10-minute fitness – Forget the hour-long gym sessions; experts say short, consistent bursts of resistance training are what really keep the body functioning as you age.
For 63-year-old fitness entrepreneur Carl Daikeler, the motivation to stay fit stopped being about vanity a long time ago. After 28 years leading the fitness brand BODi. formerly known as Beachbody. he has reached a conclusion that challenges the traditional gym-goer’s mindset: you don’t need to overhaul your entire life to keep your body strong.
Daikeler, who spoke at the Strong New York conference in September, openly admits he isn’t a diehard fitness enthusiast. He prefers to find a “minimum effective dose”—a way to hack health without living in the weight room. His solution is deceptively simple: 10 minutes of targeted resistance exercise per day to maintain muscle, mobility, and long-term function.
The routine relies on rotating muscle groups rather than attempting a grueling full-body session every time. By focusing on the chest one day. the upper body the next. and rotating to legs and glutes. he argues that consistency becomes manageable. The body begins to respond, strength returns, and joints stabilize. For those seeking more significant weight loss. he suggests extending this to 20 or 30 minutes to properly balance both strength and cardiovascular health.
The math of human movement requires both, Daikeler explains. He describes the body like a furnace: muscle is the coal that needs to be built. and cardio is the act of stoking that coal to keep the fire going. While resistance training builds bone density and strengthens connective tissue, cardiovascular work is what keeps the heart and lungs resilient. Federal guidelines currently support this. recommending that adults hit all major muscle groups at least twice a week alongside regular aerobic activity.
This shift toward short-form exercise is gaining traction as a practical answer for those taking GLP-1 medications, where preserving muscle mass during weight loss is critical but the gym can feel like an intimidating environment.
Daikeler’s pivot toward this functional approach was sparked by watching his own father in an assisted living facility. He noticed residents who were so fearful of tripping over cracks in the pavement that they would stop walking just to speak to one another. He realized then that the goal of training had fundamentally changed.
“This is no longer about my abs,” he said. “I need to work out in order to be able to walk and talk at the same time into my 90s.”
Ultimately, the strategy is about trading short-term discomfort for long-term independence. By accepting 20 minutes of daily strain, he says, the rest of the day—and the years ahead—become much easier to navigate.
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