Cardio Workouts

The HIIT workouts I used do are based on perceived effort, not heart rate. I do use my heart rate to help "keep me honest". For example, if I'm on my 90% or 100% intervals, but my heart rate is not pretty close to its maximum, I try to push even harder.

To monitor my heart rate, I use a Polar model "A1" heart monitor, which is one of the most basic models available. I looked at the fancy models, but they all seemed to have a bunch of useless bells and whistles that I didn't need and would never use. The Polar "A1" does everything I want, which isn't much: tell me my heart rate while I'm working out, and tell me what my average heart rate was when I'm done working out. Everything else is superfluous.

Heart rate and perceived effort are, of course, related; however, the relationship changes depending on what equipment you are using. As mentioned above, I rely more on perceived effort than heart rate. The heart rate monitor comes in handy mostly when I do aerobic-level cardio workouts and I'm trying to stay at 70% of my maximum heart rate for the entire 50 minutes. Honestly, when I do HIIT cardio I could leave the monitor off and still get just as effective a workout.

When doing HIIT cardio, I alternate between the following two 23-minute HIIT workouts:
3 minute warmup at 60% effort
1 minute at 70% effort
1 minute at 80% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 70% effort
1 minute at 80% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 70% effort
1 minute at 80% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 70% effort
1 minute at 80% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 100% effort (!!)
4 minute cool-down at 50-60% effort

and...
2 minute warmup at 60% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 60% effort
1 minute at 90% effort
1 minute at 100% effort (!!)
3 minute cool-down at 50-60% effort


Cutting (2007)

These are the training principles I am following for my 2007 cut:

* 3 exercises per body part, except biceps, calves & triceps which will be 2 exercises per body part (calves will be worked twice per week).
* 3 sets per exercise.
* First three sets of bodypart: 5-7 reps.
* Second three sets of bodypart: 10-12 reps.
* Final 3 sets of bodypart: 12-16 reps.
* The first exercise is a big compound movement (squats, BB rows, deadlifts, military press, etc).
* Keep it intense: 1 minute rest between sets, 2 minutes rest between exercises.
* Strict form.
* Approximately 2 second concentric, squeeze, 3 second eccentric.
* Mind/muscle connection at all times - FOCUS.
* Change exercises every 4 weeks.




Strength Training Exercises

I'm always switching my exercises around, but here are a few of my favorites:
Pecs: barbell bench press, bb incline/decline press, dumbbell bench press, db incline/decline press, dips
Delts: seated dumbbell/barbell/smith machine shoulder press, db lateral raises, bent-over db raises
Triceps: lying dumbbell extensions, standing db extensions, close-grip bench press, weighted bench dips, pressdowns, rollovers
Back: one-arm dumbbell rows, barbell rows, t-bar rows, dumbbell pullovers, weighted pull-ups, low cable rows, lat pulldowns, deadlifts
Biceps: barbell curls, dumbbell curls, hammer curls, concentration curls, weighted chin-ups, preacher curls, ez-bar curls
Quads: barbell squats, smith machine squats, leg extensions, leg presses, vertical leg presses
Hamstrings: lying leg curls, one-leg leg curls, dumbbell lunges, barbell lunges
Calves: one-leg calf raises, angled calf raises, seated calf raises w/ smith machine
Abs: Crunches, reverse crunches, decline weighted crunches, decline reverse crunches, lying leg raises, hanging leg lifts



For detailed instructions on how to perform these weight training exercises and many more, check out these great sites:

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm