work, so you need enough energy to produce power, recover between efforts and keep going when fatigue starts to build.

The good news is that you don't need a complicated nutrition plan.

You need to arrive fuelled, hydrated and with a strategy you've already practised.

Don't wait until race week

Nutrition needs to be part of your training, just like your running, strength work and transitions.

I've seen athletes spend weeks preparing their physical training and then think about what they're going to eat a few days before the event. That's not ideal.

You need to know what you can eat early in the morning, what your stomach tolerates when you're working hard and what you can get down between zones without feeling uncomfortable.

Race day isn't the time to find out.

As someone with a Level 4 nutrition qualification, I also think it's important to distinguish between everyday nutrition and competition fuelling. Your normal diet needs to support your health, recovery and training. Race week has a slightly different job: make sure your glycogen stores are well topped up and you arrive hydrated without feeling stuffed.

Carb up — but don't stuff yourself

As the event gets closer, carbohydrate becomes increasingly important. You're looking to maximise your glycogen stores, not eat your bodyweight in pasta the night before.

Think little and often. Rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, cereal, fruit, juice and other familiar carbohydrate sources can all do the job.

There's no prize for the biggest plate of pasta.

And if certain foods leave you feeling bloated or uncomfortable, this isn't the time to eat them just because they're supposedly "healthy". You want food that you know you tolerate.

Race morning

I don't want to arrive at an event having eaten nothing because I'm worried about feeling heavy. Equally, I don't want breakfast to become a competitive eating challenge.

Porridge, toast and honey, a bagel, cereal, banana, overnight oats or a smoothie can all work. The important thing is that you've tested it before a hard training session.

The same applies to your fluids. Start the event hydrated rather than trying to catch up once you're already racing.

During ATHX

This is where ATHX gets particularly interesting.

You're not running continuously. You're repeatedly switching between running and demanding functional movements, so you're asking your body to produce energy at a relatively high rate and then do it again.

Carbohydrate is your friend.

Use the opportunities between zones to get some fuel in. That could be a sports drink, gel, chews, banana, sweets or whatever you've already tested and know you can tolerate.

How much you need will depend on the individual, the duration and intensity of the event and your gut tolerance. Some athletes can tolerate high carbohydrate intakes, but that tolerance needs to be trained.

If you're not used to taking in large amounts of carbohydrate, don't suddenly try to hit a big number on race day because you've read about it online.

Train your gut as well as your legs.

And don't forget hydration

There's a tendency to think hydration simply means "drink more".

It doesn't.

You need to understand how much you actually need.

Your sweat rate, body size, pace and the conditions can all make a big difference. A useful starting point is to weigh yourself before and after some representative training sessions and keep track of how much you've drunk.

That gives you a much better idea of your individual fluid losses than copying somebody else's hydration plan.

And remember that too much fluid can also be a problem. For longer or particularly sweaty events, electrolytes — particularly sodium — also need consideration.

Recovery starts when you finish

Once you've crossed the line, it's tempting to think the job is done.

But you've just combined endurance, strength and high-intensity work, so getting some carbohydrate, protein and fluid in afterwards will help support recovery.

It doesn't need to be complicated. A recovery drink, yoghurt and fruit, a sandwich or a proper meal will all work.

The important thing is not to forget about it because you're busy celebrating — or trying to work out how you're going to get down the stairs!

The biggest lesson

For me, the biggest lesson from ATHX and other functional fitness endurance events is that nutrition is part of your performance plan.

You wouldn't turn up having never practised your running, your lifts or your transitions.

Your nutrition deserves the same preparation.

Practise your breakfast. Practise your carbohydrate intake. Practise drinking while you're working hard. Work out what your stomach tolerates.

Then turn up knowing you've already solved that part of the problem.

Because ultimately, I don't want my athletes simply to survive ATHX.

I want them to arrive prepared, execute their plan and find out what they're actually capable of.

And that starts with fuelling the work.