[theblackkeys]

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I've broken my workout into 4 days, giving me 3 or more days for each muscle group to recover.

Day 1: back and biceps
Day 2: chest and triceps
Day 3: shoulders
Day 4: legs


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I sure hope you are learning how to and plan on doing full squats and heavy deadlifts as part of your program. If you don't, you are doing yourself a disservice. I don't care what your boys at LA fitness have been telling you. I'm just going to guess that out of the following exercises, you're doing 2, and maybe a third but with poor form (squats):
squats, lunges, deadlifts, bench press (flat or incline), some kind of overhead press, power cleans, some kind of row, and pull ups.

I'm also going to guess you are doing all of the following:
curls, tricep pushdowns or whatever, "flat bench + incline bench + dumbell bench + fly machine", curls, calf raises, leg extensions, leg press, leg curls, curls, lat pulldowns etc.

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I make sure to hit each muscle with a variety of workouts, to hit all parts of it.

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Really not necessary if you're a beginner and are doing the major compound lifts.

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I tend to favor cable machines over straight track ones or freeweights.


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Barbells and dumbells are the best. They let the body determine the path, not the machine, you can load barbells with lots of weight, and they work stabilizer muscles. It most closely simulates real life, where you have to deal with gravity and [censored].

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4 sets per muscle, and I generally do drop sets - start with a weight that I can do 12-13 reps on, add weight with each set til I can only do 3-4 (at least that's what I was told a drop set was).

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A drop set is where you start out with the highest intensity (i.e. highest weight) set and drop the weight after that. The way they told you it's like a reverse drop set. Basically the idea is that what you perform first has the greatest effect on your training, so it makes sense to do the heavy work first when you're fresh (rather than later, which might cause you to lift less weight), and then get your volume in with less weight. Check the FAQ, there is very popular beginner's program, and some other good program that would work well for you.