that sounds very bodybuilding to me. now that doesnt mean you want to get to be a 300lbs IFBB pro unless you want to spend the next 10 years training for that...... im guessing not.
but IMO you can take a lesson from them. you want to see the muscle so muscle size is important. so stick mostly between 5-12 reps. thats not to say once and a while you cant go 3-5 reps, or even some crazy 15-20 rep stuff. just focus more on that 5-12.
for sets that depends on how much frequency you want. if you only plan on hitting a muscle once a week definitely more sets per workout. if you do twice a week then make the 2 workouts about the same total sets (or maybe up to 1.2 times as much) as if they were done once a week. for example, if you can 10 sets for a lift if you do it only once a week and you decided to do twice a week instead i would not do more than 6 sets in each workout. i may do 3-5 sets and go heavier each time, but that is what i prefer and size is not a goal for me.
you just need to keep in mind total volume. total for the body and total for the body part. it is my opinion that there are stages to recovery and they go in this order and there is not much overlap. first, energy system recovery. in other words eat after the workout. second, nervous system recovery, or becoming more efficient. think of it like newb gains. lifting is a skill and learning that skill at first seems like the weights go up quick. this is what i think happens at least. and finally you get actual muscle growth.
that last thing is why i am more of a fan of higher volume workouts for muscle size. and seeing as how intensity and volume is inversely related with lifting you will not lift as heavy as if you were going for strength. which requires more intensity.
to me how much volume you do per workout is how much you can handle at a set small rep range. for example if you are aiming for 5-8 reps when you fall below that then that muscle is done. most would just go to a different lift and start all over with that idea, but to me it depends on the lift and the experience of the lifter. when looking at the lift for example lets say you are doing flies and you do them till you fall short of your rep range. you can do bench then and involve more muscles and even continue to push your chest with more volume. but is that volume needed for you? will that extra volume just wear you out without adding more stimulus for growth?
i have always liked an article i once read from dr squat. if you go over to his web site and look up finding the ideal split he writes about how to find out what rep/set range will work best for a body part and recommended recovery days. use it as a guideline and not as a bible as it can get tricky. it at least can tell if you some body parts need more frequency then others.
most body parts will get hit twice a week no matter how hard you try not to. like doing squats will work your back as well as your legs. so keep that in mind when setting up your back workout. bench hits the shoulders and triceps a lot so keep that in mind when doing an arm only workout. rowing can hammer the biceps hard especially with pullups and lat pulldowns. and as you may find from that dr squat workout that some body parts for you will love higher frequency and higher volume.
so try heading over to that article and find out what it says for each body part. please list for each part the set/rep scheme and recommended days off. like for quads it might say 10 sets of 15-20 reps with 3-5 days off. not sure if thats an option but just throwing it out there. from there we can customize a plan for your current body.
