Training -

As a beginner, you are going to want to stick to basic, compound, free weight movements. These will be the most beneficial to your overall muscular development and strength. I know a popular goal is "I want bigger arms, can't I just do bicep curls every day?" As a beginner, compound movements such as rows or chinups will do FAR more for your biceps and overall frame than curls. Curls are an isolation movement that are more beneficial to an advanced bodybuilder.

Another big mistake is people trying to develop their own routines. They are often poorly made and can/will result in muscular imbalances. There are many popular beginner routines, and the two that I always recommend are two that I have personally used: Rippetoe's and Westside for Skinny Bastards:

Rippetoe's - This is based on Mark Rippetoe's book Starting Strengt. It is a basic, three day a week workout, and the format looks like this:
Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Standing military press
3x5 Power cleans OR Pendlay Rows (Penlay Rows are recommended for a beginner)

Monday - Workout A
Wednesday - Workout B
Friday - Workout A

Week 2:
Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B

If this seems appealing to you, you can find an extremely detailed write-up of it here: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

Westside for Skinny Bastards - Another great routine, it can be found in this self-explanatory article here: http://defrancostraining.com/articles/articles.htm

Diet -

Diet is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of adding mass. Without a caloric surplus, you will not gain size. Don't be afraid of eating, you'd be surprised how difficult it can be to eat an adequate amount to grow. Aim for about 500 calories above your maintenance level (which can be calculated here - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598 ). Also try for a lot of protein, ideally as much as you can. At the very least try to eat about 1-1.5g per pound of your bodyweight. Here's a short list of some good foods to eat:
-chicken
-tuna
-red meat
-peanut butter
-brown rice
-nuts (I like almonds)
-whole wheat bread
-whole wheat pasta
-turkey
-cottage cheese
-milk.

Also, this doesn't really pertain to diet but I figure I'll throw it in this section, but another important part of muscle growth is REST. Not a single ounce of muscle is built in the gym; quite the contrary, actually. Try to get at the very LEAST 8 hours of sleep each night. Try to eat some slow digesting protein (such as cottage cheese) before bed, and some protein immediately upon waking.

Supplements -
Supplements can be very useful, but they DO NOT REPLACE solid training and diet, they supplement them, hence the name... supplements. As a beginner, try to keep things simple.
- a multivitamin
- whey protein
- fish oil

After you have some solid training experience under your belt, if you want you can add:
- creatine. (what exactly is creatine? In short, it's an amino acid that helps ATP production. For a long, detailed, complete answer, refer to this: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=100831 )


Summary: eat, sleep, and train heavy.

Again, bump, because the information here is accurate and should be read.

awesome thanks a lot from one of those skinny bastards.

I am actually taking a weight training class at my high school (which has one of the best high school weight rooms in IN), and the workout routine is pretty close to what Quads_n_stuff posted. Follow what he said. It helps.

I'm bad at this one... so this information is helpful.

What I can say in addition is that, if you can do power cleans with the right technique, do that religiously. It is the single exercise that works the most muscles in the body all at once. However, don't do that one only.

And here's something that is EXTREMELY important to anyone who lifts: Unless you are doing SLDL's (fancy abbreviation for weighted stretching of the calves), ALWAYS lock your back. One can severely injure himself/herself from lifting if (s)he does not lock the back. This is characterized as the core flexed/tight and arched back (the opposite of being slumped over). Most of the time, you'll have assisstance from a weight belt, but don't use the belt as a crutch.

Just to clarify on the "locked back" in the post above one should keep their back straight and always lift with the legs when doing cleans and especially when doing deadlifts. I think that it would be more accurate to say that the back shouldnt be arched but rather straight. And the gaze should be straight ahead (some say slightly up) to ensure that ones back stays straight. It is also important when lifting not to lock the knees no matter the exercise or the body part being worked.

1. Straight Leg Deadlift's are NOT calf stretches oversimplification like that could very easily mislead a user that is ignorant to the actual facts behind the science of weightlifting.

2. Most people actually should usually have assistance from a weight belt. Typically the only exercise that one should use a weight belt with is squats/power cleans/and deadlifts; and even then, I would highly advise against using a belt until you reach extremely high lifts (around a 500 lbs. squat and 600 lbs. deadlift) otherwise a belt is just going to interfere with the body's natural development.

I dunno, Cleans seem to be a glutes and thighs exercise for me. I was taught from athletic lifting to explode up with your legs, then as the bar builds momentum, throw your hips forward. You should only be working thigh's and glutes, or your doing it wrong.

I disagree. While cleaning a weight (lifting a weight from the floor to the starting position of a military press) does involve a lot of leg drive to get the weight moving, one must also use the shoulders, traps, arms, and back to get the weight up. I was taught the the weight should come to about shoulder height (like an upright row) before you tuck your elbows under, and that would involve more than your thighs and glutes. I think that this illustration shows what I'm talking about more clearly. You can see that in getting the weight up this gentleman is using a lot of muscle groups (including the calves if you look closely).