Strength Training for "Obese" people?

i've been doing a LOT more strength training the past year or so... my scale weight loss is kinda slow, which drives me loco, BUT I DO know I am a lot smaller LOOKING then without the strength training. Most people balk at me when I tell them the actual weight number, and I firmly believe this is because I am leaning out due to weight training. I do weight training both at home and at the gym. I have a set of adjustable free weights, a door gym with adjustable weight pulleys...and then use the machines and free weights at the gym....

There was a girl in Zumba the other day...who is about 50 pounds smaller then me...and we LOOKED more like 10 or maybe 20 pounds apart... I credit that to the weight training!

I started my journey at 337...and am down about 95.....

As someone who is studying personal training, I can tell you they are both important and definitely have their place. Strength training is what will boost your RMR because muscle actively burns more calories than fat, but cardio is a faster fat-burner while you're doing it. Switch up your work out, but make sure you do a little of both every for every work out. If you only have 20 minutes, do a 5 minute cardio warm up to get your muscles warm and then do some strength training. If you have an hour, split it! Just be sure to mix up your strength training...don't work the same muscle group 2 days in a row (your muscles need time to repair themselves, since essentially what you are doing with strength training is creating tiny tears in your muscles). Mix up back, chest, abs, biceps, triceps, legs and butt, without repeating a zone for 2 days in a row. Don't neglect cardio, the benefits go beyond losing weight and it's very important! Just split it up and make sure you're doing both on a regular basis.

I suggest you get two of the Jillian Michael's DVD workouts! Its strength with cardio combo and it's only 25 to 30 minutes! There's 30 Day Shred and Ripped in 30. Get both so you can switch up and don't get bore with the same exercise. But believe me it's really good!

Compared to lifting at the gym the 30DS and such are garbage.

They are a good starting point for someone who doesn't know where to begin or isn't comfortable with the weight room in their gym, like me. I lost 10 inches in 10 days so far on 30 day shred and have toned up quite a bit already. I don't know if it would be as good for a male or not though.

No, a good starting point is the book Starting Strength Learn how to do the lifts and proper form and hour the gym. Not being comfortable and not knowing where to start is am excuse. The information is incredibly easy to get. You will get better results this way, so why waste time? And men and women do not have to train differently.

I used New Rules of Lifting and it really laid it all out for me.

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I used New Rules of Lifting and it really laid it all out for me.
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I use new rules too, I'm not stranger to lifting, but this book was awesome. easy to understand, awesome for beginners...it's the best $6 I ever spent.

CARDIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!CARDIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BURNBURN BURN BURN BURN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some amazing info here guys. Thank you very much to everyone who has contributed.

I think half of my problem when it comes to strength is mindset - firstly I see it as bulking up (which in my head is defeating my objective of losing weight - i know i know lol). Secondly I seem to feel I am " doing more" when I do cardio and thirdly I wonder if muscle is actually building under these layer(s) of fat lol.

It's quite obvious that the general feeling is that is definitely worthwhile even at my current weight. I shall devize a plan to add more in.

Thanks again everyone

You don't need to do a huge amount of strength training. A basic circuit of 8-10 exercises, (maybe even fewer), 2 sets of 12-15 reps, done twice a week is a good starting point. Doesn't take a huge amount of time, doesn't beat you up, and, as a beginner, it will give you all the benefits from strength training that you are likely to get at this point in your journey.

A lot of the comments are all over the map--a frequent mistake is for someone who is an experienced lifter, maybe even not overweight, to recommend their program--even though your body and your current physiology bears no resemblance to theirs whatsoever.

If you have 80-100 pounds to lose, you do not need to "build muscle". Chances are, you have a lot of muscle already--you need it to support your larger body. So following a program to "build muscle" at this point is putting the cart before the horse.

There is, however, a synergistic effect when combining resistance training and cardio for weight loss, whether or not you increase lean mass at all. There is no agreed explanation of why this is so--the results just show that it is. Strength training does also help conserve lean mass. You can realize those benefits following the guidelines I described above.

After you have seen some initial gains in strength/decreases in weight, you can ramp up the intensity to the 6-10 RM range and start getting a little more aggressive--branch out into more complex movements using free weights, etc. By that time, your body should have adapted and you should be ready for that next level.