Geschatte leestijd: 5 minutenIn our article “What is Dry Training,” we explained the definition of the term dry training. The systematic reduction of body fat to better showcase the built-up muscle mass is the desire of many gym visitors. However, this desire is made more complex and complicated than necessary by numerous myths and fables. In fact, it boils down to a number of elementary adjustments in training and especially in diet. This article “How to Get Dry” aims to elucidate aspects particularly related to diet and calorie intake.
Dry Training, How?
Let’s start by debunking a myth:
You don’t have to do more repetitions if you want to dry train.
There is no scientific basis that doing more repetitions will lead to more muscle definition and help make your muscles stand out better. A typical case of bro science. Unfortunately, you often hear this myth in many gyms.
If you want more muscle definition, there are 2 requirements: muscles and a low body fat percentage. Muscles are built by doing strength training with enough intensity to generate sufficient stimuli (progressive overload) to promote muscle growth (hypertrophy). Therefore, maintaining muscle mass is also an important aspect when working on a lower body fat percentage, so requirement number 2.
Lowering your body fat percentage, unfortunately, cannot be done without creating a negative energy balance. This can be achieved by increasing your activities or by reducing the amount of energy (calories) you consume. It is simpler and often more effective to reduce the amount of energy consumed rather than increase the amount of activity. The latter can be a challenge in terms of time commitment but can also have a catabolic effect on your body, where muscle mass can be lost.
Calculating Caloric Needs
To start with dry training, it is advisable to first determine how many calories you need per day. The number of calories needed varies from person to person and depends on several factors, such as activity level. Any calculation or estimation you make is a guess, so keep that in mind. Even when using various handy apps like the FITsociety App, keep in mind that you can never enter and track everything down to three decimal places accurately. The goal is to get an idea of the amount of energy you are consuming and to what physiological consequences this leads to your body composition.
The calorie calculator is a good indication to help you get started. The abbreviation BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate and represents the amount of energy your body needs to function without engaging in any other activities. So, the energy the body essentially needs to keep the heart beating and to breathe.
The result of your caloric needs can be found in the “Maintenance” box. This is the amount of energy the body needs to neither gain nor lose weight. So then, the calorie balance is even. The goal is to make the calorie balance negative, so we need to create a deficit of 10 to 15 percent. If you create a higher deficit, there is a high chance that your body will use muscle mass to meet its energy needs, so be careful to take small steps.
A 30-year-old man, 1m85 tall and weighing 80kg with a moderate activity level of 3, needs 2,919 kcal per day according to our calculator. A 15% deficit would mean he needs per day: 2,919 kcal – 438 = 2,481 calories.
If you have not lost weight after 4 weeks, your calorie intake is probably still too high. If you are gaining weight, you are most likely also on the high side. If you are losing weight, then you are on the right track. Make sure you do not lose more than 0.5kg to 1kg per week in weight.
Calculating Macronutrients
Now you know approximately how many calories you can eat to lose weight. Lose weight? Yes, because dry training is nothing else than weight loss, with the exception that you want to maintain muscle mass. To maintain muscle mass and only reduce body fat percentage, the distribution of macronutrients is extremely important. The functions of the macronutrients, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, can be read in the respective articles on this site. In this article, we dive into the distribution and explain why you need to adhere to this distribution.
Proteins
The amount of proteins in the body determines how much muscle mass is built and how much muscle mass is broken down. The body is continuously building and breaking down muscle mass. This is called catabolism and anabolism. When the body enters a state where the amount of energy (in the form of calories) is not sufficiently present, it will look for other sources. One of the sources can be muscle mass. Not desirable when you want to maintain muscle mass. It is therefore important to keep the amount of proteins quite high during a period of dry training. Start by calculating your protein intake when you want to dry train. A good guideline is to maintain 2 grams of protein per kg of body weight. So if you weigh 80 kg, make sure you get at least 160 grams of protein per day. 1 gram of protein provides 4 calories, so this is equivalent to 160 x 4 kcal = 640 calories.
Fats
The amount of fats is calculated after you have determined the amount of protein. Fats play an important role in the body because they can be a source of energy for your body after carbohydrates, the preferred energy supplier for your body. Besides being a source of energy, fat plays an important role in hormone balance, such as in the production of testosterone and insulin sensitivity. The amount of fats you need to take in is about 25% of your total caloric needs. In our example, this means that the man of his 2,481 calories needs to consume 25 percent fat, which amounts to: 620 calories.
This comes down to 69 grams of fat per day. A commonly heard advice is to maintain 1 gram of fat per kg of body weight. So in this example, you could apply 80 grams of fat, which amounts to 720 calories.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates, the main supplier of energy for your body, are calculated last. Carbohydrates play an important role in achieving your training goals. Without a good amount of carbohydrates, the quality of your training drastically decreases. So to keep your training and muscle stimuli at their maximum, carbohydrates are essential. Carbohydrates, like proteins, provide 4 kcal per gram. So now that we have calculated proteins and fats, we can easily fill in the carbohydrates:
25%: 640 calories from protein: 160 grams of proteins
30%: 720 calories from fat: 80 grams of fats
45%: 1,121 calories from carbohydrates: 280 grams of carbohydrates
2,481 calories in total
Measuring Dry Training Results
Okay, now you have a basis from which you can start measuring and optimizing. After all, as we mentioned, each person is different and the result depends on more than just the caloric needs and the distribution of macronutrients. Pay attention to the following when you want to know if the chosen path is the right one:
Are you losing weight? That is often, not always, a sign that you are losing fat mass and that you are on the right track. Always measure at the same time so that you can compare the same figures. If your body fat percentage is also decreasing, then you are doing well.
Is your weight staying the same? Don’t panic. It may be that due to the above distribution of macronutrients you are finally eating in the right way and that your muscle mass is increasing. You can only be sure of this if you have also measured your body fat percentage and it shows a downward trend.
