tigerstile

it is a New Year and i finally decided to get into shape. and this time i am serious. i have a gym membership and want to put it to use. right now i am 5'10, 140 lbs.
i wanted to start off with my very scrawny chicken legs. i read some posts on this forum and most posts i saw said to do squats. unfortunatley, i don't have a spotter so i don't think i can do the squats. but i did find the calf raise machine and seated leg press machine at my gym. i was wondering if doing these 2 exercises would be the best exercises to give me bulk on my legs. should i just pop as much weight as i can on these machines and do like 5 reps or should i start off light? i also started playing basketball again and was wondering if that would stop the growth i was trying to get in my legs.
another thing is, in the past couple years my chest got really fat, like i have man boobs, but my limbs (arms and legs) are really boney and skinny. i was planning to do push ups to bulk up my arms and tone up my chest before i start doing chest and arm workouts at the gym. does this sound like an ok plan? i think my main goals are to bulk up my lower body and arms while trimming down my upper body (chest and abs).
any advice is greatly appreciated.
thanks.