Originally posted by: AndrewR
I do two body parts per session, trying to do two sessions of each per week with one day off. Right now, I've been doing legs/triceps, chest/shoulders, and back/biceps, but I might be switching to chest/triceps and legs/shoulders. I do about three exercises per body part so six per session, varying numbers of sets depending on how I feel that day but generally around 3-4. I half-pyramid the sets, typically 12-10-8 or 10-8-6 (or 12-10-8-6). Each session has one big compound movement -- squats for legs, bench press for chest, and deadlift for back. That compound exercise is done first at the peak of my energy level, and I usually do 4 sets not including a warmup set at low weight.
Best advice for starting out? Don't go heavy on your first tries. You WILL regret it and can hurt yourself fairly badly. Learn the exercises with easily handled weight and train your muscles to respond to the new stimulus. You also will need to start slow to build up the small muscles that are probably very weak, like your forearms. If you try to sling some heavy weight on bicep curls, for instance, the top of your elbows will be in massive pain for days, and you won't be able to extend your arms.
i'm not trying to be an a$$ but i thought I would give you some advice. first of all, working out (as in lifting weights) 6/7 days a week is too much. you want to work out the same muscles like once every 5 or 6 days, not once ever 3 or 4 days. thats too quick and you aren't letting your muscles fully recover. second, you don't have abs in there at all. yes i know everyone says "oh i do abs real quick between exercises" which is a huge misconception. your abs are just like any other muscle. they n eed to be worked like any other muscle. however, they are the hardest to physically see because the fattiest area of your body is your belly.
and for the OP, if you are 6' 180lbs, i don't think you have to worry about losing any weight. i would just start doing some workouts w/weights and then do a little bit of cardio, like 20 miniutes, and not even very hard. just job for like 20 minutes a few times a week, for now.
typically, you want to do chest/tri same day, back/bicep same day (in that order too), and then do some sort of abs/legs/shoulder split into 2 days. you don't really want to do more than 2 muscle groups a day, as it's overkill and you won't have enough energy to push yourself. to start out, i would go to the gym 4 days a week and do each muscle group once a week for about 2-3 weeks, until your body is starting to get used to the workout (trust me, after your first chest/tricep workout, you physically shouldn't be able to do it again for about a week because of soreness. i took off 7 weeks wheen i broke my ankle and just started last week, and i was sore for pretty much a whole week. you have never worked out according to your OP, so you should feel some soreness too ).
then you can start doing the same muscle groups like every 4-5 days, depending on soreness. don't listen when people say to do each muscle group 2 times a week every week. it is overkill, trust me. i did that for 2 semesters in college and i really didn't see much improvement at all, it was more of me maintaining and i didn't understand why. i however got really ripped, but i didn't gain anything at all (i was also doing cardio hardcore). then i talked to my friend whom is now a personal trainer and he told me i was doing overkill and i wasn't getting enough rest.
the key to working out is to have PATIENCE with results. if you want to look like arnold in a month, then you better find a genie.