Mel Varvel
Hyrox World Championships
Mel's headline numbers
Mel's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
As Hyrox is a relatively short event and very different from the endurance races you usually see in our database, the main focus for Mel was a strong carb loading protocol ahead of time to make sure she had full energy stores. She consumed ~379g of carbs the day before (6.1g per kilogram of body weight) which falls slightly below the recommended range of 8-12g/kg, and topped off her carb stores the morning of the event. As a member of the PF&H Team Mel knew that a gel 15 minutes before the start would elevate her blood glucose and spare her stored energy for later in the event. For the ~70 minutes she spent crushing it at the World Champs, she didn’t need to take in any additional carb but certainly made sure to top up afterwards to help promote her recovery.
Hydration
Taking on board an appropriate amount of fluid and sodium is essential to maintaining blood volume and supporting the cardiovascular effort needed to perform on race day.
Whilst the absolute amount of sodium and fluid consumed per hour is important, it’s critical to consider these in relation to each other. This is known as 'relative sodium concentration' and it’s expressed in milligrams per litre (mg/L). How much sodium you’re taking in per litre of fluid is more important than the absolute amount taken in per hour.
Sweat sodium concentration (mg/L) is largely genetically determined and remains relatively stable. Knowing how salty your sweat is enables you to replace a good proportion of your sweat losses, which can range from 200-2,000mg/L.
Given Mel’s losses are Very High (1,475mg/L), nailing her hydration strategy becomes especially crucial when it’s hot and/or humid.
Learn moreAlthough this event was much shorter than the IRONMAN's® Mel is used to competing in, she did experience some symptoms of thirst which could have been alleviated by taking a few sips of plain water throughout. It’s unlikely Mel would have experienced enough dehydration to significantly impact her performance, so hydration was less of a priority for her during the event.
Caffeine
Beyond the Three Levers of Performance (carb, sodium and fluid), caffeine is one of only a few substances that is proven to improve performance for most endurance athletes as it can help stave off mental and physical fatigue.
Mel is used to consuming a large amount of caffeine day-to-day, so her three espressos for breakfast on the big day and additional caffeine gel ~20 minutes out were exactly what she needed to utilise the ergogenic benefits of the stimulant for the fast-paced event.
How Mel hit her numbers
Here's everything that Mel ate and drank on the day...
Mel's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HMel's full stats
Data Confidence?
There is an adequate level of accuracy in the data collected and the numbers reported. The athlete manages to recall what they ate and drank including most specifics (brands flavours quantities plausible estimations of volumes). However there are estimations made within the data which affect the overall confidence level in the data reported.