Generally I avoid keto all together with my clients. Their are a few however that thrive off it during prep, majority are women in my experience that get a positive benefit if I do use it and not so much men (not sure why & haven't really looked into to understand why). I would never consider it for bulking, I've tried it a few times over my lifetime and it failed. IIFYM, like most stated is probably a better option if done correctly.
I favor Carb Backloading & Carb cycling for both cutting and bulking. It's not better or worse then any other diet, it's just one method I have a good understanding of and very proficient at using it across a wide range of people.
Guess your wondering why the long set up? Lol
Yes, people mess up IIFYM. But it's mainly food timing and not choices. So many people fear foods, SUGAR in particular and that I've found to be a weakness and not a strength when doing any protocol for dieting or bulking.
Below is my take of the subject from one of my articles.
~Coaches Corner~
I'm known as the coach that feeds his clients doughnuts post workout.
Food choices around workout perimeter:
Progress is underpinned by adherence. Energy balance, in most people ( of course there are always outliers/anomalies ) is the bottom line. If we eat to our energy demands, we make progress towards our goals.
If our bodies Demand of us, 800g carbs a day, to make progress, because we maybe somewhat active, and then have the ability to train really hard, it's imperative we meet those demands if we are to make progress. I have clients that simply can't eat enough. So from an adherence perspective, we get around this by using food choices that are simply easy to eat. What's important to note, is there is nothing inherently bad about sugar. The notion of sugar being evil, has long been disproved. The current literature shows that provided we eat to our energy demands, sugar isn't going to be the cause of obesity or metabolic diseases such as diabetes. Simply being as we utilise that fuel, it is a demand that is being met. It is the over eating of calories that causes that decline in health and health markers. This is very much agreed on, in the academic community and there is a host of literature to draw upon here.
So as we diet down and carbohydrate needs decrease, we then focus on adherence again by then switching to a satiety emphasised diet. You are now really hungry, and have less calories to play with so you can't get all your micronutrient needs if your still using foods that just focus on the macros. So now is the time to swap out doughnuts and cereal for rice, sweet potato, quinoa, etc , to ensure your getting in everything you need from a recovery perspective, and we are meeting that bottom line of adherence and energy balance.
Shunning sugar, just illustrates a lack of understanding of the current literature. Eat to your needs, and not just adhere to the current "norms" of dieting...
So my recommendation to you would be to try them both for a period of 6-8 weeks and see for yourself which method works best. Our opinions are limited by our individual experience, go experience them & give them the proper time and adherence to produce results or not produce.
