Help choosing a program for a skinny person.

[JohnChol]

Hi
We are looking for suggestions with my girlfriend about which program she should pick.
She's small and skinny so she's looking for something that will help build straight and body mass so she can combine it with her diet.
Her fitness level is 1.
Personally I thought either SquareOne or Foundation/Foundation light might be good for her but what you guys suggest?

 

[Fremen]

Any of the three programs you mentioned are fine, keep in mind that Foundation is Darebee's basic program, so if you start from there you learn all there is to know about the way to train on this site

 

[Sólveig]

Foundation Light or Square 1 -> Foundation

That's pretty much a good progress to get the basics. As @Fremen said, Foundation is DAREBEE's... foundation for all the workouts and programs.

I would suggest this progression:

Foundation Light or Square 1 -> Foundation -> Athena's Playbook -> 30 Days of Gravity or IRONHEART (if dumbbells are accessible*)

At Fit Lvl. 1, she can do Diff. 3 programs at Level I with full rest, and even repeat those programs routinely. A good practice is increasing the difficulty to Level II and Level III as she is making progress. I put Athena's Playbook because I feel it gives you a little of everything so she can try other helpful things to add as she bulks up, like combat training, stretching, and yoga.

* Dumbbells can be replaced with water bottles or bags of food. They might not be the same, and they can be very light, but they do help. According to Youtuber Larry Lawton, prisoners used to rely on water bottles when they didn't have access to weights. Personally, I use recycled yogurt bottles filled with old coins that are very common, both weighing 1 kg each. I believe there's a guide in the site on how to work out with light weights.

E: 30 Days of Gravity has Push-ups as a main exercise, hence I put Athena's Playbook in the progression, though that could be considered optional, and skip straight through IRONHEART instead of 30 Days of Gravity. Nevertheless, if she isn't able to do Push-ups, it might be a good idea to do the Knee Push-ups challenge during either Foundation or Athena's Playbook. When I started out, I was able to do full Push-ups at the Day 25 mark, so it's good practice. Of course, YMMV, but the challenge helps to get prepared for Push-ups.

E2: I wrote so weird...