I’ve doing the zigzag approach with some success. Still too early to tell completely.
I started a bulk in October with 500 calorie surplus (roughly) at 9% body fat 32 inch waist, 168 pounds. I’ve stopped the bulk about two times to cut back a little because my abs were getting blurry. I spent about 2 weeks on the “mini-cuts” and went back to intermittent fasting and working out on an empty stomach.
I just recently checked my bodyfat again (Skulpt Aim – awesome tool BTW) and I’m sitting at 10%, with a 33 inch waist and my weight is 175. So I’m sure some of that is fat, but there has to be some muscle in there, because as well as tracking my weight and other measurements, I’ve also chronicled my results in pics. My most recent pic doesn’t look too much different than my starting pic from back in October.
Maybe I can switch gears easily because of the lean, anabolic shape I started from. So if I gained an actual pound or two of muscle since October, with a 1% jump in bodyfat (give or take a little of course) then I’d call that some success and will keep pursuing.