DRY TRAINING: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE
The term ‘dry training’ is used as a synonym for burning fat or losing weight while maintaining muscle mass. Dry training is becoming increasingly popular, but how do you ensure you do it effectively? You’ll find that and much more in this ultimate guide to training dry so you’re ready to hit the beach this year. Read on quickly!
You can read about what dry training is, what nutrition and supplements are needed, and how to train dry. Ideal, right? We have also put together several training and nutrition schedules for motivated athletes. This way, you can start immediately, and excuses are a thing of the past. For the lazy reader, we have made a step-by-step plan.
What is dry training?
Dry training is often also referred to as “cutting.” This is about reducing your fat percentage but retaining as much muscle mass as possible. Two things are essential when you get started: nutrition and training.
Dry training is important because you have to eat fewer calories than you expend. By eating fewer calories, your body will use energy-rich fat reserves. A man needs an average of 2500 kcal, and a woman needs 2000 kcal. You can use our calorie requirement calculator to calculate what your body needs. To lose weight, 200 to 500 fewer calories are needed. Eat enough protein because this prevents muscle loss and ensures muscle recovery. It is also important that you get enough carbohydrates and healthy fats.
In short, eat fewer calories than you consume with the right nutrition. Plenty of protein, adequate carbohydrates, and proper (healthy) fats.
HOW SHOULD YOU TRAIN DRY?
Dry training is simple: eat fewer calories than you burn while maintaining a healthy diet. Healthy food means lots of fruit and vegetables and healthy fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. You have to keep training the way you normally train. Keeping exercises and weight as high as possible on the compound is advisable. This isn’t easy because you often have less energy. However, this ensures that you retain as much muscle mass as possible. In addition, eat enough protein—about 1.5 to 2 grams per kilogram of body weight. However, it cannot be easy. When your friends eat burgers and fries, sticking to your chicken, rice, and broccoli schedule is difficult.
FOR WOMEN
If you want to train dry as a woman, you must eat healthily and have a calorie deficit. Taking the right nutrients ensures you stay healthy and retain as much muscle mass as possible. This is impossible, for example, by eating only 1500 kcal daily. This ensures that you become skinny in an unhealthy way and that a lot of muscle mass is lost. That is why healthy eating in combination with a calorie deficit is the most important thing when training dry.
You want to lose as much fat as possible and maintain muscle mass. Before you start dry training, choose an ideal weight and slowly work towards it. By using the right amount of protein and a calorie deficit, you are guaranteed to lose fat!
FOR MEN
Just like with women, you must eat fewer calories than you burn in combination with the right nutrition. Reduce your calories by 50 to 100 per week to help you lose weight slowly. In addition, use a good distribution of the macronutrients: carbohydrates 50%, proteins 30%, and fats 20%. Sufficient proteins are most important here because they prevent muscle loss and ensure muscle recovery. Eat enough fruit and vegetables and add extra cardio to the training if necessary. Use cardio that is not too strenuous, such as walking (with an incline) or cycling.
Choose the right food.
You must divide the total calories by the correct macros. Macros can be divided into proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. During dry training, you must get enough protein because this will prevent muscle loss. The fact is that when you train dry, you always lose a little bit of muscle mass. For example, men and women should consume approximately 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight to counteract muscle loss as much as possible.
The table below provides several good examples for each macro-nutrient to give you an idea of which nutrition you need. You can determine the amount of each of these examples and easily weigh them with a kitchen scale. So eat enough protein to maintain your muscle mass.
Proteins (30%): low-fat cottage cheese; chicken; lean minced beef; eggs; salmon; tuna; white fish; protein powder; skimmed milk; steak.
Carbohydrates (50%): rice, (sweet) potato, wholemeal wraps, bread, rice cakes, pasta, zucchini pasta, fruit, and vegetables.
Fats (20%): nuts, avocado, olive oil, salmon, eggs, and dark chocolate (80%–95% cocoa).
RECIPES
Nutrition is one of the most important topics involved in dry-land training. Sufficient proteins, healthy fats, and the right amount of carbohydrates are necessary. However, sticking to the same eating schedule every day is boring. Of course, no one wants chicken with rice and broccoli every day. In this article, you will find incredibly tasty meals that effectively help with dry training. We divided them into breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Each meal has sufficient protein, healthy fats, and the right amount of carbohydrates.
BREAKFAST
- EGG WRAP WITH SMOKED SALMON
- Protein Shake with Blueberries
- SMOOTHIE BOWL
- Protein Shake: A Breakfast Hero
LUNCH
- ROTTEN BEEF SANDWICH WITH CHEDDAR
- Wholemeal Pancakes With Fresh Fruit
- SPINACH, TOMATO, AND FETA SCRAMBLED EGGS
- SUPER SANDWICHES
EVENING MEAL
- TUSCAN SALMON
- GREEK SALAD WITH AVOCADO AND CHICKEN
- HEALTHY RISOTTO
- Zucchini Pasta With Salmon
FEEDING SCHEDULE
Do you want to start dry training and are still looking for a dry training schedule? Here you will find a meal schedule for men and women to get dry. It tells you how best to divide the macros, how many calories you should eat, and which foods you can use best. Another great benefit: This dry workout eating plan is completely free!
During dry training, you must get enough protein because this will prevent muscle loss. The fact is that when you train dry, you always lose a little bit of muscle mass. For example, men and women should consume approximately 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight to counteract muscle loss as much as possible. The average calorie requirement of a man is 2,500 calories per day; that of a woman is 2,000 per day.
As a result, in this free-drying train schedule, we use the average. It is assumed that someone trains three times a week. This, of course, differs per person, so you have to decide what your body needs. You can do this by calculating your calorie requirement.
Total calories: 2312.
Carbohydrates: 157 grams
Proteins: 158 grams
Fat: 65 grams
In addition to being very effective, it is also very tasty. It contains the right macronutrients and calories for men and women. In our article, Nutrition Schedule for Dry Training,” you will find a specialized schedule for men and women. So read on quickly!
SUPPLEMENTS
Supplements can help speed up your training process. In addition, supplements are made to provide convenience. Getting your vitamins and minerals, taking in enough protein, and having enough energy for your workout.
You can get enough vitamins and minerals through the multivitamin, omega-3 fatty acids, methyl B12, vitamin C, vitamin D3, and magnesium citrate. These products give you the right amount of nutrients that your body needs. Protein powders allow you to quickly and effectively increase your protein intake. This contributes to muscle recovery and muscle growth. BCAA is the ideal solution during dry training to boost your amino acids. This supplement contributes to muscle building and ensures your muscle tissues recover quickly. To increase your metabolism, fat burners are perfect.
Due to the ingredients, these capsules ensure you are less hungry and can reach a calorie deficit sooner. Of course, you want to kill every workout; that’s why the pre-workout was made, and it provides more energy and stamina. This is ideal during dry training because you are in a calorie deficit.
How many calories do you need?
When you want to train dry, it is important that you keep track of your daily calorie intake. If you consume too many calories, you retain too much fat, but if you consume too few calories, you lose unnecessary muscle mass. So you will have to be right in between, but how do you calculate how many calories you need for this?
First, you need to calculate your daily calorie requirement. You do this using the Harris-Benedict formula, which reads as follows:
- For men: 66 + (13.7 x weight in kilograms) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in years)
- For women: 655 + (9.6 x weight in kilograms) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)
You then multiply the result of this formula by a factor. This factor depends on how active you are. For example, on average, someone who is active has a factor of 1.55.
You take 20 to 25% of your daily calorie requirement to train dry. This way, you can be sure you will lose fat tissue and retain much muscle mass. This topic is covered in greater depth in our article Dry training calculate calories. You can determine how many calories you need by filling in the form below.
Measure fat percentage
Your fat percentage is the amount of fat you carry on your body, about your total body weight. If you are involved in fitness a lot, you naturally want to keep this percentage as low as possible. Because the lower your fat percentage, the better your muscles are expressed, and that’s what you do it for! For example, you can assume that a sporty man has a 12–17% fat percentage. For a woman, this percentage is between 20 and 24%.
It is therefore important to keep track of your fat percentage so that you can also confirm to yourself that you are on the right track. You can measure your fat percentage using different methods. For example, you can use a skinfold caliper. Here you take a piece of skin (including fat), then put the skinfold meter on it. You can also use the Jackson-Pollock method, one of the best-known ways to measure your fat percentage. Our extensive article on measuring fat percentage explains exactly how to apply these methods properly.
DRY TRAINING SCHEDULE
Dry training is something that everyone wants. Look good and feel good about yourself. Dry training only succeeds if you have a good nutrition plan and follow a good schedule. Getting to know yourself mentally and physically is important for the schedule, so test and see what fits and doesn’t. Cycling or walking at a low heart rate can speed up the dry-training process because it burns more calories. So you get into a calorie deficit faster. You can do this before eating, for example, because your fat-burning is at its best before eating.
This is a technique that top athletes also use. They eat nothing before going to sleep and do a workout before breakfast the next day. When they start training, they have a full-on system that burns fat easily.
Get yourself started!
Dry training is a well-known term in the fitness world that more people use. These people want to burn as much fat as possible while retaining as much muscle mass as possible to express their muscles better.
Dry training is suitable for both men and women, but this is more difficult for women because they naturally have a higher fat percentage and are more dependent on fat reserves.
Anyone who wants to train dry should be aware that nutrition is essential. That is why it is a good idea to calculate how many calories you need during dry training. You can then use a nutritional schedule to know exactly how much you consume.
