please, opinions!

Hi everybody; I've been reading through the site for a couple of days and have definitely enjoyed it.  It is now time for my first post and hope you can give me your opinions on how things are looking for me.
 
I have been lifting on and off for some time already but almost a year ago I got sick and lost around 20 pounds.  For some of you this would have been like heaven!  Unfortunately I am the kind of person that is looking to gain weight.  I am currently at 172 lbs and I'm 6'1".  I am not very sure about my BF but last time I checked it was somewhere around 9%.  This semester I've kicked into high gear and am hoping to see some neat changes.
 
I am working through a five day cycle that I kind of made myself. This is how it works.
 
Day 1: Chest
Day 2: Back, Triceps
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Shoulders, biceps
Day 5: Rest
 
I do 4 sets of each exercise and usually stay in the 8-10 reps range.
I try to do four exercises for the big muscles and three for the smaller ones.
 
My mid-section I work out by doing one day abs, next day obliques, so I do each twice per cycle.
 
Since I don't have a very high BF and am hoping to gain some weight I don't do any cardio (except 5 mins. of warm up)
 
I want to get to 190lbs. but that might be to much.  As I go through my short-term goals I'll see how far I want to go, maybe it's not even enough.
 
As far as my diet and supplementation goes, I take ON whey protein, two or three a day, ON pro-complex gainer before bedtime, sometimes after working out instead of a ON whey protein I take a bottle of isopure (40grs.).  I am taking NO xplode, cellmass, and nitrix.  I take multivitamins, tribulus, omega, joint supplementation and some 2222 amino acids which I'll just take until I finish the bottle.  I was thinking of cutting of the cellmass and nitrix in about two months, not sure.
 
What do you experts think????????????????????????
 
Also I have another small question (I know I know, this has gone forever, but remember it is my first post!)  I am planning on taking a trip to the beach for spring break, of course, I want to look as good as I can, so, do you guys think I should do some kind of cutting say, two weeks before, one week, or none?  please comments are welcome!!!!
 
If I missed something, ask me no problem.
 

As far as my diet and supplementation goes, I take ON whey protein, two or three a day, ON pro-complex gainer before bedtime, sometimes after working out instead of a ON whey protein I take a bottle of isopure (40grs.).  I am taking NO xplode, cellmass, and nitrix.  I take multivitamins, tribulus, omega, joint supplementation and some 2222 amino acids which I'll just take until I finish the bottle.  I was thinking of cutting of the cellmass and nitrix in about two months, not sure.

That tells us you're on a hell of a lot of supps, but nothing mentioned at all about your diet. To tell the truth, you might not even need all those supps you're on- In fact, for right now, I'd say you're probably wasting some money there. The big three to building muscle are- Lift big, eat big, and rest big. Notice number two is EAT- Not pop pills, drink shakes, etc- Just plain eat. I don't know what your diet looks like right now, but everyone's could use some work- Post something about it in the nutrition forum to get some more detailed advice, but keep in mind- Supplements are designed to supplement an already healthy diet. Your diet should do ninety to ninety five percent of the work, supps only give you an extra little edge. I'd say stick with simple protein shakes for now, along with eating the right foods like a horse to get that weight on. Personally, after I changed my actual eating habits and stopped trusting supps to do the job alone, it took me about three months to pack on twenty pounds. Five or six meals a day, right amount of protein, carbs and fats, enough calories to ensure your body has enough to build new muscle with- Now you're in business.

I guess I must have forgotten to mention it.  I've looked up and apparently I need to take in around 3500 calories per day to gain a pound per week so that is what I'm trying to and usually do.  I suck at nutrition.  I hardly do breakfast and sometimes I have to wait like six hours between meals because of classes, also my problem  is that I tend to do big meals instead of more smaller ones.  I don't know if a shake is considered a meal (are they?), if it is, then I guess I am taking many meals a day.  Also, some of the stuff, the amino acids and the isopure are just stuff a friend gave me since he was going away.  I totally agree with you, supplementation is second to nutrition, that is why I was planning on cutting back after a few months and just doing the NO xplode, I kind of just have the beach full of hotties in my mind .  Good first impressions don't hurt

ORIGINAL: cpl

Supplements are designed to supplement an already healthy diet. Your diet should do ninety to ninety five percent of the work, supps only give you an extra little edge.

I attended a lecure by a nutritionist, and she had this to say: "Supplements alone will do very little, as they are designed to work in conjunction with a proper diet, to enable your body to get the most out of the food you eat (meaning unlock all the nutrients possible)."

There were other things discussed on diet, but they were all about a healthy diet for the average person, not somebody looking to bulk up relatively quickly.

RiderX
Nice quote!
 
gottabfit
Get your diet dialed it.  It is the most important part of YOUR trianing and YOUR limiting factor. 

Workout sounds excellent!
Everything else looks ok, if not excessive on the supps side, but they shouldn't hurt ya!

I was thinking of cutting of the cellmass and nitrix in about two months

You will probably drop a few pounds when you do that...just water weight so no worries.

Any questions on the nutrition end?  You know what to do?

My Journal Gain Muscle - http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/fb.ashx?m=111173 Lose Fat - http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/fb.ashx?m=111175

I'm honestly not very happy with my nutrition side of my training.  I know how many calories I need to be taking in, which is around 3550, and I am being able to do it. 
 
The bad thing is that I am not doing the 5-6 meals.  Instead I get one big lunch, and one big dinner.  Sometimes I wake up and end up having no time so I'm rushing to class or whatever and end up having lunch really late.  So the whole day I go without food and then in the afternoon I eat big, to end up eating big again late at night!
 
I've always been bad at eating breakfast too, I seldomly have one because I do get up a little late so I go by thinking, since it's already, say 10:30, I'd rather wait a while and have lunch.  What I have been trying to do is to have a shake in the morning as a breakfast.
 
One other thing is that by the way I was eating, I was gaining fat.  What I tought was that maybe at night I was putting to much stuff together since I have dinner really late and like an hour later before I go to bed I'm taking the GAINER shake, which is 600 calories more right there.  What I've done is I've switched this shake as the one I'm taking in the morning and at night I'm just taking one whey protein.  The only downside to doing this is that I'm taking less protein at night. 

1) DO NOT miss breakfast.  If it has to be a liquid meal, so be it.
2) Focus on your desires and goals.  If you have set your goals and you really want them ...start looking at what YOU need to do to reach them. 
 
It is time to step up to the plate my friend.
 
If you have to go 6 hours between, have some handy food to fill the gap...Organic almonds and raisins or something.
 

by the way I was eating, I was gaining fat.

If you were gaining weight, then you were eating too much. 
 
If you were not gaining weight but were increasing body fat...then your trianing and nutrition were not sufficient to suport either healthy weight gain or fat burning. 
 
Get your daily caloric intake up where you are able to gain weight and train smart enough so what you are gaining becomes MUSCLE!  Fat is the pantry where the body stores energy for use later.
 
If your diet is not balanced in optimal proportions of nutrients, you just won't gain muscle optimally.

My Journal Gain Muscle - http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/fb.ashx?m=111173 Lose Fat - http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/fb.ashx?m=111175

Yeah I study too and have long lectures, but make 'em interesting if your lecturers a ****and doesn't allow food then just leave and eat surely you get some sort of break? My diet means more to me than my lecture, I've sat in one with a knife, fork and my tuna, rice, broccoli meal and tucked in! Few funny looks when you crack open the tub and everyone smells the tuna but most of them are unhealthy as **** anyway. Up to you how much you want to gain weight, 6 hours and no food isn't going to make you gain weight.
 
I read a quote by someone today, I think it's good so here it is again.
 
 
 
If you're not training...someone else is.

First, just want to echo what others have said, especially guru danmirage!

Second, my hair dresser (don't laugh) got sick and lost about 30 pounds.  He was very muscular, and lean.  His body always turns heads--and at 46, his body looked like that of a 21 year old fitness model.  Anyway, a few months later after being able to go back to the gym with some hard lifting and eating a lot, it all came back--and then some.  He's never been buffer (he wears very tight, short-sleave shirts and tight pants so you can see every rippled detail).

At 9% bodyfat, you should have abs.  I wouldn't bother cutting if your bf is around there for spring break; you'll look great on the beach!

"If there's nothing else that's relevant, I'll be leaving now"

"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground"