Hello,
I guess this is yet another bulk or cut thread.
I just finished the Beginner Template and am about to start Powerbuilding 1.
I am 188cm at ~98 kg and started at ~90kg in April. Waist is currently 96 cm.
My plan is to enter my first Powerlifting meet some time next year and I generally like being and feeling “big” so I think aiming for the 105 kg class makes sense for me.
Now I am unsure if there are benefits to cutting first or if should just aim for the 105kg.
Or maybe even go beyond 105kg and then cut?
Any guidance is greatly appreciated 
I probably wouldn’t bulk or cut at this point unless you really wanted to be leaner. You still have a lot of strength to gain via training, but I don’t think gaining a lot of weight is likely to make a big difference in how much strength you gain vs. maintaining/gaining a few kilos over the next year. I would NOT try to max out the weight class within the next year. Gaining weight too quickly is generally not a great idea.
At your height, the 120kg weight class is probably where you’ll end up to maximize your strength performance, though competitiveness may be different depending on how you respond, your competition, etc.
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Thank you.
So you are saying I shouldn’t aim to max out to the 120kg class in the next year, but consider it a long-term (3-5years) target?
Probably longer than that, like double your timeline to gain ~ 20+ kilos with repeated bulk and cut cycles.
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That’s quite surprising, but thank you so much for your input.
I guess I have some planning to do on how to approach this.
I feel I should clarify a bit to make sure we’re talking about the same things.
I do not think gaining 20kg in 1 year is a good idea. If you did, I’d predict a significant amount of fat gain that. While gaining fat isn’t a terrible thing, the point here is that it’s going to take a much longer time to make anywhere near half of the extra 20kg gained be muscle.
I think a it’s better to add more slowly over time in weight class sports, so that you can theoretically maximize competitiveness throughout. Jumping up to the next weight class quickly without the requisite muscle mass, training, etc. is not a great strategy in my opinion.
3-5 years would represent a more suitable timeline, yes, but really filling out the 120kg class is likely to take longer than that and involve multiple bulking/cutting cycles.
Yeah, I understand.
I didn’t originally plan to add 20kg in a year. More like 3-5.
but ultimately longevity is more important to me. So if doing it over 6-10 years is the healthier long-term strategy, then that’s what I’ll do.