Forget Snake Yoga: The Simple 13-Minute Workout for a Longer, Healthier Life

Are you struggling to maintain your 2026 resolution to exercise more, or simply battling the winter blues with fitness far from your mind? Social media is flooded with fitness influencers promoting an array of bizarre and viral exercise trends, from Zercher squats to snake yoga. But according to public health evidence, the key to increasing your life expectancy isn't found in these gimmicks—it's in incorporating a set of simple exercises into your weekly routine.

The Allure of Bizarre Fitness Trends

Fitness influencers constantly seek novelty to stand out, leading to exercises like squats on vibration plates or yoga with pythons slithering around. These trends often play on boredom, the need for novelty, and fear of missing out (Fomo). They sell hope and optimisation, promising quick fixes like a six-pack in two weeks, but many are ineffective or even injury-prone.

Take Hyrox, a hybrid endurance event that involves pushing sleds and burpee-jumps. While impressive on social media, it reflects a push toward extreme and complicated workouts. However, as Professor Devi Sridhar points out, none of this is necessary for achieving core health goals.

The Three Essentials for Longevity

If your aim is to feel strong, move better, stay pain-free, and live longer, you only need three components: cardio exercises, resistance training, and mobility training. You don't require weights, reptiles, or cameras. The real challenge isn't the movement itself but finding the time and routine to make exercise sustainable in daily life.

A Practical 13-Minute Routine

Here's a straightforward workout you can do anywhere, with or without weights, in just 13 minutes:

Cardio Warm-up (3 minutes): Jog on the spot, do jumping jacks, or march to raise your heart rate.
Leg Exercises (3 minutes): Rotate through five each of narrow squats, broad squats, backward lunges, forward lunges, and calf raises.
Upper Body (3 minutes): Move between five each of narrow push-ups, wide push-ups, and tricep dips.
Core (2 minutes): Hold a one-minute plank (on hands or forearms) and do one minute of glute bridges.
Stretching (2 minutes): Stretch out by reaching for your toes, moving legs like windshield wipers, or folding forward while seated.

Do this routine a couple of times a week. It won't go viral on social media or attract supplement sponsors, but public health evidence suggests it can increase your healthy life expectancy and boost happiness. The true test is sticking with a snake-free routine even as novelty fades and resolutions are forgotten.