Hi Ole. Sounds good to me. If you can cut while maintaining strength you’re halfway there. And getting down to 15% before starting will give you a bit of leeway while bulking. I also think running 500mg sust is a good idea rather than the winny. The liver and cholesterol issues have steered me clear of it. And if you want to go safe then test is about as safe as it gets.

The problem, as I’m sure you will know, is that eating bad food will not help. Ideally you’d bulk by gaining as much lean mass as possible with minimal fat gain. And then when you cut you’re already in the right frame of mind.

Some people (loads probably) will not agree with this so take it as you want, but while cardio is great for aerobic ability etc etc, I don’t think it’s the best way to cut. If you’re not clever about it you will just burn off your muscles as well as your fat. By clever I mean not doing endless hours of jogging or other high intensity exercises. You’re better off doing very short intense cardio and then walking or slow cycling to burn off fat and not glucose and muscle stores. An hour walking is boring as fuck but you will burn off almost exclusively fat stores. Half an hour of jogging will get you fit but will also use up some of that hard gained muscle. Five minutes sprinting or heavy resistance cycling on a stationary bike will do all you need aerobically and allow you to burn fat as you walk off the pump in your thighs.

Another way of looking at it, is that eating 200 calories worth less carbs will burn fat and spare muscle (if you eat enough protein during the day) while burning off 200 calories jogging will burn fat and probably just as much muscle. It’s not an exact calculation but I hope it makes the point.

Or another way of looking at it is doing loads of cardio will definitely keep you trim but it won’t help you add that 25lbs you’re after. I’m not saying don’t do cardio. I’m just saying doing additional cardio to burn off fat can sometimes be detrimental. You’re also wasting energy that would be better used lifting weights.

The best way to cut bodyfat is to cut out the carbs. It’s not easy and should be done slowly and properly with refill days etc

There’s a definite science to bulking and cutting and training and resting and all the rest of it and that’s why it’s a long term project. You shouldn’t necessarily believe everything you’re told. You should weigh up all the advice you’re given, try it if you think it makes sense and then discard or use it. I’m not admitting to talking bollocks btw!

You say you want to do all this safely and I totally agree with that idea, but it will take more time and effort than pinning fuck knows how much of all sorts of stuff. But ultimately, I think you’ll achieve what you want and in ten years when your health is still spot on be glad you didn’t go down the more is better route. You’ll also do it with good nutrition and good training.

Good luck