Contributed by Dr. Byron Fergerson, Chief Scientist

1. Fueling Is Personal

Ask ten endurance athletes what they eat and drink before, during, and after a hard workout, and you’ll get ten different answers. That’s not because the science is vague—it’s because every athlete’s physiology, goals, and environment are unique.

• Body size & composition influence carbohydrate storage and utilization.
  
  

• Genetics affect how quickly we metabolize fuels and clear the byproducts.
  
  

• Climate impacts fluid and electrolyte needs day by day.
  
  

• Training modality—steady long runs vs. repeated high-intensity intervals—fundamentally shifts how your body demands and recovers energy.
  
  

The common takeaway? Getting your fueling algorithm dialed in is personal. Listen to your body. Experiment with different products and approaches. Give yourself permission to adjust within a training cycle as mileage, intensity, and even the weather changes.

At Freak Shake Endurance, we like to think of it as building your personal playbook—not just memorizing someone else’s plan.

2. Two Modalities, Two Different Fueling Stories

To illustrate how variable endurance fueling can be, let’s contrast two very different athletes on the same training day:

• A distance runner logging a long aerobic session of 12–16 miles while training for a marathon.
  
  

• A hybrid athlete tackling a brutal CrossFit WOD or a competitive rowing session lasting 45–60 minutes, loaded with intervals and explosive bursts.
  
  

Both rely heavily on a strong aerobic base. In fact, the ability to sustain oxygen-based metabolism is the foundation of endurance in both cases. But the way energy is produced, lost, and replenished looks very different.

• Traditional distance running emphasizes efficiency—teaching the body to utilize oxygen incredibly efficiently, and extracting every ounce of output from fat oxidation & carbohydrate stores.
  
  

• Hybrid endurance disciplines combine aerobic output with repeated anaerobic efforts, where glycogen is rapidly consumed and lactate floods the system. Success here is about how fast you can burn, recover, and then repeat.
  
  

Different fueling strategies will be needed to reflect those physiological demands.

3. Distance Running: Fueling for the Long Haul

Let’s dive into what a “typical” plan looks like for a marathon training run of 10–16 miles.

Pre-Workout (2–3 hours before)

• Carbohydrates: 1–4 g per kg bodyweight, favoring low-fiber options to avoid GI stress.
  
  

• Protein: 15–20 g to support muscle turnover.
  
  

• Hydration: Start topped off with 16–20 oz water plus electrolytes if it’s going to be hot, humid and extra-sweaty.
  
  

A practical option: A bowl of oatmeal with banana and a scoop of complete protein (we recommend casein for it’s complete absorption profile), washed down with a bottle of Freak Shake Fuel & Hydrate to preload carbs and electrolytes is a tummy-friendly pre-workout tank topper.

Intra-Workout

• Carbohydrates: 30–60 g per hour for runs over 90 minutes, leaning toward glucose + fructose blends (or cane sugar which includes both and tastes better) to optimize absorption. It’s important to stay ahead of glycogen depletion and the dreaded bonk. Simple sugars are the fastest effective way to do so!
  
  

• Fluids: 16–24 oz per hour depending on sweat rate.
  
  

• Electrolytes: Aim for 400–600 mg sodium per hour as a baseline. Salty sweaters in hot conditions can lose as much as 3000 mg per hour!
  
  

Execution: Sip Freak Shake Fuel & Hydrate every 20–30 minutes. It offers a sippable blend of moderate carbs (25g) and a generous electrolyte composition to keep muscles primed without the “gut bomb” feeling of gels stacked back to back.

Post-Workout

• Carb reload: 1–1.2 g per kg in the first hour to maximize glycogen resynthesis. For a 165 lb athlete that works out to 75-90 g immediately post workout, preferably simple sugars that are quickly available for the body to jumpstart its recovery process.
  
  

• Protein: 20–40 g with all essential amino acids.
  
  

• Electrolytes: Replenish what was lost in sweat, especially sodium.
  
  

A smart stack: A recovery shake with Freak Shake Grit Fuel capsules for mitochondrial support, plus a balanced carb-protein snack within 30 minutes.

For the hard charger: If you’re seeking peak performance again in less than 24 hours, or have a limited recovery window, intermittently consuming this amount of carbs and protein every hour for 4-6 hours can help maximize glycogen replacement rate and speed the recovery process.

The goal: restore glycogen, repair muscle, and set up for tomorrow’s training.

4. Hybrid Endurance: Fueling the Engine Room

Now picture a CrossFit athlete facing “Fight Gone Bad” or a rower attacking repeated 2k intervals. The physiology shifts.

Pre-Workout (60–90 minutes before)

• Carbohydrates: A lighter dose (0.5–1 g per kg) with a focus on easy digestion. You’re not fueling for a 3-hour slog, but you are priming glycogen stores.
  
  

• Protein: 20 g for muscle protection.
  
  

• Hydration: A modest 8–12 oz with electrolytes to avoid sloshing.
  
  

Practical choice: A Freak Shake Grit Fuel Endurance Capsule and glass of water with a banana or piece of fruit makes a nice light, digestible primer for a HIIT workout so you can warm up into it quickly, and have enough in the tank to finish strong because it’s very difficult to take on calories in the middle of a high intensity VO2 Max workout.

Intra-Workout

Most hybrid sessions last 45–75 minutes. Here the goal is power repeatability, not steady fueling.

• Carbs: For workouts longer than an hour, 20–30 g midway can help stave off glycogen crash.
  
  

• Fluids: 8–10 oz between intervals or during short rests.
  
  

• Electrolytes: Important if the session is in heat or humidity.
  
  

Example: A diluted bottle of Freak Shake Fuel & Hydrate sipped during rest intervals.

Post-Workout

• Carbohydrates: Still critical—0.8–1 g per kg in the first 30 minutes.
  
  

• Protein: A bit more than for our distance runner… A minimum of 25 g to help repair fast-twitch fibers heavily taxed during explosive lifts and intervals.
  
  

• Supplements: Antioxidants and mitochondrial support compounds can help buffer the oxidative stress of repeated high-intensity efforts.
  
  

Recovery routine: A pre-workout Freak Shake Grit Fuel  Endurance Capsule will help reduce the recovery tax you pay after a high intensity session. Consider a carb bar & a Freak Shake Gain Grog Protein drink to aid muscle recovery. It’s natural supplementation also supports the aerobic adaptations to exercise that hybrid athletes sometimes undertrain.

The goal: repair fast, restore glycogen, and prep the nervous system to fire again.

5. The Added Benefits of Supplementation

Whole foods remain the foundation of every athlete’s nutrition. But supplementation can close the gap between theory and practice. For high volume or high intensity training that can take you to the point of exhaustion and easily cross the line to overexertion, supplementation may also provide a bit of extra forgiveness when you’re going for it so you don’t unintentionally diminish your gains.

• Electrolyte blends help avoid hyponatremia in long runs and excessive cramping in high-sweat CrossFit boxes. Electrolytes are lost in sweat and when they become depleted our body can struggle to manage hydration balance even when taking plenty of water. They also help maintain a solid connection between our brain and muscles so we can move fluidly with less perceived mental effort.
  
  

• Mitochondrial support (epicatechin, green tea catechins, isoquercetin) can improve energy turnover and recovery between sessions.
  
  

• Convenience: Many athletes don’t have the benefit of time, coaches or nutritionists to figure out their perfect fueling algorithm. For those who are looking for a solid starting point without logging daily intake of carbs and sodium, a high performance nutrition solution can make a big difference.
  
  

Freak Shake Endurance was designed with these pain points in mind—real science, athlete-friendly taste, and flexible use across both long-haul and hybrid sessions.

6. From Algorithms to Practical Playbooks

Some athletes love to map every 20-minute fueling block like a math equation. Others just want to train hard, race hard, and not think about grams per kg until race week.

That’s why we designed Freak Shake products as comprehensive starting points:

• Grit Fuel Endurance Capsules: “Just the Flavonoids” that go into all of our nutrition products. This natural plant bio-nutrient stack supports aerobic energy metabolism, blood flow, muscle resilience, & recovery to promote peak endurance across disciplines.
  
  

• Fuel & Hydrate: A baseline formula that covers carbs + electrolytes for both long runs and interval blocks. Blended for sippability before and during sweaty efforts.
  
  

• Recover: A comprehensive mix of high carbs, high electrolytes, and just enough protein to prioritize rapid energy replacement without neglecting muscle after endurance. This may be our best tasting product which matters considering that attaching small rewards to your training is a proven performance habit.
  
  

You can plug these into your training day as a “general purpose” strategy, and then fine-tune with whatever gels, whole foods, or other nutritional supplements suit your taste and training preferences.

Think of Freak Shake Endurance as scaffolding—you get structure without being boxed in.

Final Thoughts

Fueling isn’t about one perfect formula. It’s about understanding your body, your training modality, and your goals.

• Distance runners should emphasize steady carbohydrate delivery, electrolytes, and recovery protein to handle long aerobic stress.
  
  

• Hybrid athletes generally can store enough glycogen to get through a typical workout without steady intra-workout fueling. But hydration & electrolytes are a must. And don’t neglect high carbs post workout to replace that spent glycogen along with a bit of extra protein for muscle repair.
  
  

• All athletes may benefit from the natural endurance-friendly supplementation that goes into every Freak Shake product. Just always listen to your body, keep experimenting, and adjusting over time.
  
  

With Freak Shake Endurance, we’ve created comprehensive fueling products that respect both the science and the reality: Endurance training is freak’n hard! For many athletes who just want to focus attention on training & competition, we make simple, delicious & complete fueling options that can be easily added to. And our natural bio-nutrient supplementation turns every one of our products into your personal race mechanic, helping tune the cellular machinery of muscle for resilience & peak endurance.

So whether you’re pounding the pavement for 16 miles or grinding through 5 brutal CrossFit rounds, your fueling plan can make the difference between surviving and thriving.