Sports nutrition for drying the body: how to choose men and women? * Crossfit

Every spring, snowdrops come from the forest to the hall, they strive to gain muscle mass, not at all realizing that then it will have to be dried and they will get their peak shape only by next winter. At the same time, serious crossfitters and athletes know that all the fat accumulated during the winter must be removed, and this must be done in such a way as not only to make the muscle mass more expressive and beautiful, but also to maintain functional strength. This is especially true for CrossFit athletes. But for all this, you will need sports nutrition for drying, which will reduce the harmful catabolic effect in the muscles, localizing it in adipose tissue.

The difference between drying and losing weight

Before considering sports nutrition for drying the body, you should remember how drying differs from simple weight loss and why it is almost impossible without the use of special stimulants. So, weight loss is actually a decrease in total body weight, by triggering general catabolic processes. You can lose weight:

Draining the water.
Draining water and fat.
Getting rid of body fat.
Draining the muscle.
By optimizing all systems of the body.
Burn muscle and fat.

Very often, when weight loss is meant, especially by girls, it is not at all about maintaining shape, but exclusively about the indicator on the scales. As a rule, it is painful, and means are used that trigger all catabolic reactions. In particular, you can lose weight exclusively with muscles, while retaining the entire body fat. This happens very rarely, but it does happen.

What is drying? Many will say that this is a type of weight loss. But no! Drying is the drainage of water, with fat burning. BUT! The most important thing in drying is maximizing muscle retention. No, we are not talking about gaining a new mass, since without macroperiodization or taking AAS it is impossible, but only about preservation. Note that many athletes first swim in the off-season, and only then, before the competition period, begin their drying, retaining up to 90% of the muscles they have gained (in successful cases).

This means that the following factors are needed for drying:

Loss of sodium and water. Provides blood thickening, but reduces the layer of skin in front of the muscles, which makes them visually more prominent.
Preservation of muscle mass. Why are drugs used that, when catabolic reactions are triggered, interfere with optimization processes, thereby restoring any microdamage, albeit without the principle of super recovery, but significantly reducing tissue loss.
Strong fat burning. The latter, in turn, is achieved by very specific methods. For example, microperiodization of nutrition with increasing loads with a general acceleration of metabolism (more details in "carbohydrate alternation").

As you can see, despite the external similarity, the approaches to achieving results are fundamentally different. There is another question - is it possible to dry out without sports nutrition? Yes, but the muscle loss will be much greater, and any mistake in diet and exercise will result in a large, very large loss of muscle tissue, making such drying unprofitable.

Even sports nutrition is not always able to help you dry out properly. So, for example, for some somatypes, additional drug stimulation is required. It's all about the individual characteristics of the organism.

We'll look at how sports nutrition helps dry, what to use and in what order to achieve optimal results in such a delicate balancing process.

Types of sports nutrition for drying

A huge amount of different sports nutrition is used for drying. But is it all so necessary? No! No! And again no! It all depends on the characteristics of your diet and athletic performance. So, for example, if on a diet you consume a sufficient amount of fiber and pamper your body with various types of vitamin juices, then most likely you can avoid buying multivitamin complexes.

At the same time, if you use a complex protein in your diet, then, except for closing the protein window, you will not need whey protein. But let's take a closer look at how drying sports nutrition helps preserve muscle tissue in the body.

Sports nutrition	the effect
Multivitamins	Compensating for the overall deficiency effect, which allows you to somewhat reduce the catabolic responses to the main muscle groups, while maintaining the rate of fat burning, and removing excess water in general. Most importantly, it allows you to maintain most of the accumulated muscle mass.
Whey protein	Compensating for the overall deficiency effect, which allows you to somewhat reduce the catabolic responses to the main muscle groups, while maintaining the rate of fat burning, and removing excess water in general. Most importantly, it allows you to maintain most of the accumulated muscle mass.
Glutamine	Compensating for the general deficiency effect, which allows you to somewhat reduce the catabolic reactions to the main muscle groups, while maintaining the rate of fat burning, and removing excess water in general. Most importantly, it allows you to maintain most of the accumulated muscle mass.
Carnitine	Redistribution of energy reserves, which significantly accelerates the breakdown of lipids while generally maintaining the glycogen depot. It has a thermogenic effect, as well as an acceleration of basal metabolism while strengthening the heart muscle.
BCAA	Compensating for the general deficiency effect, which allows you to somewhat reduce the catabolic reactions to the main muscle groups, while maintaining the rate of fat burning, and removing excess water in general. Most importantly, it allows you to maintain most of the accumulated muscle mass.
Omega 3 fats	Regulation of cholesterol levels, to create a positive anabolic background with increased testosterone synthesis. Due to its structure, it additionally increases efficiency in training complexes, which in turn increases the consumption of kilocalories, helping to break down triglycerides.
Nitrogen donors	Acceleration of recovery with the general arrest of blood vessels with additional nitrogen, due to its structure, additionally increases the efficiency on training complexes, which in turn increases the consumption of kilocalories helping to break down triglycerides.
Polyminerals	Compensating for the general deficiency effect, which allows you to somewhat reduce the catabolic reactions to the main muscle groups, while maintaining the rate of fat burning, and removing excess water in general. Most importantly, it allows you to maintain most of the accumulated muscle mass.

Understanding the general principles of how sports nutrition for men and women helps maintain muscle mass. We will try to take a closer look at how this or that component affects the muscle structure during its use with a calorie deficit.

Multivitamins

During the drying process (especially in the last phases), there is an acute deficit in calorie content in the diet. Usually, a person at these stages limits himself to a number of products. At the same time, vitamins begin to be washed out from the body en masse. This is due to both general optimization processes and the removal of excess fluid.

To compensate them, multivitamin complexes are needed, which make it possible to partially replenish the body's need for the necessary vitamins with a general calorie deficit and with a new water-salt balance. Drink according to the instructions. Do not exceed dosage.

Whey protein

Whey protein found in protein shakes, although not able to completely stop the destruction of muscle tissue, has the fastest absorption into the blood. Therefore, with timely use, part of the amino acids due to the rate of absorption will still not be burned into glucose and will enter muscle tissue.

Protein potency is relatively low (relative to BCAAs). This is why all diets and drying programs are designed for increased protein intake. The main benefit of a protein shake is that it enters the bloodstream practically without being digested, and the optimization processes take place simultaneously. While some of the protein is being burned, the remainder, which has not come under the influence of liver cells, successfully synthesizes ATP, and therefore new muscle fibers.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to build muscle and burn fat, since in conditions of hypocaloricity, the principles of super recovery will be leveled. However, maintaining up to 90% of muscle tissue through increased protein intake is a very real goal.

Glutamine

Glutamine, like whey protein, is an anti-catabolic. The thing is that when glycogen depots are stopped, the fibers associated with them are damaged, and it is glutamine (glutamine) that is released from the muscle mitochondria, which enters the general bloodstream. With total energy consumption, during training aimed at preliminary depletion of glycogen stores, it is one of the first to dissolve and burn into glucose. Since it is a binding protein component, if you do not compensate for the loss of glutamine, you can easily lose most of the size of the accumulated glycogen depot, which for a long time (even after the end of drying) will reduce the athlete's endurance.

You need to take glutamic acid only after training, and immediately after closing the carbohydrate window (well, or closing the protein window of a non-carbohydrate diet).

Carnitine

L-Carnitine is an essential amino acid found in red meat. But, since the consumption of red meat is impossible due to the high content of internal fat, it is actively used during drying. Its main effects:

The acceleration of the heart rate - makes it easier to reach the pulse zone of fat burning.
Transfer to fat rails. The effect is similar to salbutamol, but without side effects.
Transport effect on the cholesterol depot. Useful only in the absence of bad cholesterol.
Increased energy. It is a consequence of the extraction of fatty calories into the bloodstream.

It is relatively safe. The only limitation is that you can drink it only before training. The rest of the time, it is ineffective, and when consumed before meals, the transport protein formed can become the main factor in the occurrence of cholesterol plaques.

BCAA

In the process of loading, muscle fibers are partially destroyed. At the same time, the use of a protein shake may not help to compensate for the losses, since in the case of an acute deficit in calorie intake, the protein will most likely be burned into glucose to replenish energy reserves (including glycogen). The correct branched-chain amino acids enter the bloodstream almost directly, bypassing the digestive process. Used immediately before training or during training, they will have time to restore muscle fibers without stopping with glycogen cells and without burning.

Omega 3 fats

During catabolic processes in the body, macro- and microelements are washed out unevenly, which leads to the fact that there is a deficiency of omega fats. And, if the standard diet is replete with trans fats and a full complex, then in the context of a diet, many products containing Omega 3 become inaccessible to the athlete, incl. a fish. Therefore, on drying, it is important to maintain the balance of Omega 3 and Omega 6, which will promote the production of additional cholesterol, which will stimulate testosterone, and, accordingly, shift the anabolic weights, preventing the negative effects of catabolic factors on muscle mitochondria. Take after morning and evening meals, along with multivitamins and multiminerals.

Nitrogen donors

There is a lot of controversy about the need for nitrogen donors during drying. On the other hand, donors create a good pump effect, which allows you to reduce the intensity of high-volume training. This, in turn, drives the pulse faster into the fat-burning zone, and creates a greater release of energy with a smaller calorie deficit.

But the most important thing is that nitrogen donors allow you to delay the breakdown and fusion of muscle fibers damaged during exercise, which allows amino acids to completely restore the entire structure, until regeneration and optimization processes with a predominance of catabolism begin, which reduce the size of muscle tissue. Take as directed.

Prophylaxis and other drugs

There is additional sports nutrition during drying, which is used by both girls and men:

Antiestrogens. Sold at any pharmacy. In bodybuilding, it is considered doping. When drying, they reduce the amortization of testosterone into estrogens, which reduces the amount of adipose tissue.
Thermal engineering. In fact, they are considered pharmacology, which artificially accelerates the process of transplanting the body onto fatty rails. Dries strongly.

At the same time, there are a number of necessary supporting components, they are also more likely pharmaceutical products than sports nutrition products:

D3 calcium complexes.
Complexes for maintaining joints.
Complexes for maintaining ligaments.

The latter are especially important in the final stages of drying, when in the absence of sodium and fat, the ligaments dry out and become brittle, which can lead to rupture during exercise, even with low weight.

What to exclude when drying?

Drying is a very specific process, and not only the loss of fatty layer, but also the loss of fluid plays a significant role in it. Therefore, there are things that you need to exclude from your diet, at least for a certain time. First of all, we are talking about carbohydrates with a high glycemic index. It is not for nothing that most of the diet plans designed for fat loss are designed for carbohydrate-free regimes, or carbohydrate alternation regimes. Why is this so important? It's all about insulin. Almost any carbohydrate, regardless of complexity, is sooner or later converted into glucose, which in turn causes the cells to open with insulin and fill the glycogen depot. It would seem that there could be better, but! At the same time, glucagon ceases to be produced, and therefore catabolic processes on the release of energy slow down. The body is more likely to break down the energy from the opened mitochondria in the muscle tissue than to start burning fat.

And, if it is impossible to refuse a certain amount of carbohydrates, then from carbohydrates with a fast glycemic index, including such things as:

Sugar.
Maltose syrup.
Glucose.
Gainer carbohydrate.
Starch.

We'll have to give up completely. Even coffee should be drunk without sugar for the drying period. The second aspect is associated precisely with the liquid, or, to be more precise, with the salts.

IMPORTANT: The next section is replete with conflicting facts. Each of them has a right to exist. It is entirely up to you to follow certain recommendations to the detriment of health, or adjust the body to the needs of drying.

Sodium

It's about sodium. It is contained in:

Edible salt.
Any dairy products.

And, if you can still refuse salt, then with milk everything is somewhat more complicated. First, let's figure out what's the matter.Sodium chloride has the ability to bind water, forming stable compounds. In fact, most of the fluid in our body does not come out of it thanks to sodium alone. At the same time, modern dietetics notes that a person consumes three to four times more sodium chloride than recommended to maintain optimal processes. By discarding products containing this element, you begin to deplete it. And with it, excess water comes out. Of course, in everything you need to know when to stop. In particular, if the sodium is completely depleted and too much fluid escapes, you could die of a heart attack. Such cases are extremely rare. In bodybuilding, only one case of Andreas Münzer is known - who was in a dry state all year round, which is why he died due to excessively thickened blood.

However, do not relax - in professional fitness (bodyfitness / beach bodybuilding, call it what you want), such cases are much more frequent. Due to the fact that there is much less muscle mass in the body, and you need to look presentable both at competitions and during photo shoots, many dry out their bodies to the point of fatal dehydration.

Athlete	Cause of death
Rob Sager	Heart attack caused by excessive dehydration. The heart simply could not cope with the load due to the thickness of the blood.
Mike Mentzer	Heart attack caused by excessive dehydration. The heart simply could not cope with the load due to the thickness of the blood.
Scott Klein	Renal failure caused by overly aggressive drying methods. There was tissue necrosis in both kidneys, which led to the fact that a third kidney transplant would not have saved the athlete.
Marianne Komlos	Renal failure caused by overly aggressive drying methods. There was tissue necrosis in both kidneys, which led to the fact that a third kidney transplant would not have saved the athlete.

Milk products

After we scared you with excessive drying, you can move on to the second controversial point. Refusal from dairy products. Yes, milk contains both sugar and sodium in large quantities - both things are incompatible with drying. Even if you saw village guys who strenuously pull iron and drink milk, then they could not boast of a dried body - often they are just very healthy men.

At the same time, there are controversial points regarding the refusal of milk.

First, milk contains zinc and magnesium - both elements are involved in organizing the synthesis of new testosterone.
Secondly, calcium. If in their younger years girls and boys can afford to give up calcium, which will be washed out during drying by 40%, then people over 35 in this regard are already somewhat more difficult.

However, milk and salt will need to be discarded at least 2 weeks before the end of the phase. During this time, the body will have time to remove excess water associated with sodium, and you will be 100% ready for a competition / photo session.

However, walking dry all year round is hazardous to health.

Outcome

So, drying, in contrast to mass gain, is a much more subtle process that requires constant support for the body. It is important to understand that the processes of fat burning and water drainage in the body must replace each other in stages. You cannot walk dry all year round.

And most importantly - know when to stop. If you are not involved in professional sports, and do not take part in serious competitions, excessive drying for a summer beach is absolutely useless for you. Do not get carried away with diuretics and thermogenics without measure. After all, it will dry out, it is possible without them ... up to a certain limit. Remember that it is not steroids that kill at all, but the drying preparations, and the ideal body looks as prominent as possible all the same only in photographs. Usually, overdried people actually look more painful and have an unhealthy skin texture. At the same time, don't get fat. Stay in balance, build muscle, and perhaps in this case, you will not have to risk your health by summer.