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Dash, I can only really speak anecdotally, because all my knowledge I've gained is through experience which I obtained by reading and watching others as well as formal instruction by trainers who developed programs for me with specific intentions.
First, you must weigh your frame/potential, resources at your disposal and general fitness goals. Adding lean muscle takes time and sacrifice. And not just gym time, but I mean sacrifice away from doing other activities (power/athleticism, cardiovascular/endurance, flexibility and skill type activities which develop dexterity or whole body agility). Depending on your build (potential) and resources (ability to diet consistently and correctly, access too the right types of training equipment and training partners, and time you can put in), 5-10# of lean mass may be damned near impossible, it might be only 20% or what you could achieve given the amount of resources at your disposal, your genetics and willingness to sacrifice other areas of fitness.
I bring all this up because I was able to go from around 120# to over 140# in a matter of months (and even over 150# at one point), but I suffered because in order to gain that much muscle, I did get fatter. A lot of people I know personally laugh at this notion, but other people don't know your body like you. I knew I was fatter, I felt fatter, but I was also far stronger and faster than I ever was at 120#.
To do that, I followed these principles:
The 5x5. Pick your core lifts like bench press, squats, deadlift, shoulder press and put that weight up. You want to find the weight where you can only knock out 5 reps and barely get through 5 sets. At first, you won't be able to lift close to your potential given your actual strength capabilities. You may be doing 5x8's with less weight. I like to pick a warm-up set and get right into it. Once you become comfortable with only 8 reps, you will move to 5. And don't be afraid to go for a 6 or even 7th set. Push yourself as much as you can. If you are used to circuit work, the pace is going to bee completely different. Longer breaks are going to be necessary between sets (creatine and glutamine supplements help here) and while pace increases will make you work harder and be able to generate more sustained strength, real strength and size gains come from getting the reps done even if you have to take a little longer. 5-8 rep seems like the magic number. The 5x5 is one of the most humbling things you can do, it will make you feel weak. The other thing you will have to get used to is while your technique might be tight enough at lower weights, the increased weight will exaggerate flaws in your form. Correct these as you go, before going too heavy. The other thing you will notice is that supplemental muscle weaknesses may begin to show up. Muscles that stabilize the body (shoulders/lower back/rhomboids/posterior delts in Bench Press for example) may actually be too weak. You might have to train these, but this will only show up at extreme high weight, so correct any technical errors before you try to pin down any muscular weakness contributing to bad form.
My shoulders have problems during bench press. I can crank out lots of weight at single or 3 rep sets, but my weight goes down disproportionally high as the reps go up because my elbows tend to flare forward which puts the weight on my shoulder rather than my chest and lats. These are the kind of things you need to be wary of, because they can lead to acute injury and joint inflammation which will take you out quickly.
Second is LEGS. Do your squats, do your deadlifts and don't wimp out. I'm not sure of the physiologically reason behind it, so ask a sports nutritionist or fitness specialist. But they make you get stronger and gain size in all the rest of your body. I've heard theories about naturally elevated levels of growth hormone because the legs are such large muscles, but I have no idea if that's true. But they work.
Third, keep a balance. Don't lose sight of your lat/back muscle groups, traps, arm strength and rotary shoulder strengtheners. The shoulder is especially vulnerable to over training because the joint simply is so delicate. There are many ligaments and cartilage tissue structures that form the actual socket there to keep it stabilized since it basically sits in space. Training anything that uses the shoulder as a stabilization muscle (benchpress for me) must be done carefully with very heavy weight. For some reason, shoulder press has never bothered me, but I tend to use dumbbells which may contribute since the dynamics of lifting a solid barbell affect the body much differently than a pair of dumbbells.
Fourth, nutrition. 30+ grams of protein with breakfast. Kashi Go Lean (the red cereal), something with eggs or at least egg whites and oatmeal, flax seed, quiona anything like that. I like fish and chicken, but red meat won't kill you, and if you have an iron deficiency, you should attend to your needs for conditions like that over nutrition. At least 25g of protein from whey directly before and after, and I was taking in over 75g-100g divided up into before and after at one point. The general consensus is 1g/# of body weight/day from all sources is good, but some guys end up eating twice that. You'll get fatter if you eat too much. The rest of your dietary concerns should basically just adhere to a healthy diet and you'll be fine.
Like I said, I gained a lot of weight and fast, but got fatter too. I switched up my routine, lost some fat and slowly putting that weight back on, but this time, leaner. It's easier to gain more weight, then come back down leaning out if you are younger, but anyone can do it. I think it's hard to find a balance. If you notice my current program, I maintain one big lift, lift it for strength only, then try to circuit out the rest of my workout. The balance has helped me lean out a lot but continue to make incremental strength and weight gains.
I used creatine monohydrate during this entire program.
I think you can probably achieve what you are looking for easily. But keep in mind the fitness philosophy items I mentioned. I think it always goes back to quality of life. I had fun doing plyometrics, and I was able to get myself to where I could do 42" box jumps 10 times in a row easily. People always asked me about that in the gym, literally everytime. But, it took away time I could have been used to build better cardio, more strength, become more defined etc. So make sure you keep sight of what your fitness goals ultimately are. Fortunately gaining some muscle mass isn't too hard, though it make require permanent sacrifices to the way you structure your program in the future in order to maintain.
Sorry, that's way too much information, it's not really organized in its presentation, but I saw your post while I was lifting today and wanted to capture all my thoughts and lessons I have accumulated while I had the chance.
_________________
"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones
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