How to Pack on the Mass

[AndroIron]

My goal here is to pack on some serious mass, I have always been a skinny dude, but have gotten alot bigger since I started working out. I have hit a wall recently with gaining mass and would like some advice from the masters.

Background

22, 6 ft. 190 thats with about 9% bodyfat
started lifting 3 years ago, at age 19 and was 165, with about 7% body fat. Like I said I was a skinny guy.

Lifts

bench 285 x 1
dead 425 x 1
squat 315 x 5 (never really maxed out squat, never felt safe)

I have been at a wall in gaining size for the last 8 months, I paratice very good nutrition getting about 200g protein, with about 3000-3500 cals, mostly complex carbs spread over 6 meals a day. I really dont do much cardio, maybe once a week. I have a naturally fast metabolism so it keeps me lean even when I bulk. I have run the gammit on programs, body part isolation splits, hypertrophy, power reps, high reps, dumbell, barbell, but I change it up alot. Perhaps one works better and I havent given it enough of a change, I change my routiene every month or so. Also I realize it may be time for an AAS I am open to this, but I admit I dont know alot about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[thick]

well changing w/os every month is way too frequent imo. Also, your squats are very low compared to your bench. There are a lot of great workouts on here. Read the stickies in the training section here and pick out what w/o program you think fits you. After you pick that out we can help tailor it. At your height and age there is no need to do aas. You can get much bigger still naturally. Read the stickies, pick out a program(am, hst, 5x5 etc.) and we will go from there. Also, calories will need to be bumped up slowly til you see what allows gains. Are you using any supplements?

[Grizzly]

Definitely. Just find a routine and stick with it. The 5X5 will work just fine for long periods of time. When I used to focus solely on bodybuilding, the only time my routine would change would be when someone was on the equipment I wanted. The only difference in that week compared to the week before was exercise order. Otherwise, everything remained the same.

If you have a fast metabolism, then you're probably going to want to eat many more calories. Bump it up by 500/day and see what happens.

Following both of those suggestions should yield the gains you desire.

[stretchmarks]

there is a wealth of info on this board. i have gotten more from meso
than all the books and mags that i have bought in the last 20 yrs.
there are very smart lifters here and we get this info for free.
a big handshake goes out to all who take the time to provide this info
to us.

[AndroIron]

I have been reading various routines here and I think the 5X5 sounds like a popular choice. I have heard of it before but i have never really gotten a detailed breakdown, maybe one of you guys could give me some advice.

[thick]

have you read the sticky on the 5x5

Originally Posted by AndroIron

I have been reading various routines here and I think the 5X5 sounds like a popular choice. I have heard of it before but i have never really gotten a detailed breakdown, maybe one of you guys could give me some advice.