Episode 252 – Nutrition For Double Training Days

Who This Applies To

Double training day nutrition matters most for people completing two longer, harder sessions in the same day. That could include endurance athletes, CrossFit athletes, team sport athletes, or anyone training hard twice daily. It is less relevant for someone doing one proper training session and something lighter, like a walk, on the same day.

Why Refuelling Matters

When training happens twice in one day, the gap between sessions becomes important. Good refuelling can improve performance in the second session, support recovery, and potentially improve adaptation over time. It can also help you feel better across the rest of the day, especially if you are trying to juggle training with work or other commitments.

Prioritise Carbohydrates After Training

Glycogen is a key fuel source for higher-intensity exercise. Therefore, after the first session, it makes sense to replenish carbohydrate stores as soon as practical, particularly when sessions are long, intense, or use similar muscle groups. The discussion highlighted a simple target of around 1 gram of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight per hour for the first few hours after exercise. In the first one to two hours, easier-to-digest and simpler carbohydrate sources may work well, before shifting back to more nutritious high-carbohydrate meals. At the same time, total daily intake still matters, so this approach needs to fit the athlete’s broader nutrition goals.

Include Protein to Support Recovery

Carbohydrates are only part of the picture. Protein also plays an important role after training because it supports muscle repair, recovery, and adaptation from both sessions. A practical guide discussed in the episode was around 0.5 grams per kilogram of body weight within the first three to five hours, or a snack containing roughly 20 to 30 grams of protein after training. Even though total daily protein intake remains the biggest priority, including protein around sessions can still help and may make it much easier to meet overall requirements across the day.

Do Not Overlook Hydration

Hydration can easily slip under the radar, yet it becomes even more important on double training days. If the second session starts in a dehydrated state, performance is likely to drop. Because of that, the episode emphasised drinking regularly and replacing around 150% of fluid losses in the hours after training. When the turnaround between sessions is short, adding electrolytes may also help, particularly because sodium can support fluid absorption.

Pay Attention to Food Timing

Food timing becomes more useful when two demanding sessions need to fit into one day. A practical structure is three balanced meals plus snacks, along with an additional carbohydrate-rich pre-training option and extra carbohydrate intake after training when needed. Closer to training, foods that are lower in fibre and lower in fat may feel better, because they are often easier to digest and less likely to sit heavily in the stomach. However, tolerance is individual, so this still needs some personal adjustment.

Look Beyond Just the Workout Window

Once pre- and post-training nutrition becomes more focused on simple, easy-to-digest foods, there is a risk that other parts of the diet get pushed aside. Because of that, the meals further away from training matter too. Those meals can help bring in more fibre, wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, healthy fats, iron-rich foods, and calcium-rich foods such as dairy. In other words, the goal is not just to fuel sessions well, but also to make the rest of the day nutritionally solid.

Should You Use a “Train High, Sleep Low” Approach?

The episode also explored periodised carbohydrate intake, including the “train high, sleep low” approach. This generally involves completing an intense afternoon session with high carbohydrate availability, then limiting carbohydrates afterwards, sleeping in a lower-carbohydrate state, and completing a lower-intensity session the next morning with lower carbohydrate availability. The idea is to potentially support adaptations linked to fat metabolism while still keeping harder sessions fuelled properly.

That said, the discussion around this strategy was nuanced. Although there may be some theoretical or individual benefits, a meta-analysis mentioned in the episode found no improvement in performance. There was also a clear point that easier sessions can feel much harder than they need to when done in a low-carbohydrate state. For athletes at risk of underfueling, especially where RED-S may be a concern, extra caution is needed. Overall, the take-home message was that this strategy is optional, not essential, and should not come at the expense of total energy or carbohydrate intake across the day.

Preparation Makes a Big Difference

Double training days usually require more thought, more food, and more planning. You need to think about what you are eating before, during, after, and between sessions. For that reason, good preparation can make the whole process much easier. When athletes get this right, the second session often feels much better, and overall energy levels across the day can improve too.

Key Takeaways

For double training days, the basics still matter most: enough total energy, enough carbohydrate, enough protein, and enough fluid across the day. However, once training volume and intensity increase, timing becomes more useful. Refuelling well after the first session, staying hydrated, and planning meals around both sessions can make a noticeable difference to performance, recovery, and how you feel overall.