getting started

[Deeter]

How do I get started? Right now I'm pretty much a weakling, 5' 9", 130 lbs, so really scrawny.

[juggledex]

Do 100 burpees everyday
http://youtube.com/watch?v=c_Dq_NCzj8M
unless you're sore that day, take a rest.

What are you goals? Yes, you sound scrawny, but what do you want to do about that? Grow bigger or use your smallness to do lots of bodyweight skills?

[Deeter]

Mostly to get bigger.

[juggledex]

Your main focus should be nutrition. Being that you want to get bigger, you'll have to start eating a lot more and all the time. We eat all throughout the day, and only train an hour or two. This is why a lot of people fail to meet their goals because they focus only on the training, and forget the other 92% of the day.

The basic idea is; eat 6 (or more) meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner with snacks in between). Each of these meals should include a good source of protein, carbs and fat. Get two grams of protein per pound that you weight. Try to get all your carbs in breaks, lunch and pre/post training meals. Stick with basic foods, chicken, fish, steak, fruits, vegetables, rice, milk, etc. You're not going to get good meals going out to eat or fast food.

Always take measurements at the same time each week. For example, Sunday morning, before you eat, after a movement. As long as this number is going up, you're eating enough. If it's not going up, eat more. If you log your food, it'll be easier for you to know where you're at. At best, you should be able to gain 1lbs of muscle per week.

If you can see your abs, you're not eating enough. A little belly is a good thing when you're trying to gain weight (in a bulk phase). That said, if you're diet is bad or you're eating too much (which I doubt will be a problem at your size), and you're gaining too much fat, clean up your diet or cut back a little.

Forget cardio. During a bulk phase, you'll want all your food to go into you growing. No sense burning all those calories on an exercise bike. You'll have plenty of time for cardio in a year or so when you want to cut.

As for rest, get at least eight hours of sleep every night. If your body doesn't have time to rest and recover, it won't grow. Again, like eating, you sleep more in a day than you train, so it's still more important than the actual training. Hence the phrase "eat, sleep, train!"

For your actual training, stick to the main movements: Squat, Push-up, Chin-up, Dip, Horizontal Row, Handstand Push-up (or Pike Push-up if HSPU is too difficult). Since there is no Deadlift in BWE's, I suggest getting weights to do them OR sprint and bridge. If you don't know what any of those exercise are, search this site, google or youtube. You'll find it; they are the most basic ones.

I always link this to people as a good starting point because it demos a nice, full body routine. While I don't recommend it so much for growing, it'll definitely help give you a better understanding of the motions.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=418fNl6UjHs

Because I'm an evil sadomasochist, here's what I suggest:

Train Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The other days should be rest.

Day 1
Bodyweight Squat until you can't stand up. I don't mean when you get tired, you can stand a take a breather between some reps. I'm talking about falling down holding your quads. As a beginner, this shouldn't be too hard, but if you can do more than 200 just stop there.

After that, perform three sets of the following exercises. Aim for 7-12 or one less than your maximum.
Chin-up
Dip
Push-up
Horizontal Row
Pike Push-up (unless you can do handstand push-ups for more than seven reps.)
Bridge

Day 2
Sprint, run as fast and as hard as you can from anywhere to 10-25 seconds (whatever you can maintain explosive running speed). Jog or walk to warm-up before and after each sprint, and perform at least five sprints. Then perform the previous six exercises for three sets just like in day one (not the squats).

Day 3, repeat day 1 (the squat day), and Day 4 repeat the sprints, etc.

If you're ever sore performing an exercise (and you likely will be early on), rest those days. Performing an intense, full body working can be taxing, especially at the start. Once your body gets used to it, you'll be powering your way through it no problem.

Once you do this a few weeks, you may find that some exercises are too easy or too difficult. Just make follow-up questions on progression and so on.

Good Luck!

[bucky_webb]

How do you do a bodyweight horizontal row?

[juggledex]

watch the vid I posted

[Deeter]

OK, thanks a lot. The only one I'm having trouble finding is the bridge.

[juggledex]

Back (Neck) Bridge
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GF3s6ncKHvE
In this video, he's also holding a weight. You don't have to, but it's a good way to increase resistance once you're ready. He rolls his neck back and forth, and side to side. You can do this or perform static holds only (which I suggest at first).

Here's a good vid (collection, look for the other parts) showing a lot of variety with Bridges. It's from Matt Furey. People around here have mixed opinions of him, but these vids are solid. He talks too much though.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YJmy7V1mAvo