2024 Crossfit Games Open Nutrition Strategy

It’s our favorite time of the year - the start of a new CrossFit Games season!! All of the excitement and nerves mean that you care, that this is important, and we’re FIRED UP to give you some suggestions on how to structure your eating the day before, and day of the Open workout. The coolest part of the Open is that we ALL get to do it, it’s the time of the year where the entire community pools together and does the same workout. Let’s use what we’ve been working on year round to have fun, fuel well, and bring our best performances to the table. 

The BIN Performance coaches are here to help you each week come up with your own Black Iron Nutrition Strategy. In reality, this should not be TOO different from an everyday nutrition strategy you have, but our goal is to help take the stress out of the next few weeks for you, and help you come up with your own solid plan based on what you’ve already been doing. This will be particularly helpful for those who may have to change the day they are doing the workout, the time of day (maybe you have to go at 6pm instead of your normal 7am class time), and we are going to also give our best recommendations if you are going to be redoing the workout at any point!

These are our recommendations. It’s not an end all be all, but some suggestions from some nutrition experts! As always - consult your coach if you have any specific questions on what will work best for YOU ;)

FASTER/CARDIO BASED WORKOUT WITH LIGHTER DUMBBELL WEIGHT

Most of the elite athletes will be taking 5-8 minutes in this workout, meaning it’s more of a quick sprint for them. However, many athletes will be completing this in the 10-15 minutes range. No matter your level - all athletes should be wary of anything heavy on the stomach prior to hitting this workout because of the high intensity it requires. Those in the 10-15 minute range will really want to make sure they have enough fuel in their system as they will be dipping further into their reserves to make it through a longer time domain. 

Please remember that with all of our suggestions: lean on the things you KNOW will not upset your stomach. Now is not the time to try that brand new carb supplement you bought last month ;) Stick to what you know works!

DAY BEFORE WORKOUT TEST:

It’s not necessary to do a refeed the day before, stick to your training day macros for the day before you do this test. Since we won’t be dipping into those glycogen stores like we do with the longer (20+ minute) workouts - we want to focus on getting some fuel to burn RIGHT AWAY! 

DAY OF WORKOUT:

On the day of, we are recommending a slight increase (15-25% carb increase), but by way of your normal pre/intra workout carbs.

IF YOU PLAN ON HITTING THE WORKOUT IN THE MORNING:

We assume you will only have one meal before the workout: Eating your meal 1.5-2 hours before hitting the workout is ideal to help with digestion.

Percentage of your macros to eat in Meal 1:
20% protein, 25-35% carbs, 15% fat 

Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein, 300 carbs, 70 fat, this meal would have 30g protein, 75-105g of carbs, and 10g of fat.  

IF YOU PLAN ON HITTING THE WORKOUT IN THE AFTERNOON:

This should allow you to get in at least 2 meals before hitting the workout. 

Percentage of your macros to eat in Meal 1: 
20% protein, 15% carbs, 20% fat

Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/  70 fat, this meal would have 30g protein, 45g of carbs, and 14g of fat

Percentage of your macros to eat in Meal 2: 
20% protein, 25-35% carbs, 15% fat

Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/ 70 fat, this meal would have 30g protein, 75-105g carbs, and 10g of fat

IF YOU PLAN ON HITTING THE WORKOUT IN THE EVENING (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS):

This should allow you to get in at least 3 meals before hitting the workout

Percentage of your macros to eat in Meal 1: 
25% protein, 15% carbs, 25% fat

Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/  70 fat, this meal would have 37g protein, 45g of carbs, and 17g of fat

Percentage of your macros to eat in Meal 2: 
25% protein, 30% carbs, 20% fat

Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/ 70 fat, this meal would have 37g protein, 90g carbs, and 14g of fat

Percentage of your macros to eat in Meal 3: 
20% protein, 25-35% carbs, 15% fat

Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/ 70 fat, this meal would have 30g protein, 75-105g carbs, and 10g of fat

IF YOU PLAN TO RE-DO:

Be sure to give yourself ample time to recover do you can feel your best hitting this workout a second time. Chat with your coach to create the best strategy for nutrition on your re-do day, but likely you will do the same as above! 

GOOD LUCK to EVERYONE completing 24.1 and remember to have fun!!!!

Your BIN Performance Team