Want to change from weedy to big...but need a routine, please help!

Hey guys, you all seem to know what you are talking about, so I figured I would ask for some advice :)

I'm a 17 year old guy that's 5ft 8 and weighs about 52kg. I take after my dad and I'm pretty darn skinny, but I want to change that!
I have been going to the gym for a few months and have been following a routine one of the instructors gave me, but it just seems crap, it gets me to do everything in one day and then do the same 2 days later, there is just no time to recover. I have also been drinking 'Impact whey Protein' from myprotein.co.uk and taking 5g of creatine a day.

But I just haven't seen much improvement at all. I'm trying to build muscle mass and definition but I don't feel it's working so far.

So, what I'm asking is, could anyone suggest a three day workout plan that will help me build muscle mass onto my small frame?

I'm still very new to all this, so any other tips are more then welcome ^^

Thanks!!
~Alex

There are a lot of options you could go for. As far as 3 day routines go you can't beat a good old Push/Pull/Legs routine. The idea is that you combine all pushing exercises on one day (ie. exercises that use your chest, triceps and delts) and all pulling exercise on one day (exercises that use your back and your biceps). The purpose of this is to make sure you're allowing your biceps and triceps to get enough recovery seeing as they are being used in the big back and chest/shoulder compound exercises (respectively) already.

A typical routine would look like this:

Push
Bench Press
Incline Bench Press
Shoulder/Overhead Press/Military Press
Dips

Pull
Deadlift
Rows
Chin Ups/Pull Ups/Pull Downs
Curls

Legs
Squat
Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Calf Raises

I'm a relative newbie myself (training since Feb) and I've been really really happy with my results using this routine, so there's no reason you shouldn't either!

Alternatively you could try a 3 day full body routine. Or you could try one of the tried and tested 5x5 routines such as Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength routine or Frankie NY's Mass Routine (which is pretty much based on the push/pull routine).

If you're trying to gain muscle mass the most important thing is that you're eating enough (good fats, low GI carbs and LOTS of protein), so if you're unsure about your diet then head over to the Diet section of the forum and they'll help you out!

Good luck

Thanks  man, this sounds great ^^ I think I will go with the routine you posted. I'll give it a go in the gym today.

Thanks for your help!

oh, and I assume these are 3x5's?

No not necessarily, you can do whatever rep range you want! The general consensus seems to be lower reps for strength, higher reps for mass. I've had good results with 3x8, but it's up for you!

If you're wanting mass mate, I'd do 3x8's as CK said.

I'm currently doing a P / P / L split on a 5x5 basis, and the only gains I'm making really are strength ones, my size hasn't really changed too much.

My Journal.

PB's
Deadlift - 160kg x1
Bench - 100kg x1
Squat - 135kg x1

Remember for optimal gains get the big 3 in check, neglect one and you will fall short.

Recovery
Training
Nutrition

And tbh looking back i wish i had done a simple push/pull/legs routine with the main compound movements.
Wasted alot of time

Deadlifting my way to success....

Ok, 3x8 it is ^^

From reading on the nutrition area of the site, I have read a lot about eating massive amounts of pasta, fish, meat, fruit & veg...well lots of just about everything healthy + protien shakes.
Some people seem to be eating more then they can comfortably manage, one guy said something about the 'water trick', should I force feed myself to, or is it just unnecissary?

And should I be getting to failure by the 3rd set?

Thanks for all this guys, this site and it's members are teaching me a lot!