2023 Crossfit Game Open Nutrition Strategy
Its the ~Most Wonderful Time of the Year~!!! The OPEN! The Open is a celebration. Its a time for every crossfitter to test themselves, to immerse more deeply in their community, to compete, have fun and learn some stuff. Whether you’re trying to get to the next stage, or trying to get your first muscle up or string those dubs together, we are here to help you make sure you don’t have to stress about the food side of things.
The Open is stressful, no matter what level you are at. The adrenaline, the eyes on you, the movements and lack of control of what the workouts are - its a lot! So the BIN Performance coaches are here to help you each week come up with your own Black Iron Nutrition Strategy. In reality, this will not be TOO different from an everyday nutrition strategy you have, however 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. 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!
Week ONE!!!!
This workout is a longer metcon with a mix of cardio, gymnastics, and a barbell! There are two different nutrition strategies when it comes to this workout, and it all depends on if you believe you will get ring muscle ups or not.
IF you know you do not have muscle ups, this is going to be a race to get through the first 4 movements as quickly as possible. We do not believe you need to tweak nutrition by much. On Thursday, or the day before you are completing the 23,1, stick to your normal training day macros. If you take “rest day” macros on Thursdays, make sure you change that to your Training Day macros to give you extra energy going into Friday’s workout!
IF you are going to hit some ring muscle ups and working for the entire 14 minutes, we suggest doing a mini refeed day on Thursday (or the day before completing the workout). For this refeed we want you to keep protein and fat the same, but an increase of carbs by 20-40%.
Ex: if your macros are 150g Protein/ 300g Carbs/ 70g Fat we would change this to
150g Protein/ 360-420g Carbs/ 70g Fat
We cannot stress this enough - please do not consume foods/ supplements/ drinks that your body is not used to. The last thing you need is any GI issues leading up to the workout! Remember, this is just another workout- and you know what works best with your body. No need to add in new food just because someone at the gym is eating it :)
Friday/Game Day Nutrition
For this day, we recommend keeping your macros the same as your usual training day macros.
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% carbs, 15% fat
Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein, 300 carbs, 70 fat, this meal would have 30g protein, 75g of carbs, and 10g of fat.
We suggest 15-20g of easy digestible carbs added in 15 min before the workout: sports drink, gummy candy, etc.
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, 20% carbs, 20% fat
Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/ 70 fat, this meal would have 30g protein, 60g of carbs, and 14g of fat
Percentage of your macros to eat in Meal 2:
20% protein, 25% carbs, 15% fat
Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/ 70 fat, this meal would have 30g protein, 75g carbs, and 10g of fat
We suggest 15-20g of easy digestible carbs added in 15 min before the workout: sports drink, gummy candy, etc.
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, 20% carbs, 25% fat
Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/ 70 fat, this meal would have 37g protein, 60g of carbs, and 17g of fat
Percentage of your macros to eat in Meal 2:
25% protein, 25% carbs, 20% fat
Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/ 70 fat, this meal would have 37g protein, 75g carbs, and 14g of fat
Percentage of your macros to eat in Meal 3:
20% protein, 30% carbs, 15% fat
Ex: if your total macros are 150 protein/ 300 carbs/ 70 fat, this meal would have 30g protein, 90g carbs, and 10g of fat
We suggest 15-20g of easy digestible carbs added in 15 min before the workout: sports drink, gummy candy, etc.
GOODLUCK. Have fun. Give it everything you’ve got!!