I don’t think most people understand what it takes to fuel a CrossFit Games athlete. The amount of training volume that these athletes complete on a daily basis is insane. Anywhere from 3-6 hours per day, 5-6 days per week. These athletes are training all aspects of fitness as you can see from watching the CrossFit Games on TV and burning a ridiculous amount of calories each day. The amount of stress put on their body is more than most sports and their ability to recover is essential.
When working with regional or games athletes, sleep is typically the first factor I look at. I can’t tell you how many athletes I see only sleeping 5-6 hours per night at first. Most of which also have issues falling asleep and/or waking up throughout the night. For athletes at this level, 9-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep is crucial.
Nutrition is the next piece I look into. For most athletes at this level, the struggle is simply just getting them to eat enough. When you’re training as much as they are, their intake requirements are so much higher than most people. I remember when I was competing at a regional level I was eating 4000-5000 calories per day. Some athletes are reaching way higher numbers, especially around this time of the season as training is ramping up and definitely at the CrossFit Games.
Supplementation is the next thing I look into. Lack of supplementation or the proper supplementation is the next issue I see. There are so many different opinions on what this should like, but ultimately it just depends on the individual. One thing I will say, at this level supplementation is absolutely necessary. But, you better do your due diligence and don’t trust anyone. You’re responsible for what you put in your body. You wouldn’t want all of your hard work to go to waste because you took some supplement without doing your research.
If you are experiencing issues with sleep, under recovering, frustration with training and performance, lack of sex drive or loss of menstrual cycle, etc. then you might need to do a self assessment to make sure you are doing everything possible to fuel yourself properly.
I’m so proud of my athletes who are crushing it!