Hi there! I’m a competitive hyrox athlete and have a race coming up this weekend! Both of my brothers are huge fans of Barbell Medicine. I have a question regarding race day fuel for this weekend. I’m contemplating when/if I should take a gel pack during my race. My coach believes I should take one about halfway through the race, but the race will only be about 1:10 min long. How long will it take for the gel pack to kick in? Does it even make sense to take a gel pack? It’s about 100 calories and 24g of carbs.
Good question, and shout out to your brothers for bringing you hear.
I’m not exactly sure if you’d see a benefit from intra-competition fuel. Usually, I’d turn to the scientific evidence on this, but the duration of your event is in a bit of a gray zone. Most data on endurance or team sports lasting longer than an hour and a half show benefit from some fuel while you’re doing it. Shorter than that, it not so clear cut.
Theoretically, we can use (and replace) a lot of carbs during exercise. Some thinking around possible mechanisms include sustaining blood sugar, others suggest it’s more about fueling the muscles directly, and there are still others with different feelings on the topic.
The other thing to think about, is that not everyone feels particularly awesome when they eat during activity. There’s a huge variation in how people respond to the same level of intake. Some get sick, and others feel fine. The “Eating Contest On Wheels” that is the Tour de France highlights this well, as there’s huge differences between each competitor in what they eat.
While you can definitely use the snack soon after ingestion, my concern is that you haven’t tried it already to see how you’d presumably respond during a race. I think that risk trumps any small potential benefit…so I’d skip it.
Good luck at the race. Let us know how you do!
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Thank you so much! I ended up getting a PR and shaved 3:45 off my time! I finished at 1:12:13. I ended up going for the gel pack and took it about halfway through the race. After the 4th station j took it. I’m not sure if it helped at all but I also don’t think it hurt.
I appreciate you getting back to me! I’ll do some experimenting with mid race fuel!
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