How to dry out for a show

Drying out water weight for a show is not easy, as it may involve multiple restrictions in your diet.

Additionally, this drying out process is not foolproof, because even professionals sometimes get it wrong.

If you are a responsible athlete, it is important to be careful and precise in a competitive setting, as there are factors that can make you look flat and potentially bloated.

Why reduce water weight

If you want to look temporarily ultra-defined for a show, you need to cut water weight… you need to dry out…

The point is that if you have more than 12% body fat, this will have little effect on your body. In other words, the leaner you are, the more you will reduce water weight.

The key purpose of reducing water weight is to eliminate the water retained just beneath your skin so that your muscles look full and separated, but this does not involve the muscle's water stores; otherwise, you will look flat,

The way to make this cut to dry out is by manipulating your body's homeostasis.

Your body must try to regulate water to ensure that you do not have too much or too little.

Drying out by regulating your hormones

You can achieve this by regulating the hormones «aldosterone» and «vasopressin».

• When you have a low water intake, your body regulates these hormones so that cells retain water; consequently, urine production decreases and essential cells draw the water they need from the blood.
• If you have a high water intake, your body regulates its hormones, causing your system to try to eliminate as much as possible.

You can also manipulate water retention in the short term by sweating, for example, through exercise or by using a sauna and/or bath salts.

Water balance for drying out

Water intake is not the only thing that affects your body's water balance when trying to dry out: carbohydrates, salts, and creatine also affect water retention.

• Each gram of carbohydrates can bind approximately 2–3 grams of water.
• Also remember that creatine carries water to where it is stored; it is generally found in the muscles, but also in the brain.
• Salts such as potassium and sodium are regulated throughout the body, and their balance is particularly easy to disrupt.

The process of cutting water weight

To reduce water weight, it is important to load up on water first and then quickly reduce your intake to eliminate most of it.

• At the end of the cut, you should increase your creatine and carbohydrate intake so your muscles draw water from beneath your skin, making it look thinner and your muscles look fuller.

It is recommended to do this for one week, according to the following cutting schedule—the schedule that may or may not help you dry out.

The pre-competition schedule

Tentatively, follow this schedule:

• This process is referred to as “days off” because you need to dry out for a photo shoot, competition, etc., etc.
• You should keep your calories at a cutting level, approximately 500–1,000 kcal below maintenance.
• Your protein intake should be set at 2.3 g/kg of body weight or more if you are a high-level bodybuilder.
• Carbohydrates and fats will provide the remaining calories, adjusted according to the day, of course.

About 6 days before: drink 1 to 1.5 liters of water and consume approximately 40% of your daily calories from carbohydrates.

About 6–5 days before: add more water to your diet and also reduce carbohydrates by 50%, which means 20% of your daily calories. Here you can increase fats and protein to compensate, making sure you are still within a cutting range.

4 days before: increase your water intake again and reduce carbohydrates by 50% once more, to 10% of your total daily calories.

3 days before: maintain your water intake and try to consume as few carbohydrates as possible, as in a keto diet.

About 2 days before: start drinking the same amount of water again and consume only trace amounts of carbohydrates.

One day before the event

• Sip as little water as possible, since you need to drink less than one liter.
• Increase your carbohydrate intake to a high level.
• After lunch, stop drinking fluids unless you really need them.
• Try to sweat as much as you can that day.
• Before going to bed, take a warm Epsom salt bath.
• Before going to bed, have a small simple-sugar meal (30g-80g) along with 5 to 10 grams of creatine.
• With this simple-sugar meal, you can try adding vegetable glycerin, as this compound absorbs water.
• Avoid salt in your diet as much as possible, and if you know that any food makes you bloated, do not eat it that day.

As your muscles absorb everything they can, combined with the insulin spike from all the carbohydrates you are eating that day, they will draw in even more water to look even fuller, and you will also start to dry out as you want.

Competition day

The food you eat when you wake up before “showtime” will depend on your body's current condition:

• If your muscles look flat, have another simple sugar meal with a little vegetable glycerin.
• If you look good, have a mixed meal of protein and carbohydrates.
• Now, if you have excess water, consume only protein and consider taking another Epsom salt bath.

And before stepping on stage, even though you have already managed to dry out, you should have some protein and simple sugars, then prepare with a light pumping routine.

The drying-out workout

The goal of cutting is to deplete the muscle's glycogen so that when you load up on carbohydrates, they are absorbed mostly by the muscles rather than fat cells.

Carbohydrate absorption also draws in water, which means you will look extra large and your skin will be extra dehydrated.

That is why you should opt for a workout with a slightly higher repetition range, between 12-15 reps, with short rests of approximately 30 seconds, to truly deplete your muscles' glycogen stores.

Before stepping on stage, do 1-2 sets of 15 repetitions to pump your muscles and, in addition to drying out, you will make them really stand out.

Cutting water for a show is difficult, but with discipline and the advice we gave you, you will surely go far.