I aim for a calorie surplus of 500 a day to gain 0.5 kg per week. I know that this also results in gaining fat which I want to remove with a diet in a few months.

My problem is that I feel like I'm gaining less muscle and more fat than a lot of friends that also work out. My lifts are steadily growing so I do put on muscle.

I'm eating 1g protein for every lbs body weight and lift 4 times a week. How do people actually gain lean muscle mass? When I try to gain slower with lass fat I just plateau.