I lift 3-4 days a week. Only after a recent cortisone shot that helped my knee have I went back to leg day and 4 days a week.
I do chest and tricept day 1, Back and Abs day 2, Legs on 3, and shoulders and biceps day 4.
I still do free weights for bench shoulders and biceps on a few lifts. Im pretty fortunate that the gym I use has plenty of cable machines and various lift machines for just about any lift. For instance I never use free weights on leg day =all machines. I found out the stress on these 46yr old joints was much less If I got creative with cables. You would be amazed how much easier on the body it is and can still get in a good workout. I dont do much cardio but I dont rest long between sets. Once the heartrate gets up I try to keep a fast pace and keep it up. Dont discount Push ups, pull ups and dips. I always do 100 dips on tricept/chest day and have good results.
Generally speaking If you want to stay in shape focus on weight you can handle 3 sets of 10. If you want to rip up sets of 8, and if you want to add mass sets of 5-6. Good luck the 1st 3 weeks suck but you will feel better and it becomes part of life you will enjoy. Even on bad days a bad workout is better than no workout. Gym time is my decompression time.