Competition Day Nutrition For CrossFit® SiD
Want to ensure your performance on the day is the best it can be? Nailing the right nutrition in the lead up-to and on-the-day will be the difference between the winners & losers at CrossFit® SiD 2019 & securing that all important place at The Games.
Our in-house Performance Nutritionist, Lucy Majury, has given some really simple but effective tips below to keep you on track.
Why should you listen to Lucy?
She’s a 3x CrossFit Regionals athlete as well as a Performance Nutritionist for the world’s best CrossFit athletes – so she understands what is needed to be fully fuelled for competition day.
The week leading up-to CrossFit® SiD
When prepping for CrossFit® SiD it’s important to remember not to add anything new into your diet as you won’t be confident as to how your body will react to it. It’s is all about your performance across the weekend, not experimenting with new ways to improve your body composition.
You need to make sure your glycogen stores are fully stocked for optimal performance so you’ll need adequate amounts of carbohydrates. Caffeine will only take you so far!
It’s advised to add an additional 20-30g of carbohydrates for lunch AND dinner in 3 days before CrossFit® SiD (Wednesday 20th Feb – Friday 22nd Feb). This allows your body time to absorb the glycogen for extra energy come the first workout through to the final one.
DO NOT chase your nutrition on the day!
One of the most important things to not do is to try and chase your nutrition by eating more on competition day. If you’ve not fully prepared come the morning of 23rd February and you try and cram 3 bowls of porridge in, it won’t have the same effect on glycogen levels PLUS the additional food could make a re-appearance on the shiny new competition floor.
You also need to make sure your food is prepared in advance, or at least have a good idea what you’ll eat and when. There can sometimes be limited viable food options at events so preparation is key – especially for consuming the foods your body is used to.
Top tips for preparation on the day:
- Make sure your food types are the same as a typical heavy training day (i.e. don’t experiment with new foods on the day!)
- Bring plenty of snacks to eat around your meals – dates, fruit, nuts (in small doses) & protein/oat bars
- Eat easily digestible protein sources – chicken, tuna, fish, turkey & eggs
- Eat easily digestible carb sources that do not sit on your stomach – potatoes, white rice & quinoa
- Protein shakes are a perfect way to speed up recovery between workouts – that’s where whey’d is so great, as it’s pre-digested so promotes a faster recovery (4x faster than isolate)
- Liquid nutrition is advised when there is minimal time between workouts –e.g. fruit juices and protein shakes
- Make sure you have access to plenty of water
- NEVER go into a workout fasted
- Keep supplementation the same as other training days
Post Competition
It’s important for recovery that you re-feed your body with lots of nutrient dense foods at the end of a competition day. Failing to do so will massively impact your performance for Sunday.
Focus on eating a good source of protein such as salmon, eggs and/or beef with lots of green veg , some fats & a good source of carbohydrates. This helps lower your inflammation & boosts your immune system. Your risk & susceptibility to illness & injury is increased post competition as the intense exercise suppresses your immune system.
Example of good competition day nutrition:
6.30/7am – whey’d Protein iced coffee & overnight oats
10am – (Post first workout) Energy ball or protein oat bar
12-1pm – Sweet potato & chicken
3pm (mid-afternoon snack between workouts) Protein pancakes
4-5pm (Post last workout) – whey’d shake (Banana, almond milk, Chocolate whey’d)
7pm – Rice, Salmon & lots of veg
Pre-bed – Full fat yoghurt, nuts & blueberries
Remember – get the competition prep started from Wednesday 20th rather than cramming the carbs in on the morning of CrossFit® SiD!
Team whey’d are here to help!
The team at whey’d will be here to help you on the weekend with our amazing Procktail Van serving fresh protein shakes to keep you topped up. From green smoothies, protein iced coffee to our fruit smoothie shake to top up those much needed glycogen stores. Come say hi!