I’ve seen some bizarre exercises online. If I were an influencer, this is the one workout I’d recommend | Devi Sridhar

. UK edition

Two older women with shoulder-length hair and wearing T-shirts, leggings and trainings hold heavy exercise balls in a gym
Public health evidence suggests that doing cardio exercises, resistance training and mobility training will help you live longer. Photograph: Hraun/Getty Images

Forget snake yoga. All it takes to increase your life expectancy is factoring a set of simple exercises into your weekly routine, says Prof Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

Are you still keeping up with your 2026 resolution to exercise more? Or perhaps you’re just trying to survive the winter doldrums, with exercise the last thing on your mind. Whatever it is, social media is alight with fitness influencers showing off all kinds of bizarre and viral exercise trends.

Take squats, a core exercise move. Those don’t seem good enough any more, so now we have Zercher squats (holding a barbell in your elbow crease like a metal baby), squats on vibration plates, squats while throwing a heavy ball and on and on. Some of these exercises may in fact be good, some useless, but because influencers can’t be seen to be doing the same thing every day, the key thing is that they’re novel and can be sold as “the little-known secret exercise that everyone should be doing”.

Then there’s adding a gimmick to an existing exercise. There’s goat yoga, puppy yoga and – my favourite new trend from the US – snake yoga, in which snakes such as pythons slither around the room and on to mats and yogis while they’re in downward dog thinking about spiritual intentions or, more likely, what’s for dinner. The marketing is that being around snakes in yoga can help overcome a fear of snakes while also building flexibility. Cross two things off your to-do list at once!

Here’s my public health take: fear of snakes is rational. About 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes each year. Evolution spent thousands of years instilling that fear in us – for good reason.

Why do bizarre fitness trends go viral, and why do they appeal to something within us? I think it has to do with boredom, the need for novelty and Fomo. Exercise can feel boring: going out running for the same 5k or heading to the gym to the same equipment and space. This is true also for yoga, which can feel slow and lack excitement.

The idea of trying something new is appealing, plus there is a constant push by certain fitness influencers implying that they know something we don’t. Some of them play on health anxiety and a desire to optimise with the “best” exercise to maximise your time and results: how to get a six-pack in two weeks or how to lose 10kg in five days (both pretty much impossible, by the way). Plus they’re telling us to buy a supplement or try a new juice cleanse that will be the missing piece to make us feel better by March.

Fitness trends sell that hope of feeling better. Take Hyrox, a hybrid endurance event where super-fit people pay good money to push sleds, throw wall balls, burpee-jump across the room and run between various stations. It’s impressive to watch and looks great on social media – which feels essential these days – and it’s a clear way to show your friends how fit you are. But it also reflects the push towards extreme, complicated and injury-prone exercise.

I’m going to say something you don’t want to hear, especially if you love Hyrox or snake yoga: none of this is necessary. If your goal is to feel strong, move better, stay pain free and live longer, you need three things: cardio exercises, resistance training and mobility training.

You don’t need weights, reptiles or cameras. It sounds simple, but what makes exercise hard isn’t the actual movement. It’s finding the time and routine to make it sustainable and part of your daily life. Which brings me to the most untrendy thing I can offer you: a 13-minute workout you can do anywhere, with or without weights. This is my default on busy days, and when I’m at home I have an 8kg sandbag on hand to add in.

All you need is a timer on your watch or phone. Start with three minutes of cardio to get warm and your heart rate up, whether it’s jogging on the spot, jumping jacks or just marching. Then it’s three minutes of legs, rotating between five each of narrow squats, broad squats, backward lunges, forward lunges and calf raises. Then on to three minutes of upper body, moving between five each of narrow push-ups, wide push-ups and tricep dips. Time to move on to core with a one-minute plank (either on your hands or forearms) and one minute of glute bridges (lifting your hips off the floor while lying on your back). For the final two minutes, just stretch out, whether that’s standing and reaching for your toes, lying on your back and moving your legs right and left like windshield wipers or sitting cross-legged and folding forward.

That’s it. Do this a couple of times a week if you can. Will you see it go viral on socials? No. Will it get sponsored by a supplement company? No. Will it increase your healthy life expectancy and make you feel happier? Public health evidence suggests yes. The real challenge, it turns out, isn’t finding the latest hack or trend. It’s sticking with a (snake-free) routine, even when the novelty wears off and 2026 resolutions fade from memory.