There is no way in hell you can train a muscle hard 3x a week and not overtrain. A muscle should be trained HARD no more then once per week. Now don't listen to the people who are on more drugs then Jimi Hendrix, like the ones you see in the magazines.
It pisses me off when they show the split routine, 6 day a week workouts that these pro freaks do. New people to the sport of bodybuilding/powerlifting read these routines and think they are the way to go. Without drugs, your body just can't rebuild fast enough. Overtraining is VERY real and it can wreck havoc on your body AND mind. Depression, fatigue, weakness, trouble sleeping etc.. Don't go that route. I suffered from overtraining and I really thought I was sick. Once I cut way back working out, everything got much better and my gains started coming back.
If you are new to lifting, I would say 3x a week, for no more then 1 1/2 hour, working different muscles each time is the most you should do. You can do Biceps/Triceps day one, Chest/Shoulders day two, Legs/Back day 3 for instance. Take a day off in between each workout, and 2 days after the 3rd. You can tell if you can do more or less then that, but you will need to fine tune it by the way you feel. If start feeling tired and your gains start DEcreasing, take more time in between workouts. I personally take 2 days in between my workouts and have made better gains then with 1 day.
I also am WAY against doing a full body workout each time. There is no way you can workout everybody part properly without running out of gas and training too long. Studies have shown that after 50 mins into a workout, your test production hits a peak and starts to fall dramatically after that. So one hour or a bit more is all you should do per workout.
The BIG KEY to success is 4 things.
1. Consistancy- Stick with it, don't look at lifting like another hobby, look at it like a job.
2. Intensity- Ever see a guy who works out all the time, but still looks like a stick or just the oppisite?? They train with low intensity for too long. They don't challenge themselves with heavier weights. They quit a set when they reach some number like 10, when they still have 2 good reps they could churn out. They sit in the gym doing a full body workout for 2+ hours. You have seen these people, and they always wonder why they don't get bigger.
3., Rest- Remember you don't build muscle while working out, you build it in the rest period between workouts. The pump you get working out makes you feel like you are building muscle right then and there, but thats just blood filling up your muscles. Your body needs a break to repair itself.
4.Proper Nutrition- This is the brick used to build the muscles. You can't build a house without enough bricks and you can't build muscle without enough protein/carbs/fat. You would be suprised how little protein some people take in who workout. Make eating a priority, its just as important as your workout.
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