Help Me Design a Routine

I recently purchased a FreeSpirit FS-544 bench with weights, and I'm hoping to look a little more in shape. 

I don't know that much about bodybuilding, so I came here for some advice.

When is the best time of the day to work out?  I heard it's best in the morning, but should I work out before or after my breakfast.

What should I eat?  Is there certain food that's high in protein, or what exactly should I be looking for in my meals.

I'm looking to look a little more musclar.  I'm pretty sure that's toning, am I correct?  If so, how many reps/sets should I do?  And what is the time between sets break that I should take?  I heard anywhere between 5 and 40 seconds.

Finally, what excercises do you suggest.  I'm hoping for a full body workout really, legs, pecks, abs, arms, and back.

Thanks everyone.

"Toning" is a misleading term, or rather, a mostly meaningless term. You'll want to think more in terms of "gaining mass" or "losing fat".

Let's start with where you're at right now... Are you at an OK weight, but just not in shape? Are you on the skinny side? Are you overweight?

Unless you're significantly overweight, you probably want to start by adding on some muscle. This thread on gaining mass should get you started, particularly when it comes to diet. If you've got some extra pounds, you could start by losing fat to get to a healthier weight, check out this thread on losing fat.

This thread has some good workout routines to get you started. The focus, particularly when starting out, should be on the major compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, rows and pull-ups.

My Journal: Jheft's Heftorium

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." -- Mark Twain

-Here ill talk from MY knowledge, from what I do and what I heard... now, some info might be wrong, some might not be.
I'm using this thread to respond to you as i'm trying to get more dedicated to this forum since it did so much for me, but as i say i'm not really... reliable 110% so you might wanna wait advices and see what they have to say, i'm posting so i can also get corrected.

First of, I dont really think theres a best time of the day to perform your workout, you should just do it when you have the time to do it... I would just advise you to NOT do it any time BEFORE your first meal cause i really think its bad idea to train empty stomach.

try this :
1-wake up
2-pee pee
3-eat
4-deodorant
5-workout

So. as far as the workout plan, this is what i've came up with and no one really said it was bad, here it goes ( execises aren't nescesarely in the order that you should perform em)

Mon Chest
-DB Flat Bench 3x10
-DB flies 3x10
-DB Incline Press 3x10
-Push ups 3x10
-Kick backs 3x10
-Narrow Push ups 3x10
 
Tues Back
Pull ups 3x MAX
BB rows 3x10
Deadlifts 3x10
Bent over seated DB rows 3x10
Lats  pull-overs 3x10

Wed Legs Abs
Squats 3x10
Calf raises 3x10
Lunges 3x10
SLDL 3x10
-Crunches 3x25
-Hanging knee raises 3x10
-Bike crunches 3x10
 
Thurs Shoulders  Wrists
Lateral raises 3x10
Shrugs 3x10
Shoulder presses 3x10
Front raises 3x10
Reverse flies 3x10
 
Fri Arms
Chin ups 3x MAX
BB curls 3x10
DB curls 3x10
Reverse e-Z curls 3x10
Hammer curls 3x10
Wrist curls 3x10

This is what i use, thats what i do... I think its good as no one ever really criticized (high spelling doubt here) it hard and i'm ectomorph, quick definition: hard to gain muscle mass and weight, hell since january 1 I've gained 5lbs and I think its great. might be my diet too.

Concerning the meals. I think you should get to know if you either are

-Ectomorphic body type (quick def): fast metabolism, whatever you eat will turn to dust... you just can't grow

-Mesomorphic body type (quick def): I tend to say they are the normal people, they dont eat they shrink, they eat like crazy they gain alot of weight... they're just like play-do

Endomorphic body type (quick def): Very slow metabolism, you just gain weight from LOOKING at food.

Once you conclude this, I guess you can aim for either you eat you daily calorie meals needed ( can be determined in the nutrition section) + or - 500 calories to either burn excess you have or buff what you dont have. (a picture might help define if you really want accurate help)
As for proteins, i've heard you should eat 1-1,5 grams per LEAN MUSCLE bodyweight and if you take proteins shake i think its best post workout.

Thus... its really late over here and i'm getting tired so ill stop before i start saying stupidity's.



So
-wait for other advices as i said, i'm not a pro mofo at this, just trying to get involved more in the community

-FOR THE VETERANS please let me know if i'm wrong so i wont tell wrong info or work with wrong info...

and i think that's it, please nevermind my orthograph, i really try hard to type correctly but i'm french gneh.

P.S purple monkey

Ar jheft quicker than me and mucho more efficient -_-

The best work out routine is bench press:3 sets of 10 or 5 sets of 5....dumbell flys 3 sets of 10...curl 3 sets of 10...incine bench press 3 sets or 8....there u go pal give it a month ull c some results

http://www.thepumpingstation.com/ExerciseDataBase.html

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workout2.php?name=A+Good+Beginner%27s+Routine&description=A&type=Full&different=1&goal=Build+Muscle&days=3&url=&schedule1=Y&schedule2on=&schedule2off=&E1%5B%5D=Crunches&R1%5B%5D=20-30&S1%5B%5D=2&E1%5B%5D=Squats&R1%5B%5D=12-15&S1%5B%5D=3&E1%5B%5D=Leg+Curls&R1%5B%5D=12-15&S1%5B%5D=3&E1%5B%5D=Flat-Bench+Presses&R1%5B%5D=10-12&S1%5B%5D=3&E1%5B%5D=Chinups&R1%5B%5D=10-12&S1%5B%5D=3&E1%5B%5D=Presses+behind+the+neck&R1%5B%5D=12-15&S1%5B%5D=3&E1%5B%5D=Tricep+pushdowns&R1%5B%5D=10-12&S1%5B%5D=3&E1%5B%5D=Barbell+Curls&R1%5B%5D=10-12&S1%5B%5D=3&E1%5B%5D=Standing+Calf+Raises&R1%5B%5D=15-20&S1%5B%5D=3&notes1=Push+it+hard%21+Don%27t+talk+too+much+between+sets.&sy1%5B%5D=Monday&sy1%5B%5D=Wednesday&sy1%5B%5D=Friday&exercount=9