Overtraining or Undertraining

I just got back from a trip to my local supplement store...this time i talked to the guy about lifting. The man is very knowledgeable and is HUGE. I asked him how long should a workout be in order to grow and get "bigger". He said no more then 30 minutes on a muscle. Now to me that seems very short. I am the type that likes to go to the gym for 2 hours and just kill my self but then again that can destroy muscle cells. What exactly is good for bulding muscle. As a kid growing up i always read your Muscle development and Flex mags. and saw these guys who looked like they spent Hours upon HOURS in the gym to get that big. Well now i am starting to realize maybe it is more of the diet.?.? What do you guys think. Then I also heard that your body is only in a anabolic state for at the most 45 min and then goes into catabolic state. I need some help because i am getting totally confused. Give me your 2 cents on this thanx

I workout for about a hour and a half. Take monday for instance, I do chest and tri's. When you break this down it is about 45 min per muscle. When you take out the periods between sets it ends up being about 30 min per muscle. Once you break down a workout to individual muscle you will see that the time can add up. Try supersets to help cut down on time you spend in the gym.

Your endurance and recovery ability will grow as you do. The longer you lift, the longer you can workout. Unless you have been training for 10 years plus and are looking like the guys in flex and other magazines, those workouts are not for you.
I am short on time right now, but will try to get back to explain more if I can.

personally.....i couldn't see anyone spending 45 minutes - hour on tri's.........it shouldnt take 2+ hours for a muscle group ever...........i spend about 30 minutes a day on weights.........i know, i know your gonna say its different cause im a female...........but my boyfriends in the industry and he too does about 30-45 minutes..........

I only work out for about 45mins - 1hr and half total, let alone per body part. When I first started back in the day it was common for people to spend hours and hours in the gym like a full time job.

Break it into sets. I'm assuming your goals are to bulk up as much as possible. Do 12 to 20 sets per muscle group.

For instance on chest/tri day

Do 3 sets incline press: 12reps, 10 reps, 8 reps
Do 3 sets flat bench: 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps
Do 3 sets of cable crossovers: 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps
Do 3 sets of Pec Deck: 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps

Do 3 sets of skull crushers: 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps
Do 3 sets of cable push downs: 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps
Do 3 sets of dumbell tri extensions: 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps

Increase weight with each set, and do a fail or close fail ammount on third set. The key is more weight, not more reps, however use a weight that you can maintain good form and focus on muscle you are working on.

This is all you need to do in the gym.

With proper diet and rest, you will grow.

The longest I'll spend in the gym is an hour and a half and that's hitting 4 bodyparts. I try to keep it hour max, and it's mostly the hour because I take very long rest breaks

legs it takes me about 2 hours with breaks and such arms including shoulders about 1:20 to an hour and a half. and chest/back also about 2 hours i dont know i feel good i see growth dunno 1 hour doesnt seem to cut for me. its like a speed routine

well i will say i break it down also, i pick 4 to 5 exercise's for each muscel group im gonna hit. and pound the Sh!t out of them. it seems to be working now, but i do revamp my workouts 6 weeks at a time.