The most important thing you need for a successful bodybuilding workout is to be consistent. There is no getting around this: if you do not plan your training and do it at the right times, you will not be able to build muscle mass half so effectively.
Of course that does not mean training 24/7. Rest and recovery is vital: the muscles must have a chance to grow and build between gym sessions. However, you do need to decide how many days you will train and what you will do during each session.
If your bodybuilding workout sessions are too frequent, you will simply be frustrated by not seeing results. That is, unless you are very careful in planning which muscle groups you will work each time. If you truly want to train every day then it is possible to figure out something that will work: you would just need to work on fewer muscles in each session.
But there is another risk with working out too often and that is what happens when you cannot get to the gym for some reason. Maybe you go on vacation or you take a few days sick. It can be very difficult to get back into a seven day a week routine after a break. Training four or five days is easier to pick up again, at least for most people.
Four days could be enough for a beginner. In that case you could hit each muscle group once a week, or a maximum of twice. You would not end up with an elaborate bodybuilding workout routine but that can be all the better. Simple is often best when it comes to any kind of fitness or bodybuilding routine.
Keep in mind that bodybuilding has different requirements from strength training. While both bodybuilders and strength trainers can lift more weight than the average guy on the street, the strength trainer will be more concerned with numbers and the bodybuilder more concerned with muscle size and appearance.
You need to be clear about your goals because there are differences in how you train. For a bodybuilding workout you are going to be doing more reps with shorter breaks between series.
Do not compare yourself with others. This is almost never a useful thing to do in life. Track your own progress of course but only look at how far you have come, do not look at how much better or worse you are doing than some other guy at the gym. Especially, if you are bodybuilding, do not get hung up on how much weight you are lifting. That is not the important question, as we said above.
Anytime that you cannot make it to the gym, have some backup exercises that you can do at home. Pushups, squats, chair dips, crunches and similar floor exercises are very easy to do at home. It is a good idea to have dumbbells in the house and maybe a barbell if you have the space.
When you are following a bodybuilding workout at home, remember that it is still important to plan your routine and not to over train any muscle group.
