The Day Before: What to Eat and When to Stop

Move-Lift-Work is tomorrow. Nothing you do today makes you fitter. It’s like cramming in study the night before an exam, except you’ll be doing even more harm.

Do not train. If you need to move, go for a walk.

Eat what you normally eat, with a bit more carbohydrate in it and nothing unfamiliar. Rice, pasta, potatoes, bread. Nothing new, nothing you have not trained on before. The last thing you need is to upset your stomach on an unfamiliar food.

Go easy on the fibre. A day of lentils and raw veg before an early start is a decision people only make once!

Skip the alcohol. It wrecks sleep even when it feels like it is helping you get to sleep.

Keep caffeine where it normally sits. Do not double it because you are nervous, and do not skip it if you drink coffee every day of your life.

Drink water through the day rather than sinking a litre at nine o'clock tonight.

Sleep is what to prioritise, and tonight is the second most important night — last night was the one that mattered most and you cannot fix that now. Normal bedtime, not an earlier one, this will just cause you to wake up early, or worse not be able to sleep.

Pack tonight. Trainers, rope, grips, tape, spare top, something warm for between events, and more food than you think you will need.

Breakfast tomorrow: something you have eaten before a session before. Two to three hours out if you can, smaller and simpler if you cannot. This is not the day to try the latest pre-workout or energy snack.

If you haven’t already done so, read the workouts tonight, firstly make sure you understand them and then decide how you will approach each one — where you break the reps, what weight you open at on the bar. If nothing else having a plan helps to calm the pre event nerves a little.

Not competing and wondering what a day like this is like? Come and watch. Nobody who competes tomorrow thought they were ready the first time either. If you have never set foot in the place, book a fifteen minute free call with Jeremy or Beth first — no obligation. crossfitchiltern.com.