I've decided that, starting February 1st, I'm going to start working out. I've always been really skinny and scrawny, so I want to try to build some muscle. I'm not expecting to be huge obviously, but I at least want to be able to take my shirt off at the beach without being embarrassed. I want to focus primarily on abs and upper body, because my legs are already disproportionately thicker than the rest of my body lol. (I guess that's what happens when you have to walk up and down five flights of stairs multiple times every day.)

Does anyone have any suggestions for specific exercises I could do, or maybe even full routines? I have a decent amount of equipment, including a bench, a mat, dumbbells (15 lb, 20 lb, and 25 lb), and a pull-up bar.

I also plan on drinking protein shakes, my dad bought me protein during winter break for me to bring back up with me. Do you typically drink the protein shake before or after you work out? I've heard different things from different people.

tgags123 : I haven't really worked out for a while but doing weights whilst taking on protein will help you bulk up a bit. 

I'm pretty sure just doing weights will build muscle mass if that's what your looking for, whilst doing exercises like sit ups, crunches, press ups and the like pretty much build muscle slower or tone the muscle you already have. 

Also if you really are as scrawny as you think you are, you might struggle to put muscle on at first because there isn't enough fat in your body to effectively turn into muscle if that makes sense... but regardless just keep exercising, even if you don't see a huge physical difference it'll still probably make you more confident about your body. 

Sonicmcmuffin : Ok thanks. There was an app with an workout routine for abs that I used last summer that actually worked pretty well until I got lazy and stopped doing it, I was thinking of maybe doing that again and combining it with some dumbbell exercises for my arms and chest, I just don't know what to do with the dumbbells really.

Yeah I know I'll probably sturggle, like I said I'm not trying to get super buff, I just don't want to look like a total twig like I do now lol.

tgags123 : I'll leave the more specific advice to someone with more experience but speaking as another skinny guy who started working out and has gained a fair amount of weight since, diet is just as important as exercising if you want to gain weight and bulk up, if not more. You should try to eat more whenever you have the chance in tandem with hitting the gym. Weight gainers have been effective for helping me bulk up so you might want to look into that, but it's not ideal from a pure health perspective if you can avoid it. Make sure to research the brand first if you do decide to give it a try.

I would also recommmend working some sort of leg exercises into your weekly routine. While I can relate to the feeling of wanting to focus entirely on your upper body for faster results, it's important to still include it in some capacity since it will help your overall gains as well.