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Hello all, I am new to this board, and relatively new to weight training. I am a 23 yr. old male, 6'0" and 154 lbs, looking to bulk up a bit. Not looking to get super ripped or anything, but my goal is to add 20-25 lbs. and be less of a scrawny biotch. I have been on a weight training program for 2 1/2 months now, and have gained 6 lbs. since I started. I enjoy working out, but I don't know much about weight training. After reading a few threads, I am beginning to doubt whether the program I'm on is right for me. So, I will post what I do, and any advice anyone could give me would be much appreciated.

Day 1:
Bench press
Incline chest press
Pectoral flys (machine)
Pull-up (weight assisted)
Tricep pushdown (machine)
Leg press
Leg extension (machine)
Leg curl (machine)
Decline situps
Knee raises (for abs)
Ab crunch

Day 2:
Shoulder press (machine)
Seated row (machine)
Lat pulldown (machine)
Dip (weight assisted)
Lat extension (with barbells)
Low back extension
Preacher curl
Decline situps
Knee raises (for abs)
Ab crunch

Day 3: Rest

As for reps / weight, I usually do 3 sets of 10 reps, increasing the weight on the second set. Each session usually lasts me 1 hour or so (after a quick 5 minutes on the treadmill to warm up).

Specifically: Is this too intense of a workout? Also, I am not sure about #of sets/reps. Is doing a pyramid better for bulking, or less reps and more sets (5X5)?

Thanks

This is just my two cents. Right now you are doing a two day split (hitting everything in two days). That is alot of body parts to focus on. If I were you, I'd switch to a 3 day split. An example would be:
Day 1: Chest, Should, Tri.
Day 2: Back, Bi, Traps.
Day 3: Legs, abs.

Again that was just an example. The prob I have with the 2 day split is I feel you are trying to do too much in too short a time. Intensity and effort may suffer from the burnout that can bring. Just my two cents.

Full Body 3x a week..

**adding to the confusion of a newbie**

In all seriousness,

OP:
1.) What are your maxes on bench, squat and deadlift right now?
2.) How much time do you have on your hands to spend in the gym? In the sense: do you have any constraints? Do you have a power cage available to you?

Also, thanks for clearly stating your goals. It helps us to answer your question.

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I haven't been doing squats or deadlifts as part of my normal routine, and I've just been doing 3X10 reps and not maxing out (not much help I know). I can do 3 sets of 10 reps of 85 lbs. pretty comfortably on the bench, and 170 lbs on the leg press. I can usually make it to the gym at least 5 times per week, so I don't really have many constraints. Also, not sure what a power cage is.

Not good. lol

google it

Indeed I do have access to one, now that I have googled it and know what one is. I use it for bench press.

I was curious what people think about # of reps / sets. In terms of bulking up, is it better to do fewer reps and more sets? How often is it good to add weight or max out?

I would recommend that you check out one of the beginner programs that use the 5x5 reps/sets theme. I doubt you'll find anything better for someone just starting out. Check out the ones where you add weight every workout and use the same weight for each of the 5 sets (sets across).

Milk the available 5x5 programs for all they're worth. As a beginner, you'lll never grow faster or stronger on any other program and believe me with over 30 years of lifting I've tried them all.

I wish I had known about the 5x5 programs when I was starting out and I would have saved a LOT of time. Of course, I started out in programs similar to the one you doing now, and wasted years of effort and countless stopping and starting new programs looking for results.

Some excellent training articles in the stickies above.

Best of luck to ya and let us know how you're doing.

Maddax