How to get stronger for a weight class -- maintain year round or bulk and cut?

[bellemastiff]

So I know this isn't a "powerlifting" forum by any means. However I entered my first powerlifting meet as a motivational tool to improve my training (and it has). I will be lifting in a drug tested association, in a 'raw' division (just a belt and wrestling singlet no other support gear) at the 220 lb weight class. I'm 5'10". Meet is end of October.

When I entered I weighed 202 or so, my choices were 198 or 220 lb weight class. I was tired of eating less to maintain my 200lb bodyweight so said F it :-)

What followed (April through July) were the best gains of my lifting career.

End of March 2011
Bodyweight ~ 202
Squat 1RM ~ 345
Dead 1RM ~ 350ish
Bench 1RM ~ 190

Current August 2011
Bodyweight ~ 211
Squat 1RM ~ 405 to 415 (testing shortly.. can sort of guestimate this while watching 5RM progress in training)
Dead 1RM ~ 430 to 450? (testing shortly)
Bench 1RM ~ 210 or so (testing shortly)

Goals for meet (end of Oct)
... 2 lift only meet
Dead: 500# (opening at 425 or so)
Bench: 225# (opening at 200 or so)
at 215 to 218 bodyweight (I hate cutting it close when making weight)

Ok so question is this. This training cycle has been LOVELY with the eating and huge gains.

Obviously post meet, the situation will be different. I will probably want to enter another meet for 2012, but this time maintain my weight at the 220 weight class, and obviously I will want to keep adding weight to the bar. Clearly progress will slow if I'm not gaining bodyweight, I understand that. (It does anyway once you get to the 500lb deadlift level, I imagine, as you get nearer to 'advanced' levels / programming.)

For an 'intermediate' like me -- assuming I want to stick with the drug free, raw powerlifting meets -- what would a year's bodyweight look like? Does it makes sense to: cut to 210 (lose some strength), then bulk to 217 (hopefully gain more strength than previously lost), and rinse and repeat over and over?

Or is it a better approach to stick at 217 and just make very slow but consistent gains?

I know bodybuilders do the bulk and cut thing, but not sure about drug free powerlifters. In my past experience, if I cut 5 pounds of bodyweight, I can lose 40 or 50 pounds on my 1RM squat (and the equivalent on other lifts), so I do seem to lose strength REALLY fast in a calorie deficit which is why the bulk and cut cycles sort of scare me. Anyone have experience with this in a strength sport with weight classes? (I'm guessing Olympic lifters deal with this issue as well!)

[bellemastiff]

No one? I'm having trouble finding much info on this for a raw, drugfree, powerlifter (who doesn't want to train for aesthetics, just for strength). I know the bodybuilding answer would be "bulk, cut, repeat" but it just doesn't seem like powerlifting would necessarily work the same way.

[Rusty9]

John Broz likes his athletes to stay in their weight class and has them weigh frequently. Glenn pendlay has an article about how much weight over competition weight class is acceptable by his recommendations. Cutting too much weight will make you lose strength significantly and may de-motivate before competition which would be a bad time to lose steam. Im not sure why you would cut to 210 and stay so far below your weight class limit though. There was a thread where this was discussed within the last 3 or 4 days somewhere either in training or programming i believe, you can look for it. It has a few links to some good articles. There is also an article on the Pendlay forums regarding weight loss in the archived articles which is pretty thorough. You can look them up I dont really want to do the work for you. just use the search feature and google.

[Rob Waskis]

A lot depends on the weigh-in. Same day or day prior?

[bellemastiff]

Same day. I typically lose a LOT of strength when cutting any amount of weight.

[Subsistence]

I am not a powerlifter and only squat 255lbs for 3x5, so take this with a hefty pinch of salt. However, I do find that when eating at maintenance I have a hard time gaining any strength, while if I cut and bulk I gain significantly more on my bulk than I do on my cut.

[Rob Waskis]

Maintain right at 220-221. If you have a long off-season, you can try recomposition.

[strong_over_matter]

I have just started competing in strongman competions this past year and am 5'10" as well. I'm competing in the 200lb and under category so far - it's hard because in strongman you don't get to pick your weights. I've let my weight go up to around 210lb between contests and think that 10lbs or so over your intended weight class is ok. If you follow a careful plan the week of your comp you can get your weight to where you need it to be. First start with some honest diet clean up the weekend before. You will lose around 2lbs. Keep the diet clean the rest of the week and avoid too many carbs (since you will be taking the week as rest with easy light workouts it won't be as hard if you were training heavy) - if you have been eating a lot up to this point the cleaning up will really reduce extra bloat. Next starting on Wed/thursday start pounding as much water as you can. Drink some water Friday morning, but after noon only sip water as you need to. Weigh-in as soon as they allow on Saturday morning followed by sports drinks and water and high energy foods. I think it is important to learn how to do this since it is likely the other people you compete against will have done the same - if they outweigh you by 10lbs they will be better. Even if you don't want to rely on this - it is still worth doing a one week trial to see how your body responds.

[exter]

What about leangains with overfeeding on training days and underfeeding on non training days.
I am weak too and never tried that , but many people over the internet claim that it is amazing.

[Rusty9]

What about leangains with overfeeding on training days and underfeeding on non training days.
I am weak too and never tried that , but many people over the internet claim that it is amazing.

I dont do this as a diet program per se. But my eating generally follows a pattern pretty similar to this and I feel my recovery is pretty good and I am able to pick my body weight (to a pretty good degree) without too much trouble.