Whether it's to improve muscle definition after a mass gain phase, or simply to reduce body fat for better health, dealing with fatigue during a dry period is often a source of concern.
A caloric deficit is generally accompanied by a drop in energy. The important thing is to manage your weight loss program carefully, so as not to impact your performance or your health.
The principle of a dry run seems simple: create a caloric deficit to force the body to draw on its fat reserves. But the difficulty lies in finding the right balance between appropriate nutrition, intelligent training and optimal recovery. Let's take a look at how to understand the origins of this fatigue and manage your energy levels while achieving your goals.
Why do we get tired during a dry run?
A reminder of how the dryer works
Drying corresponds to a muscle-defining phase during which the main objective is to reduce body fat while preserving muscle mass. To achieve effective weight loss, you need to create a controlled caloric deficit. It is recommended not to exceed a loss of 2 kg per month.
This deficit implies that daily calorie intake is lower than total energy expenditure, combining basic metabolism and physical activity. Successful weight loss requires an appropriate diet, rich in proteins to avoid muscle catabolism.
Unlike drastic diets, a well-managed dry weight loss program is calculated and progressive, and limited in time to prevent excessive metabolic adaptation and preserve hormonal health.
Physiological mechanisms of fatigue during caloric restriction
The fatigue experienced during a low-calorie diet stems from several different physiological mechanisms. The first is the depletion of muscle and liver glycogen reserves, our main source of energy for physical exercise.
When the body needs energy, glycogen is broken down into glucose, which is then used by cells to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the main source of cellular energy. When glycogen reserves are depleted, the body begins to use other energy sources, such as muscles, which can lead to muscle fatigue.
In a caloric deficit, the body has less energy immediately available, which can affect performance during training sessions.
On a hormonal level, calorie restriction also leads to changes such as an increase in cortisol, the stress hormone, and a decrease in leptin, responsible for the satiety effect.
These hormonal imbalances can affect mood, motivation and muscle recovery.
Sensitivity to caloric deficit varies considerably from one person to another. Factors such as age, gender, genetics and training history influence individual response. Women, for example, are generally more sensitive to caloric restriction.
Be careful, however, not to confuse dieting with extreme hypocaloric dieting. Effective weight loss does not mean constant hunger or exhaustion. Too great an energy deficiency can compromise not only performance but also long-term health. This is absolutely not advisable.
Successful weight loss is based on calculating a suitable, moderate calorie deficit, the right ratio of essential macronutrients, and a progressive, time-limited program.
How do you manage your energy during a dry spell?
The importance of nutrition and hydration
Diet plays a central role in energy management during a dry period. An intelligent distribution of macronutrients helps maintain optimal performance despite the caloric deficit, while promoting fat loss.
The recommended macronutrient ratios are around 20-25% for protein, 50-55% for carbohydrates and 25-30% for lipids , but these ratios are only a basis and often need to be adapted according to the athlete's profile.
Protein intake is extremely important. With a recommended intake of 1.5 to 2 g per kilo of body weight in the dry phase, protein prevents muscle lossmaximize muscle recovery and physiological adaptation to training.
Whey (protein powder) is often taken as a supplement by athletes during their dry periods, to ensure sufficient protein intake while controlling their caloric intake.
Carbohydrates, often reduced during dry periods, must be preserved around sports sessions. Consumed before exercise, they maximize the energy available during training, while consumed after exercise, they promote recovery.
Lipids , especially essential fatty acids such as omega-3 from fish, oilseeds or vegetable oils, support the hormonal system.
Lipids are often the first to be reduced for rapid drying, due to their high caloric value (9 kcal/g versus 4 kcal/g for proteins and carbohydrates). It is important to reduce them gradually, without eliminating them completely, as they are essential for health and help maintain a good hormonal balance.
Just as it's essential to maintain a balanced diet, it's vital not to neglect hydration during a dry period, so as not to exacerbate fatigue levels. A loss of 1% of body weight in water already results in a 10% drop in performance. Electrolytes in particular (sodium, potassium, magnesium) help keep the muscular system running smoothly.
The importance of proper training
Controlled training is essential for effective weight loss. Post-gain athletes will generally choose resistance exercises to stimulate and maintain muscle mass, and possibly combine these exercises with long cardio activity to increase caloric expenditure.
Beware, long endurance sessions during the dry season promote the consumption of lipids as an energy source, but they also increase overall fatigue and can compromise muscle recovery.
Polyarticular exercises such as the squat, pull-ups, deadlift or bench press play a key role in promoting high energy expenditure while maintaining muscle mass. To maximize fat loss without compromising your muscles, they should be combined with intense HIIT or SIT-type training. It's advisable to perform 2 or 3 exercises to strengthen the same muscle and increase the number of repetitions. The idea is to do longer sets, with fewer recoveries between each set.
Whichever way you choose to burn calories, the ideal is always tooptimize recovery and prevent overtraining.
Caloric deficit calculation
Choosing which deficit to adopt can be tricky: too high a deficit causes fatigue and muscle loss, while too low a deficit slows results.
The first step is to determine your basal metabolic rate, which represents the energy required to keep your vital organs functioning. To this basic metabolism must be added the energy expenditure linked to physical activity.
We then recommend gradually building up a moderate deficit of 300-500 calories per day from this total energy expenditure. By factoring physical activity into total calorie requirements, the deficit is thus adapted to the training session each day, limiting involuntary fatigue peaks following very intense exercise.
Progressiveness is essential during the calorie reduction phase, but especially during the reintroduction phase, to avoid the yo-yo effect.
Regular monitoring of body composition and mental and physical fatigue enables the deficit to be adjusted according to how you feel.
Caloric and macronutrient requirements calculator
Recommended macronutrient breakdown (approx.)
How do you assess fatigue in relation to your objectives?
Athletes after weight gain
Athletes in the post-gain period approach the dry phase with a clear objective: to preserve their lean mass while reducing their fat mass. For these athletes, with their already substantial muscle mass and naturally higher basal metabolic rate, a certain amount of fatigue is normal and part of the process.
The fatigue felt after a high-intensity training session is generally a positive sign of muscular stimulation. However, there's a difference between the normal fatigue that always accompanies dry phase training and counter-productive exhaustion.
The important thing is to go by what you feel. If you're still exhausted when you wake up in the morning, if your motivation is falling or your performance is dropping, it's because the deficit is too aggressive.
Of course, sleep and diet must be monitored to ensure proper recovery.
The use of dietary supplements such as creatine can help maintain performance despite the caloric deficit.
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Target weight loss
For people whose main objective is weight loss, the approach may be different. The priority is not short-term performance, but the adoption of a sustainable lifestyle and habits.
Excessive fatigue is rarely justified in this context, and can even be a source of abandonment.
The emphasis should be on a balanced diet rather than a restrictive one, and above all on maintaining this healthy diet when you come out of the lean phase. At the same time, you need to keep up your regular exercise routine, both during and after the weight loss period!
Choose complex carbohydrates, such as wholegrain cereals, as their slower digestion helps maintain stable blood sugar levels and avoid insulin spikes that promote fat storage.
In the long term, the aim is for a gradual transition to a suitable diet and regular physical activity as an integral part of the lifestyle, rather than a temporary "phase".
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Conclusion:
Effective management of fatigue and energy during muscle drying is based on: a balanced, protein-rich diet, appropriate training, and a gradual, calculated calorie deficit.
A balanced, protein-rich diet helps prevent muscle loss, while the intelligent adaptation of training, by maintaining intensity while adjusting volume, ensures that muscles are sufficiently stimulated without depleting energy resources. And the progressive calorie deficit calculated according to your own needs means you can safely reach your fat loss targets.
Stress management and sleep optimization should also be taken into account, as sufficient recovery time prevents muscle catabolism and supports the basal metabolic rate.
