By far my biggest piece of advice would be to not worry at all about optimizing anything until you've first gotten into the habit of regular work outs, and actually enjoy it. Only then should you start optimizing in other ways. The biggest obstacle is always sticking with it.

Completely agree. I've recently started weight training rather than just going to the gym for cardio, and I actually enjoy it. Unfortunately I'm moving to somewhere with less convenient gym access in a couple of weeks. It sounds like you have a home setup - any recommendations for low-cost equipment?