when you say football, you mean soccer? or american football? at first, when i was reading this, i thought to myself, "why would he play football if he had a previous knee injury?" american football is horrible on your knees.
i think one of my brothers had a similar injury and has given up soccer for life. he's still active, but he's got a little beer belly too. when he graduates this coming spring, he'll be getting back into his workout routine. he does a mixed martial arts workout and HIIT. he already has the muscular mass he wants, so he'll just be cutting the excess fat to reach his ideal weight.
high intensity interval training is great for losing weight. but i don't think it suits you with your knee injuries, so i won't even go into it. there's already a ton of threads with this same topic. it's a little redundant, but i'll post this again with a little modification.
if you're new to weight lifting, it's going to take you a while to find your ideal weight for each exercise. finding your max (the heaviest weight that you can complete one repitition with) will help you plan your routine.
if you can make it to the gym 5x a week, you should start off with just a 2 day split. upper body and lower body. here's an example:
monday: bench press, incline bench, lat pull down, standing rows, sitting rows, pull ups, lateral raises (to the side), lateral raises (to the front), military press. end with bicep curls and tricep extensions.
tuesday[b]: (you might have to adjust this to meet your needs) squat, lunges, stiff-leg deadlift, and leg press. if you're a real gym rat, you can add leg extensions, leg curls, and standing machine calf raises.
[b]wednesday: same as monday
thursday: same as tuesday
friday: same as monday & wednesday
just alternate weeks. one week, start with upper body, and the next week, start with lower body.
for each exercise, you should do 3-4 sets, starting at 70% of your max, and increasing the weight by 5-10lbs. if 4 sets, start with 12 reps, followed by 10 reps, 8 reps, and 6 reps. if you're doing 3 sets, you can either start at 12 reps, or 10 reps. you'll need a spotter. if you've calculated your max correctly, then you won't be able to complete all the sets. when you reach a point where you can complete them, give it another 2 sessions at the same weight and then recalculate based on your new max.
rest for 2-3 minutes between sets. adjusting your diet is really important, especially if you're trying to lose weight. try to take in more protein, and less carbs.
hope this helps.
