Diet, Exercise and Supplement Advice for gaining

Hey guys, Im 20yo, 6ft2, 158lb (187cm, 72kg) and am looking to gain muscle. I have a thin body type and a fast metabolism and have never gained weight regardless of diet/exercise, that being said im fairly active and normally eat ok.
In the past i saw a trainer to start me off gaining muscle but unfortunately wast able to stick to my plan given work.
For the past month ive been back on the introductory plan i was advised to follow and am looking for advice on where to take things without having to fork out for a trainer or internet gimmick. I would greatly appreciate any diet, exercise, supplement or reading direction from someone who gained from a similar body type or anybody with general gaining experience/knowledge.

This past month as previously advised ive been eating upwards of 5 smaller meals a day, generally:

Breakfast: 2 serves of oatmeal
Mid morning: can of tuna, bannana and glass of milk
Lunch: two whole wheat sandwiches with ham/roast beef, tomato, lettuce, avocado Afternoon: protein shake after workout (mixed with milk) - AllMax Quick Mass
Dinner: chicken/beef w pasta/potato's and veg - carrot, broccoli, capsicum

and going to the gym around 5 times a week for around an hour and a half a session, where each day, as advised, i target most muscle groups through a combination of

bench pressing or dumbel pressing, dumbel row (pulling up), seated row, lat pull down, tricep pull downs, bicep curls (machine), dumbell squat, hack squat (machine), calf raises.

Since i began this program a month ago i have increased the weight i work with quite a bit however haven't noticed any physical differences, that being said i was stupid enough not to weigh myself before starting but would not have put on any more than a couple of kilos.

I am unsure where to go from here. The program im on at the moment was to familiarize me with gym exercises and diet so advice on the best ways to gain muscle from here would be great.

Although my diet is healthy and generally high in protein and calories i still dont think im getting quite as many calories as someone looking to gain with my body type should be.
Im currently taking a serve of AllMax Quick Mass with milk each day (1010 calories, 56g protein per serve) and drinking a glass of milk with most meals at home.
While i cannot afford numerous supplements, supplement advice would be greatly appreciated as would any changes to my diet to increase my protein / calorie intake.

As far as my workout goes, through my research ive come across alot of workouts that involve isolating main muscle groups - back, chest, arms, abs, legs, or even targeting 2 of these muscle groups a day and wonder if this would be the best way for someone in my situation to workout.
Any advise on a suitable workout and exercises would be great as would your opinions on the following:

- when is the best time of day to workout?
- should i be consuming calories / protein before bed?
- although the gaining supplement im on contains creatine should i look for another source of creatine?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. Your direction/ advise would be awesome.

Cheers, James

[QUOTE=wadus_89;488658531]Hey guys, Im 20yo, 6ft2, 158lb (187cm, 72kg) and am looking to gain muscle. I have a thin body type and a fast metabolism and have never gained weight regardless of diet/exercise, that being said im fairly active and normally eat ok.
In the past i saw a trainer to start me off gaining muscle but unfortunately wast able to stick to my plan given work.
For the past month ive been back on the introductory plan i was advised to follow and am looking for advice on where to take things without having to fork out for a trainer or internet gimmick. I would greatly appreciate any diet, exercise, supplement or reading direction from someone who gained from a similar body type or anybody with general gaining experience/knowledge.

This past month as previously advised ive been eating upwards of 5 smaller meals a day, generally:

Breakfast: 2 serves of oatmeal
Mid morning: can of tuna, bannana and glass of milk
Lunch: two whole wheat sandwiches with ham/roast beef, tomato, lettuce, avocado Afternoon: protein shake after workout (mixed with milk) - AllMax Quick Mass
Dinner: chicken/beef w pasta/potato's and veg - carrot, broccoli, capsicum

and going to the gym around 5 times a week for around an hour and a half a session, where each day, as advised, i target most muscle groups through a combination of

bench pressing or dumbel pressing, dumbel row (pulling up), seated row, lat pull down, tricep pull downs, bicep curls (machine), dumbell squat, hack squat (machine), calf raises.

Since i began this program a month ago i have increased the weight i work with quite a bit however haven't noticed any physical differences, that being said i was stupid enough not to weigh myself before starting but would not have put on any more than a couple of kilos.

I am unsure where to go from here. The program im on at the moment was to familiarize me with gym exercises and diet so advice on the best ways to gain muscle from here would be great.

Although my diet is healthy and generally high in protein and calories i still dont think im getting quite as many calories as someone looking to gain with my body type should be.
Im currently taking a serve of AllMax Quick Mass with milk each day (1010 calories, 56g protein per serve) and drinking a glass of milk with most meals at home.
While i cannot afford numerous supplements, supplement advice would be greatly appreciated as would any changes to my diet to increase my protein / calorie intake.

As far as my workout goes, through my research ive come across alot of workouts that involve isolating main muscle groups - back, chest, arms, abs, legs, or even targeting 2 of these muscle groups a day and wonder if this would be the best way for someone in my situation to workout.
Any advise on a suitable workout and exercises would be great as would your opinions on the following:

- when is the best time of day to workout?
- should i be consuming calories / protein before bed?
- although the gaining supplement im on contains creatine should i look for another source of creatine?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. Your direction/ advise would be awesome.

Cheers, James[/QUOTE

James, I read your post and it sounded alot like where I started. I am a hard gainer and I have to work hard to get in all the calories I need to put on muscle. It sounds like your on the right track though. Im no expert but Ill just share a few things I thought may be helpful and you can take what you like.

Right off the bat, Based off your size and your goals you could easily add a 6th meal in to your diet. I would also add a protein source to your breakfast. Eggs or egg whites. Oatmeal has protein but its primarily used as a complex carb in diets. You want to get a large amount of protein in to your body to start the day because youve been fasting over night. Other than that just make sure youre eating every 3 hours at least, and never let yourself get hungry. You could throw another protein shake in there somewhere as well. I personally have to ingest 1.5G to 2G per pound of lean body mass daily to gain any muscle at all.

As far as your questions, I dont know if there is a best time to workout. I personally dont have any knowledge on that subject as far is if timing effects workout quality. I believe Its more important to make sure you get a quality meal in before you workout, and then slam a protein shake immediately when youre done.

Clean calories before bed are good, especially for hard gainers. Either a Casein protein shake or something like cottage cheese.

As far as creatine, most mass gainer powders dont contain much, so supplementing with more might be a good idea.

Other than that, training is so person specific. I have tried so many things and you really just need to find what works for you. Overall, you can never go wrong with compound lifts: Bench, Squat, deadlift etc. Just build your workouts based of those big lifts and youll have a good foundation.

Sounds like you have a great foundation bro, keep up the good work and best of luck.