How Many?

I find a weight i can do 8-12 reps tops on, then using that i do 3 sets of the 8-12 reps with 75 seconds between sets. I do that for each muscle group and it seems to work well, but i am very happy to be told i'm wrong cause i regard myself as a bit of a newcomer to all this.
 
Biggie:

The exercise count varies by routine IE: How often you work the muscle group, is it single chain or multi chain (isolation or compound), what your goals are etc.

Personally; I complete 3 full body workouts each week. In each workout I typically do 2 exercises for legs, 2 for back, 2 for chest/shoulders, and 1 each for bi's and tri's. If you're doing 1 muscle group per day then not again until the next week, try 4 - 5 exercises for the larger groups; perhaps 3 for small muscle groups like bi's and tri's.

A nice generality would be 5 - 6 sets for the large muscle groups (chest, back, legs) and 3 - 4 sets a for small groups (calves, bi's, tri's) per week, in whatever manner you break it down. Some may argue that the compound movements will hit your calves, bis and tris though. I personally like to give them just a little bit of work for added isolation.

As for rep counts. That tends to depend on what you're going for. 6-ish reps will recruit the most muscle fibers for growth. I have seen some research that suggests you need to keep the muscle under contraction for 30 - 40 seconds to stimulate growth, but i haven't seen much about it just yet. If you're looking to grow; shoot for around 6 - 8 reps.
 
The other question you have to ask is, 'how long have you been training?'
Newcomers should stick to 1 exercise per muscle group, and only a couple of sets, for the first month or so. Anything more will be over-training, especially if they have a sedentary job (as opposed to, say, a brick layer).

After a month, you might start doing 2 sets of a pressing move (bench press) and finish with a couple sets of dumbell flyes. After a year, you might be doing flat bench, incline bench, then dips, and finishing with light flyes.

Start off within reason, and increase as your body adapts.
 
im might be wrong but doesnt overtraining depend on the person because u can look at someones workout thats looks pretty crazy IE :like 2 exercises for bi's,tri,chest, plus some compound like a military press and bench press on the same day this sound a bit much but if the person is making adequate gains would this workout still be overtraning
 
Yes over-training is an individual thing, but you can make certain generalizations. A newcomer to weight training who isn't active normally (desk job) will have a very low threshold before they are over-training.
A pro bodybuilder like Jay Cutler NEEDS to spend 90 minutes and 20+ sets to really tear up his muscles.
You have to crawl before you walk...walk before you run...run before you complete a marathon. Just keep taking steps, or you'll never reach the destination.
 
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