This question stops more men than it should. It gets treated as the first decision, when it is really one of the last, and men spend weeks deciding instead of starting.

Both work. The muscle does not know where it is. What differs is what each one demands of you, and the honest answer depends far more on your temperament than on your training.

The case for starting at home

• No journey. Which sounds trivial until you are tired at half seven on a wet Tuesday, and the twenty minutes of travel is the thing that decides it.
• Nobody watching. A great many men over 50 will not admit this is a factor, and for a fair few of them it is the whole factor.
• It costs nothing to find out whether you will actually keep it up. No contract, no direct debit for a building you visit twice.
• It fits real life. Twenty minutes while the dinner is in the oven is a session. Forty minutes plus travel is an evening.

A chair, a wall, a counter and a rucksack with books in it will cover all six movement patterns and take most beginners through a solid two or three months. Add resistance bands and a couple of adjustable dumbbells and you can get considerably further than most men ever need to.

The case for the gym

• Load. There comes a point where your legs and back need more weight than you can reasonably store at home, and machines let you work harder with less skill required.
• Turning up is the session. Some men find the journey helps rather than hinders. Once you are through the door you are training, with no washing up in the corner of your eye.
• Staff. Being shown how to set up a leg press properly, once, is worth a lot and usually costs nothing.
• Other people. For some men that is a deterrent and for others it is the entire point.

What most men over 50 should actually do

Start at home for a month or two. Prove to yourself that you will do two sessions a week in an ordinary week, including the bad ones. Then, if you want to go further with load, join a gym as a man who already has the habit rather than as a man hoping the membership will create one.

That order matters. The membership has never once created the habit. It just adds a monthly reminder of a habit you did not build, and an annual excuse to feel bad.

The mistake both groups make

At home, it is drifting. No fixed days, no record of what you did, and within a month it has quietly become whenever you feel like it, which is nowhere. Write the two days in the diary and keep one line of notes per session. That is all the structure it needs.

At the gym, it is doing only what is comfortable. Fifteen minutes on a bike, a couple of machines you already understand, home. It feels like training and it does almost nothing for your strength. If you are paying to be there, do the six patterns.

You can also do both

The version that works best for a lot of men is not either. It is one gym session a week for the heavier work, one short session at home, and walking on the other days. It survives bad weather, busy weeks and holidays far better than a plan that depends entirely on getting to a building.

What to do this week

• Do one session at home, this week, before deciding anything. Twenty minutes, bodyweight.
• If you are drawn to a gym, visit at your real hour and ask about a rolling month.
• Write your two days in the diary whichever you choose.
• Do not buy equipment yet. A month of consistency first, then spend.

Alex Jordan · Over 50 and Healthy