Are you new to working out? Particularly weight training.
If so, you are worrying a bit too much about finer details.
Programs like Starting Strength are great for beginners to intermediate lifters. They have you squatting every session (3x a week) and alternating between other compound lifts.
Large compound lifts are by far the most important. Isolation lifts are only really important if you are going for a bodybuilding style physique, and even then, you don't need them til you are more advanced.
I've been nursing a hip injury on/off for the past year and a bit, so my gym work has been less than uniform, I've been focusing more on the Rugby. But what I'm going back to:
Monday - Cardio + Weights
Tuesday - Rugby (training)
Wednesday - Cardio + Weights
Thursday - Rugby (training)
Friday - Cardio + Weights
Saturday - Rugby (game)
Sunday - Off
Cardio will probably just be 15-30 minutes, Rowing & Stationary Bike.
Weight work will be a program similar to Starting Strength to begin with (tweaked towards lifts for power, adding Power Snatch and Jerks).
Rugby training varies from session to session. Tuesdays will be cardio (warmup, lots of sprints, shuttle runs), handling and contact training, Thursdays tend to be cardio and gameshape (running through game plays).
The most important thing to do, is find a routine and stick to it. The finer details don't make any difference if you miss it now and again. Sticking to a routine is the most important part.
If you are burning fat, diet is a bigger worry than aiming for a specific heartrate, but then, you don't want to cut it too much if you are doing lifting.
I'd also suggest you look at rowing for cardio work. IMO you'd struggle to beat it for all round cardio exercise in the gym!
You could also look into HIIT (high intensity interval training) cardio.
I am new but not a complete newbie. I am still trying to figure out the most optimal routine for myself and than I want to stick it. I feel like I am sorta playing the field when it comes to choosing the right machine. I am stick to machines mostly because I do not want to have poor posture on free weights. I see that as something I would eventually build myself up too.
It is part of my personality to understand the small and finer things before getting fully involved. Even with my bass playing. I refused any attempts at playing in a band because I felt like I had to be of certain skill (by my own means, not others.) I feel like understanding improves overall effectiveness of things... but perhaps I will try and be a little less critical
Isn't the high intensity interval training what I attempted to explain somewhere? 1:3 ratio of high and low intensity for about 20-25 minutes? Or did I confuse that with something else?
Day 1
Warm up
Power Clean 5x5
Reverse Row 5x5
Bench 5X5
Squat 5x5
Day 2
Warm up
Push Press 5x5
Weighted Chest to Bar 5x5 (use weight belt, arms full extension, pull up to chest, head tilted back )
Weighted Dips 5x5
Deadlift 5x5
Core Workout 3 days a week interchanging two per session
Hanging toe to bar 5 sets to fail
Hanging swivel legs
Roller wheel 5 sets to fail (from standing to full extension and and back up again, start off from knees when doing this one)
Sledge Hammer alternating left and right down swing 5 sets of 25
Sledge Hammer axe swing 5 sets of 15 on each side (love this one)
Program works like this:
- first 2 sets are warm up, next 3 are max weight
- Give yourself 2 rest days between workouts
- Cardio after lifts (you don't want to waste your energy before you lift heavy weight and cardio after lifts will burn more fat)
- First 2 weeks are 5x5, 3rd week will be 5 sets of 4 reps, 4th week 5 sets of 3 reps and so on until you reach your 1 rep max.
- take a rest week after one rep max week. Workout is 3 sets of 65% of max weight (Take it easy)
- Repeat program (you will see significant gains. Your max weight will increase drastically at first.)
This program is designed for maximum strength gains and explosive power (I train at an MMA gym so it is geared for short term maximum explosiveness). You will put on lots of muscle at first but will plateau at a certain point in regards to size while strength continues to increase. You can add more bulk by upping your reps to the 8 to 10 rep range. Nutrition is most important for this program. a poor diet and lack of protein will stunt your strength gains and you will feel it.
Also, please don't try and do a program like this without proper instruction first. Form is very very VERY important when moving heavy weight. It is all to easy to seriously injure yourself doing these exercises. The key to improving is small goals each workout which add up to big gains over time if you stay consistent.
I have noticed improvements in all aspects of my life from this workout, including music. My coordination in my hands have increased and my speed has vastly increased. This i believe is from the improved muscle to CNS connection. Give it a try and train safe!
PS.
(Oh yeah, make sure you add cardio, I get mine from work and MMA classes. If you want to burn fat do your cardio after your lifts, your glycogen stores will be used up in your muscles which means any cardio afterwards will tap into your energy stores ie. FAT).
I am going for a program that will help me lose the fat first and than perhaps build more muscle after... or is that not a good idea? I want to lose some skin around the gut, man boobs, love handles and the such. I am not drastically over weight but have always been bigger since I was young and I am just tired of it.
I just started, what I think to be, HIIT. I would follow that by abs/core and than chose between chest/triceps or back/biceps. I have been very cautious about doing leg exercises (However just started doing hip adductors and hip abductors) because I have injured both knees in the past and do not want to do something to aggravate them again.
I think the cardio after lifting is going to make a huge improvement! I always did it first because I figured I would get that dopemine rush from running and than be set for the rest of the work. I have only been doing the bike for usually 30 minutes. The treadmill hurts my knees too much and so did the elliptical. However, I think I might have been doing too much (1 hour on elliptical when I was first starting out) and that resulted in my knees bothering me for about a week.
My major concern, cause I now have a gym buddy who I am trying to show how to use the gym, is proper muscle groupings. I do not know the actions behind the names of those you listed, so I do not know what gets worked out in them. My friend is a small girl, skinny, but wants to remain in shape. Her major focus is her abs, glutes, hips, and inner thighs. I have similar focus but I want to build muscle she does not really (unless its a bit of the abs.) Should we do similar workouts or separate ones because we have slightly different goals?
Are there actually any groupings to work together that are better than others?
I like back/biceps/shoulders. As well as chest/triceps/abs.
I try and do cardio each time I go to the gym. I guess I would just need to incorporate legs in there. Do I do say quads/calves and hamstrings/glutes?
Thank for all your input so far! 
