years ago. recently, though, my oldest step son ( 28 ) asked me to train him. the first thing i started him on was the basics. the major power movements, like bench press with dumbbells, rows, squats and crunches. then, as he put weight on, we started targeting the workouts.
monday: chest, upper back
tuesday: biceps, triceps, forearms, shoulders ( triple supersets ) and pull downs
wednesday: off
thursday: leg press, hamstring extensions (or good mornings, when he wanted to vary) and calf work
friday: lower back, abs
saturday: off
sunday: repeat monday
so the schedule rotates and you're never working the same muscle group the same day every week. work with 80% of your maximum lift for the exercise. form is more important than how much weight you are using. if you are using bad form, back the weight down 10-20 pounds.
no supplements. he gained ten pounds of muscle last year. if you want to know what ten pounds of muscle is, buy a one pound steak and set it on the counter in front of you. now, picture that multiplied ten times. he probably won't see such significant gains this year, as i just got him started a little over 18 months ago.
you grow quickly in the beginning, then it tapers off. if you hit a plateau, where you gain nothing for months in a row, that means you are overtraining and you need to take a week or two off. remember that your muscles grow when you are resting, not when you are working. you provide the stimulus to grow when you work out, but if you don't get enough rest you will fall into the overtrained category again fairly quickly. you won't gain anything, get frustrated and quit.
if you stick with it, and you have good genetics, there is no reason why you can't hit 250-300 pounds all-natural. understand, though, that that kind of weight takes years to put on. unless you want to look like a gelatinous cube. that's easy.
get plenty of rest. sleep at least 8 full hours a night.
it's all in the diet. if your diet is good, then you don't have to rely on the miracle-workout-in-a-bottle.