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As with anything about health, a workout routine is always individualised, not just to the person's specific situation but also for the person's goals.

What you illustrated here is perfect for someone who's seriously looking into improving not just their general health but also their strength and, sometimes we have difficulty admitting, their looks. But for the purposes of breaking a sedentary lifestyle and get into a level of general fitness, basic bodyweight exercises is a good start.

When I started working from home full-time in the summer of 2019, I worried about my health because even though I was not working out in my last job, it forced me to walk and climb eight flights of stairs every day. Know what I started with to make sure I don't become sedentary? Just 10 push-ups a day, which then became 10 push-ups every 2 hours after a week. Then I added some squats, then some lunges, and so on and so forth.

Fast forward to 5 years later today, I either go to the gym, where I experience what you expounded on, or play basketball by myself every day. Just last March, I've set a deadlift PR of lifting about 25% more than my bodyweight.

And I attribute all of these progress to that simple "10 push-ups a day" in 2019.

If you train for health instead of body building, going from sedentary to a regular body weight routine is a colossal improvement.

I think the point is that a regular body weight routine is harder than using weights. If you're sedentary, doing a push-up is like starting out with bench presses that are more than half your bodyweight, finding an inclined surface to do push-ups against is not always possible, and using your knees can be painful, whereas if you're in a gym you can go bench press the 20kg bar or lighter dumbbells and know exactly how much weight you're using each session. Doing a chin-up on a tree in the park means you can't grab an assisted pull up band or use a machine to help you, so you're stuck trying to scramble up the tree with your feet + use bad sideways technique then lower yourself down slowly, which is risking injury.

These concerns are especially relevant for the elderly.

By the same token, a lot of sedentary people with no lifting experience might be intimidated by the idea of going to a gym, and the cost and even just the step of getting to a gym are additional barriers they have to overcome.

Getting started with a body weight routine or simple bands or kettle bell setup at home has huge advantages.

Just a note that swinging kettle bells, à la the simple and sinister book caused medial epicondylitis for me (buggered up the tendons in both my elbows). This is taking a long time to heal and limiting options on other exercises I can do that involve even a moderate grip.

My recommendation would be to rent a rowing machine and try that first.

To each their own, of course, but there are lots of ways to modify bodyweight exercises to accommodate even the most sedentary. I wouldn't exercise half as much if I had to go to the gym. It's less convenient for my WFH lifestyle and more expensive.

Edit: I should also say that I use weights like dumbbells and kettlebells at home. Not needed to start out, but very helpful.

Both options will require some research to tailor fit which progression level works best for an individual. Taking push-ups vs bench presses as an example, knowing that one can start with either wall push-ups or an empty barbell, I reckon the wall push-ups has much less friction than the other.

Is more always better? If your routine is maintenance focused and you can do 100 crunches and pull-up and pushups and body weight squats, wouldn’t you be getting most of the brain-health benefits or do they only come by getting stronger and stronger and stronger? Are there not diminishing returns?

>If done properly, the gym will teach you periodization and allow you to: - practice different repetition patterns

Does periodization even matter? Professional fighters are some of the fittest athletes on the planet, functionally and aesthetically, and they aren't worried about weightlifting routines (if they lift weights at all).

Most professional athletes including fighters lift weights or use machines.

If you want to add power to some movement then practicing it repeatedly at full force can work. But you run into repetitive strain injuries, it’s much safer to build power using weights and controlled movements.

Critically these are very focused workouts. A professional wants to build strength in very specific ways as unnecessary bulk is actively harmful in most sports.

The only athletes I can think of that don’t do a lot of weightlifting (in the general sense) are endurance runners and even then it’s on a case by case basis.

I worked for the Blackzillians and American Top Team UFC teams and I can assure GP that they absolutely do a lot of weightlifting. They don’t worry about routines because that’s what their coaches are for. They track their fighters and automatically adjust the training program when they stall.

Those guys lift weights constantly. Nearly every variant of professional athlete does, maybe a few exceptions for fully endurance based sports.

>Those guys lift weights constantly

I know for a fact this isn't true. I know high-level amateur fighters (ie aspiring pros) who don't lift any weights.

I think you are arguing whether it's better (overall) rather than, as GP said, it's easier to get into.