I am going to be competing in my first powerlifting meet after my second year of training in early March. For starters I am a 21 y/o male at 5’6" hoping to eventually fill out the 181 class. After bulking to around 185lb (ending around mid November)in an attempt to be a fairly lean 163, I have realized I still won’t have a very lean body composition after my cut at around 18% from various measurements.
So my question is, if my goal is to be the best powerlifter I can be, would it be in my interest to get leaner following my meet with say the GPP template or 4 day hypertrophy, before slowly gaining weight with either the 12 week strength or otherwise the 4 day hypertrophy then the 12 week strength? Thanks in advance 