I just bought the cheapest set of metal plates I could find from Amazon when I started. They were pairs of 2.5, 5, 10 and 25 pound plates, and included a bar an

I just bought the cheapest set of metal plates I could find from Amazon when I started. They were pairs of 2.5, 5, 10 and 25 pound plates, and included a bar and two curl bars, and collars for keeping the plates on the bars. For a while in the Army, I literally just lifted cans of .50-cal ammo. When you start, just Google a few simple compound exercises that don't require equipment, and make sure you're getting at least twenty minutes of cardio a day, until you start to get into shape. Once you aren't dying from the run, and are able to lift every day -- because the first few weeks, you will be too sore between sessions to lift every day, and rest is super important to prevent injury -- then look for some kind of bench. Again, here, I just bought the cheapest thing I could find on Amazon that I could reconfigure for different exercises. Altogether, the weights were a couple hundred bucks, and the bench set was a couple hundred bucks. Definitely also search for weight sets on Craigslist. You'd be surprised at the number of people that buy the best gear and then realize they don't like to exercise.