How to gain weight successfully

[BryF]

I am currently on a mission to gain weight 'bulk' but I am having a tough time at knowing exactly what quantities/how much to work out to ensure that I am gaining maximum muscle and not just a ton of fat. I am currently 50kg and 5'4. 

I feel like I am going round and round, sampling all different methods carb backloading/high carb-low fat/high fat-low carb and just can't find what seems to be effective. I currently do 4 weight sessions a week (2 upper, 2 lower) am I doing too little or not enough?

Has anyone found a technique in training and eating that has worked best for them? I am quite a small build and find workouts longer than an hour drain me a lot. Has the 5x5 weight training or high volume training worked best for you? 

Any guidance would be appreciated! I know it should be simple of eat loads and workout but after doing this for 6 months I feel down that I haven't really gained or got to where I would like to be.

[Dominique]

You may want to have a look at the RP Autotemplates. They’ve got one for cutting (to lose fat) and one for massing (to gain muscle). I’m currently on the cutting template, but I plan to switch to the massing template in December. The template is an Excel sheet with meals layed out for you in terms of macronutrients. You can find a bit more on it here and here. The massing template works in a similar way, but in reverse: over time, you incrementally increase your intake in order to gain at the desired rate. They’re not cheap, it’s very "sciency", but I’ve found it’s been working for me so far. They’ve also got a closed group on Facebook (57,000 members!) that provides very useful info if needed. If you want to know more about the science behind it, check this other topic: it has some info on a couple of e-books from the same source, and links on podcasts and video lectures on said e-books. Dr. Mike Israetel is the "brains" behind all this; he’s a brilliant guy, but they’ve got some 15 or so PhDs on staff in addition to him.