Hey i have something to say about this and make sure not to discredit all this info because I'm new, you all were too.
I began working out 2 years and 6 months ago at a pussy 6'0" 135lbs. I was completely athletic, i was varsity bball guard 4 years and i had no reason to workout.
Now i wake up at 6'2" 215lbs 4% body fat with 6 national weightlifting records around my neck.
Seeing as I have no clue to whoever who reads this information's intentions with working out, you may not even be interested, but its theirs to use likewise.
I learned quickly gaining weight and gaining muscle is all about eating 3 times a day BIG. With my body type i have a really high metabolism so it burns food up like gas in a f250 diesel chipped and charged. If you are a bigger person, perhaps even fat, i would avoid eating 3 times a day big and instead eat 7-8 times a day distributed evenly and smallish snack-like meals(yogurt+toast, protein shake, eggs, bowl of cereal, bow of rice, chicken sandwich) loaded with protein and essential vitamins (bcaa--amino's). Now I would advise against supplements such as what you would find at your city's hi-health, GNC or other supplemental store. They are just as bad for your body, especially if abused, and cost roughly the same. I would even go as far as to say I would choose to use steroids appropriately only because you would see much faster results, and yes that is the only reason people use supplements and steroids, and less of an impact on my wallet. The only supplements i use are protein, creatine, and bcaa's or a multivitamin packed full of bcaa's(essential amino acids helpful with mood, energy, muscle-building and muscle-recovery).
NEVER MISS A MEAL, FOOD + WATER is vital. It affects mood, appearance, performance, vitality, stamina+fatigue and not to mention your workout.
Most people think that they have to lose fat in order to see some muscle definition, and that is COMPLETELY BACKWARDS. If all you have is fat and haven't really hit the gym then losing all the fat will just make you skinny with no definition and even less to work with in order to build muscle. Building muscle alone will burn 2x as much fat as you would aerobically with no muscle. Muscles are not created, you already have every muscle you need, working out simply tears muscle and in turn the muscle heals itself and grows bigger and stronger(in simpleton terms).
Lets build muscle
Workout 5-6 days max leaving 1-2 days of rest.
Make sure you have good music that will allow you to stay focused and pumped, assuming you have an ipod or generic. Music with alot of bass work for alot of people eg. rap, screamo, deathmetal or what works for you.
If its mass you want workout 1 main body part per day, per week. If your workout week were to be mon, tue, wed, thur and fri with sat and sun as rest days--one could workout chest, legs, back+shoulders, arms, core(abs lower back and obliques((side abdominals)) ).
To obtain a lean/shredded and toned look you could workout more than one body part aerobically/anaerobically mixing in aerobics(increasing the heart rate to burn calories, increase stamina and generally decrease fatigue) such as treadmill, bike, elliptical or row machine.
Specialization
Lets say the person has desirable chest, legs and back but needs help with arms and abs.
The most basic way going about building more muscle even quicker in your desired muscle groups would to specialize.
Specialization would be to replace some body parts a week with an already worked muscle group you are having trouble with. So your week goes like chest, legs, back+shoulders, arms, abs and you want help with the above mentioned. A specialized routine would look like arms, legs, abs, arms, abs or replace legs with a desired muscle group. Maybe the person only needs specialization with one body part, so that person should incorporate it more often in the workout week than another.
DO NOT WORKOUT HALF ASSED. Put into your workout as much as you would like your results to reflect. A Hard workout pushing your limits may seem like it could be unnecessary but veteran bodybuilders like myself would agree to see remarkably quick results, you absolutely need to give it your best. Music helps me with this so much.
Avoid long conversations while working out. Unless you're sarging the gym, avoid personal contact as much as possible so as to not intervene with your focus and energy towards your workout. You are there to gain muscle and maybe even a bit more confidence in yourself, are you not?
I cannot tell you all the exercises to do for all your muscle groups because i am currently doing advanced lifts. I will however point you in the right direction and give you some great exercises if you ask.
Please feel free to ask me anything. I have taken many a physical fitness class and have done countless hours of research.
thanks for reading!