Doing the fundamental 'compound lifts' at around 80% of your 1RM(1 rep max) for <=5 reps is great for whole body conditioning and gaining functional strength. I'm talking Squats, Deadlifts, and BenchPress with an olympic bar. Freeweights are great at simulating life on a farm and the resulting conditioning. :)

Mark Rippetoe's 'Starting strength" is the bible for beginners to barbell training. Guy called Mehdi has made a 'SS for dummies' -style course, that I currently follow. Its called 'Stronglifts-5x5' and is loved and hated in equal measure by elite lifters.

Saved old PDF manual from his site: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5137/stronglifts-5x5.pdf

I've gained 15kg on my 110kg frame, lost 3 inches from my 50inch gut, and turned my legs to rock in 2 months of sticking to it. I believe the gained muscle weight will be offset once i lose another 10 inches of flab off the torso. Fingers crossed. :)

My 5x5-Squat went from 100lbs to 250lbs in the same period. My ancestors were farmers, i think.

Healthy eating comes naturally, once the the pain in the rear becomes a constant companion; and an effective reminder of why you shouldn't eat crap. I was a fat person who could never understand how to start eating right.

Like everything startupy, just get started doing stuff and push your limits more and more.

hah. I know my ancestors were farmers not just 'cause I am kinda built that way, but also 'cause both of my parents grew up on farms, and I still occasionally visit those farms. But yeah; I also lift, though not as part of a disciplined regimen. I also prefer free weights to machines, in part 'cause I do have do move heavy things as part of my job, and I know that being able to handle things at odd angles and being able to stabilize things is probably more important (when trying to avoid injury) than raw strength of an isolated muscle.

I'm just saying, 5 sets of 5 reps, repeated for 3-4 different muscle groups doesn't take all that long. I mean, maybe more than 10 minutes, but not all that much more. I mean, strength is an important component of health, but I think cardio is also important.

That said, I have never really stuck to a disciplined routine; usually I work out regularly for a few weeks, see huge gains in terms of strength (not much by way of fat loss) and then kinda get bored around the time when I am no longer able to add more weight every time I lift, so it's likely that if I stuck with it longer, I'd have a different opinion.

I mean, I'm 6' and 200# right now, and I've been around this weight since about 22-23 or so. I mean, it's been as high as 220 and as low as 190 but in that range. The fat is relatively distributed; I do enough lifting that my man-boobs can usually pass for pecs as long as you don't touch them and I don't bounce too much. It's pretty obvious if I let it go for a few months though. I've got a little bit of a belly. A spare bicycle tire, I joke. It's definitely there, but it's not really big enough to qualify as a full spare tire.

Thanks for the link though, it looks like an interesting program; I'm going to try adapting it to just the adjustable barbells that I have (I don't have an olympic bar right now due to space constraints) I've been taught 3 sets of 8 reps, but this program looks pretty good. I will try it. I've also been meaning to add squats with weights to my routine (I added body-weight squats some time ago. I believe that I have good form at this point, but I think I'll get a professional to check out my form before I move to weight. I think my form is good, but squats with bad form are probably the easiest way to injure yourself with weights.)

I mean, I am convinced that lifting burns calories far beyond lifting the bar; I mean, that's obvious from the heat you generate for the next day or two. but nearly everyone I know who has gone from being fat to being not-fat has done a significant amount of cardio (and dieting) along the way. What studies I have seen also suggest that cardio is important.