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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Devi Sridhar

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

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

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”.

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