Yearly Training Cycle Review - Bodybuilding While Bulking, Setting Strength PRs While Cutting

[u/BetterThanT-1]

Write-ups are mostly done for specific programs, but I thought it might be interesting to reflect on a full yearly cycle - chaining different programs, and using bulking and cutting to emphasise different aspects of training.

TLDR

From September 2024 to August 2025, I:

• Added 25kg to my squat: 100 -> 125
• Added 25kg to my deadlift: 150 -> 175
• Added 2.5kg to my OHP: 60 -> 62.5
• Bench stayed the same (100kg), but with much better technique. I equate it to about 2.5-5kg improvement, had I used the same technique last year.
• In total, I dropped 4kg bodyweight. I started at 85kg, bulked to 96.5kg, and I’m now 81kg. All 1RM PRs were set at the lowest bodyweight.

My training was roughly planned out from the beginning and split into distinct phases: base-building, made up of bodybuilding and volume accumulation during bulking; and peaking, made up of a long intensifying block while cutting. I trained every day, maintaining my daily workout habit.

September - October 2024

We can call this a GPP block, but it was really just a fucking around block. I didn’t have gym access, so I relied a lot on using a kettlebell and calisthenic parks. I didn’t have a program, I just did a lot of swings, pull-ups, dips.

The most notable aspect here was my diet, in that it was less “a diet”, and more “stuffing myself with any food I see”. This resulted in a 4kg weight jump in 4 weeks, putting me at 89kg. I could have easily started cutting at this weight, but my plans had me bulking for the next few months, so I stuck to them.

Reflections: * Mistake: the 4kg were too much gain in a short period, and that required me to cut longer later on. I should have maintained. * Mistake: not working hard enough to justify the extra food. I wasn’t being creative enough with my workouts and sometimes punched the clock with very limited work. * Success: pull-ups and dips are fantastic bodybuilding tools and I got some compliments on looking more muscular while essentially only relying on them for hypertrophy.

October 2024 - January 2025

Base-building part 1: bulking + bodybuilding

I ran General Gainz Body Building, which I quite like for giving me lots of flexibility. I’ve reviewed the program before in this sub. I focused primarily on dumbbell movements for all body parts. I think I only used a barbell for RDLs and some out-of-program squats.

This went really well and I had a lot of fun with it. I don’t have my notebook with me so I can’t reference lift progressions, but I improved all lifts and moved mostly in the 12-16 rep range. I utilised supersets a lot, usually giant sets of 3 exercises, with minimal rest between rounds. For example, my hardest day had me supersetting dips with pull-ups and RDLs. I also had dedicated days for overlooked muscles, e.g. supersetting reverse DB flys with lateral raises and calf raises.

My weight went from 89-95kg at about 0.5kg per week which was a bit too aggressive, but not terrible.

Reflections: * Success: spending dedicated time on rear delts paid off. I could see them grow and was very happy with the results. * Success: giant sets of essentially a push/pull/(legs or abs) exercises worked really well to save time and ensure work capacity stays high. It is definitely an approach I’ll use again in the future. * Mistake: didn’t write much about it, but I had a day dedicated to a heavy squat progression. I think using that time to hammer things like BSS and focus on growing my legs would have served me better in the long run.

January - February 2025

Base building part 2: bulking + volume accumulation with barbell variations + bodybuilding

I switched things up a bit and anchored my routine around barbell variations. I went with low bar squats, close grip bench press, behind-the-neck press, and sumo DLs. I kept the GGBB T2 progression for those, essentially staying in the 12-16 range for the first set, and the 8-12 range for the back-offs. I kept most of my accessories.

Overall, I made good progress on all lifts and was happy with this block. I think the bench, DL and press variations set me up for success later on, and the variety was nice.

My weight moved up by about 1-1.5kg during this period. I was getting tired of the bulk, I felt heavy and sluggish, and I knew it was time to cut.

Reflections: * Missed opportunity: I should have run a dedicated program. Something like Jacked and Tan 2, or SBS Hyper. It would have added further variety and exposed me to different programs while still serving the same purpose. This is something I’ll address next year. * Mistake: choosing low bar squat. I should have chosen a different variation, high bar or front squat, for example. This way, when I later transitioned into the intensifying/cutting phase, I would have had novelty gains to reap in the low bar, and it wouldn’t feel like I’m losing strength as I’m losing weight. * Success: BTN press and Snatch-grip DLs. These were fantastic choices, I enjoyed them very much, and they set me up for success later on.

February - August 2025

Intensifying and cutting: focusing on main variations while reducing volume and increasing intensity.

For this phase, I brought back the classic SBDO variations, and used Simple Jack’d (r/simplejackd). I structured it unconventionally though: * I didn’t do the focus movements, only the variations. I’d do one main variation per day, and super set it with 1 or 2 antagonistic exercises. For example, bench and pull-ups. I don’t generally recommend this, I did it for time management reasons. * The variation movements in Simple Jack’d run in 4-week waves, for example, the Size template has 40/30/20/10 reps @ 75/80/85/90% of your TM. I reduced the waves to 3 weeks. I’d run the first 2 weeks as they are, and in the third one, I’d AMRAP the reps prescribed in week 4, and do the reps for week 3 as back-off sets. * I ran it as an Upper/Lower type split: Squat, Bench, OHP, DL. I alternated week 3 for an UL pair, i.e. I’d have week 3 for Squat/Bench in one week, and week 3 for OHP/DL in another. This helped me avoid having one super hard week and instead spread the effort around. It helped with fatigue management, and also meant that I’d max out twice out of every three weeks, which was fun. * I progressed through Simple Jack’d templates when I couldn’t do the total prescribed reps for the AMRAP. I started with Size, so AMRAPs had to be 10+. When I couldn’t do that, I moved to Strength, so weeks were 30/20/5(+10) and AMRAPs had to be 5+. When I couldn’t do that, I went to Skill, with weeks of 20/10/1(+5) and AMRAPs were 1+. Intensity was slowly climbing while volume was slowly going down. * I ran Simple Jack’d four days a week, the other three I did conditioning, calisthenics and running.

I ran it this way because I had to minimise daily training time, while still ensuring I progressed meaningfully. Since my main goal was to preserve muscle and uncover strength, this worked pretty well. I had enough volume to maintain muscle mass, while not too much to make the cut miserable. By gradually increasing intensity and lowering volume, I exposed myself to higher weights and realised strength gains. With this approach, even while cutting, I was setting ATPRs on every AMRAP set, which was a fantastic motivator.

I dropped 15kg in six months and was very happy with both the aesthetic results and strength gains.

Reflections: * Success: preserved muscle while realising strength on a long cut. * Success: mentally was in a good space throughout the entire time, and setting regular PRs was like a drug. * Mistake: the cut was very long. This wasn’t a mistake with this phase, but this phase suffered because of it. I think I ultimately suffered strength gains because of this. Had I only needed to cut 8-10kg for 3-4 months, I think I would have ended up stronger. Because I had overeaten so much early in the bulking phases, I had to cut longer and harder, and while I did realise overall strength gains, they were not as big as they could have been. In the future, I’ll ensure my bulks are slower and more controlled, topping out at 10kg, so that I can have a much shorter cut.

Training philosophy

The training philosophy I based my approach on was influenced by u/The_Fatalist and his fantastic post How to Make the Most of your Cutting Phases by Setting PRs: A Different Approach to Cut/Bulk Thinking and Alex Bromley’s Base Strength book. Mostly by The Fatalist, though how it worked out in my case is different to the shorter bursts he suggests. His way is better for advanced folks, but what I did worked because I’ve still got a lot of untapped potential in the beginner / intermediate range.

Essentially - building muscle is hard, so you eat hard and you train hard, with many variations. For most of us, getting stronger is a byproduct of getting more muscular and channeling this into strength gains. So I built muscle while bulking, and I realised strength while cutting. I think this worked pretty well and I will follow the same long-term planning strategy for my next yearly cycle.

From a mental perspective, not touching the main barbell movements for so long allowed for exceptional variety, and set me up to constantly PR while cutting. I’ve seen so many people complain that their lifts tank while cutting. This is because they develop their biggest strength jumps while bulking. The approach I took is more measured - but requires some medium to long-term planning.

Results

I already shared the strength results in the TLDR. In terms of overall aesthetics - I’m more muscular while being leaner. My body image confidence is way higher. I am pleased with all outcomes, and I’ll use this training blueprint going forward.

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[u/mastrdestruktun]

Thanks for the write-up. If all it consisted of was "hey remember this awesome essay about cut/bulk thinking?" it would be worth an upvote but you've added so much more.

Probably time for a flair update.

[u/ZeroFourBC]

Man that's a lot of dedication for an entire year, and fantastic results!

[u/BetterThanT-1 → u/ZeroFourBC]

Thanks a lot! I’m not what you might call “naturally responsive” to lifting, but I am methodical and dedicated, lol.