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Fast twitch muscle fibers are the ones that work quickly and produce explosive power, but tire quickly. Think sprinter. Slow twitch muscle fibers are the ones that work long and hard. Think marathoner.

I am a bit worried about having you try exercises for 4-7 reps. If you've been doing very high reps previously, you will get great results with 8-12 reps. Save the lower rep work until you have your technique perfected and have made considerable strength gains. You will not get good results if you don't do the exercises with good form - and good form is much harder to develop with heavy weight. Injury is the worst thing for weight lifting!

I do not have the luxury of working out every day - wish I did. I think I'd try for 3 sets of each body part. You may also need more rest, but you will have to try and see.

Lifting weights actually breaks down the muscle fibers and causes them to regrow bigger and stronger. So muscle growth actually occurs while you are resting, not while you are working. If you don't give your muscles adequate time to recover, you will get weaker and you will be fatigued - this is called overtraining. If you start seeing this happen - take a week off and then adjust your schedule for more rest. The harder you work and the more muscle you break down, the more rest you need between workouts. Initially I could work out every other day with no problem. Now I need 4-5 days rest between exercises on the same body parts. I am just beginning to experiement with lifting on Atkins. Carbs are recommended after a workout to speed muscle recovery. It could be that you need more rest while lo-carbing than normal.

Soreness is quite common when you first start weight lifting. As your muscles get used to the exercise, it will quickly subside. After a hard workout, you may be a bit sore, but nothing like the morning after your first hard workout! It is rare that I experience anything I'd called being sore. Don't make soreness your guage of a good workout.

When people are first starting to work out, I recommend they lift very light weight for 12-15 reps (not to failure). Focus on form and control. After 2 workouts, raise the weight so you are doing 12-15 reps and starting to get tired towards the end, still not to failure. After 2 workouts, raise the weight again and go to failure. Adjust the weight to try to get near 12 reps. A perfect setup is 12 reps the first set, 10 reps the second, and 8 reps the third. Focus should always be on perfect form. This will keep soreness from hitting so hard at the beginning, and allow good form to be developed while using lighter weight.

I like to read the following forum on WebMD. Rich Weil posts lots of excellent information on fitness and weight lifting that I think you might enjoy. Problem is people ask the same questions over and over so it gets boring after a while.

http://boards.health.msn.com/topic.asp?topic_id=64

Good luck to you Jonathan. Please post your results and experiences with lifting.
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