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Hammer Fuel provides virtual sports nutrition coaching to current and former athletes and CrossFitters of all levels by Board Certified Sports Dietitian, Cat Hammer.

10/12/2026

Here’s the cheat sheet to get the most out of your workout ⬇️

✅ EAT a pre-workout snack if:

1. Your last meal was 3+ hours ago
2. It’s a 5 or 6am WOD and you’re training on an empty stomach
3. The session is long (60+ min), a Hero WOD, or really intense
4. You tend to get shaky, lightheaded or gassed halfway through

❌ You can SKIP it if:

1. You ate a meal less than 3 hours ago
2. It’s an easy skill work session
3. It’s a 20–30 minute aerobic piece

Still not sure?

Have the snack, almost always better to top off those energy stores versus gassing out halfway through and regretting it.

Female CrossFitters, if your labs keep coming back “normal” but you still feel off, this one’s for you. 👇You’re doing ev...
10/09/2026

Female CrossFitters, if your labs keep coming back “normal” but you still feel off, this one’s for you. 👇

You’re doing everything right. You fuel your training, you hydrate, you sleep, you take your supplements. You’ve done everything the experts tell you to do.

But bloodwork is built to stay stable.

It doesn’t always show what’s happening inside your cells.

That’s why over the last year we started using Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) with our clients.

It gives us a 3 to 4 month look at the minerals that drive your energy, recovery, sleep and how you handle stress.

It’s not another calorie deficit or macro split, and it’s not a new supplement stack.

It’s a way to stop guessing and give your body what it actually needs.

Comment HTMA and we’ll reach out to see if additional mineral support could help you.

Ladies, before you quit creatine or let it scare you because the scale moved, read this.The number on the scale is the l...
10/08/2026

Ladies, before you quit creatine or let it scare you because the scale moved, read this.

The number on the scale is the least useful piece of data you have.

What matters is what’s changing underneath it and whether your training is moving with it.

One more tip that didn’t fit on the slides: if you’re going to take creatine, choose a third-party tested product. Send me a message if you want to learn more about why that’s important. 

Comment “INFO” to learn how I help clients fuel for their training and track progress with real data.

10/07/2026

5 nutrition myths I used to believe 😳👀

Less food ≠ more results. Your body needs fuel to perform, recover, and build that toned look.

Which one did you believe? Drop the number below 👇

10/06/2026

Follow Cat Hammer | Dietitian for CrossFitters for REAL strategies that actually help you hit more PRs and finally see the muscle definition you’ve been working so hard for 💪🏼

10/02/2026

Slamming caffeine 5 minutes before class or drinking it during the warmup?

Caffeine has really solid research behind it.

But it takes about 30–60 minutes to peak, so if you’re having it right before the workout, it might not kick in until you’re already done.

And something to consider... if you are having caffeine right before class starts it might not even be the caffeine at all that’s helping your workouts. It might be a placebo effect or the ritual that gets you locked in.

But either way, if it works it works and long as you’re not abusing it 🤷🏻‍♀️

10/02/2026

If you’re bloated almost every day and nothing seems to fix it, it’s might not be a food intolerance problem.

For a lot of the high-achieving CrossFitters I work with, it comes down to three things stacking on top of each other: underfueling, chronic stress, and loading up on high-volume, low-calorie foods to stay full.

All three can cause digestion to take much longer than it should.

So this might not be a “cut gluten and dairy” problem. It could be a “eat enough, consistently” problem.

Same macros every single day is STUPID. Think about it: a heavy, high-intensity day and a rest-day walk don’t cost your ...
09/29/2026

Same macros every single day is STUPID.

Think about it: a heavy, high-intensity day and a rest-day walk don’t cost your body the same amount of energy.

So why would you fuel them the same way?

Here’s how I structure it with my clients:

🔥 Hard days: more carbs, especially around training, to refill glycogen and support recovery

⚡ Moderate days: steady, balanced intake with fuel still present around your session

🧘‍♀️ Recovery days: protein stays high, carbs come down a bit, but we don’t slash intake, because this is when you actually adapt

And we don’t guess which day is which. We use heart rate zones and your actual training schedule to define what “hard,” “moderate,” and “recovery” mean for you.

This is exactly how my client lost 4% body fat in four months (if you missed yesterday’s reel, go watch it).

Matching your fuel to your training NEEDS to be the strategy if you want to see real change.

Comment INFO and I’ll send you my free training on exactly how I help my clients do this.

09/28/2026

“I’m training hard and eating clean. Why isn’t anything changing?”

This is what one of my clients was asking herself before we started working together. She was going all-out almost every single day, and most coaches would have told her to cut calories again.

Instead, we restructured her week. A couple of hard days, some moderate days, some recovery days, and fueling that matched each one.

Four months later? Down 4% body fat.

Your body builds muscle and changes composition when it has the fuel and recovery to do it, not when it’s stuck in protection mode.

💬 Comment MUSCLE for my free training on exactly how I help my clients do this.

Follow Cat Hammer | Dietitian for CrossFitters for evidence-based fueling, training, and recovery tips for female CrossF...
09/28/2026

Follow Cat Hammer | Dietitian for CrossFitters for evidence-based fueling, training, and recovery tips for female CrossFitters.

If you’ve been “doing everything right” for years and your body still isn’t changing, your discipline isn’t the problem.

Here are 5 things most female CrossFitters are missing:

1️⃣ Adequate calories

Eating less and tracking harder isn’t the answer. Chronic underfueling disrupts your hormones, metabolism, and recovery, which makes body comp change harder, not easier (IOC Consensus on REDs, 2023).

2️⃣ Adequate training volume

More cardio and extra accessory work aren’t the answer either. Your body adapts during recovery, not during the workout. Yes, you probably need more than 1 rest day a week (Recovery & Performance in Sport Consensus, 2018).

3️⃣ Body composition data

The mirror and progress photos can mislead you. Your weight and how you look shift with your cycle even when fat mass doesn’t. DXA, BodPod, or InBody scans done in the same cycle phase show real muscle and fat change (Koşar et al., 2022).

4️⃣ Regular bloodwork

Skip the supplement your favorite Games athlete swears by. Supplement based on proven need, using bloodwork that goes beyond your yearly CMP (IOC Consensus on Dietary Supplements, 2018).

5️⃣ Nervous system regulation

Stress from every source adds up, and your body doesn’t separate training stress from life stress. Restricting calories has even been shown to raise cortisol, and just tracking them raises stress (Tomiyama et al., 2010).

Sometimes the fix is doing less, and doing it with better data.

For more strategies to build muscle, lose body fat, and perform your best without living in a deficit...

👉 Follow Cat Hammer | Dietitian for CrossFitters

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