For many adults, exercise can feel overwhelming or out of reach. But functional fitness often begins with practical, daily choices: steady breath, simple movement, and nourishment that supports energy throughout the day.
BY LORI S. ALCALÁ
Every morning, before emails, errands, and the rush of the day, Carlos Santo, NMD, steps outside and pauses. The air is cool and quiet. He plants his feet, slows his breath, and begins a familiar sequence of gentle movements: lifting his arms, rotating his joints, and breathing deeply. He has followed the same ritual for more than 30 years, including 10 minutes of qigong, breathwork, and mindful motion that prepares his body and mind for the day ahead.
“How we start our day is typically how our day is going to go,” says Dr. Santo, a naturopathic physician and faculty member in Saybrook University’s Mind-Body Medicine program. “That’s why morning is the most crucial time to focus inward on our mind-body practice.”
In both his clinical and academic work, Dr. Santo emphasizes practical movement and breath awareness to support balance, mood, and resilience as people age. He focuses on what people can reliably return to each day, instead of long workouts or rigid routines.
Jessica Weissman, Ph.D., chair of Saybrook’s Integrative and Functional Nutrition program, brings a complementary view. She describes functional fitness through the simple actions people perform all day long, like reaching, climbing stairs, or getting on and off the floor without pain. Her work focuses on how eating patterns and daily energy help people maintain those abilities.
Their approaches highlight the role daily habits play in long-term wellness. This article explores how movement, breath, and nourishment support strength and resilience over time.
What Is Functional Fitness and Why It Matters
Many adults carry the idea that fitness must happen in long workouts or structured routines. But the most meaningful changes often start with a few minutes of intentional movement or a moment of breath awareness that shifts how the body responds to stress. Both Dr. Santo and Dr. Weissman push against the myth that only high-effort exercise “counts,” inviting people to see strength in the everyday decisions that support their well-being.
For Dr. Santo, the first step is often slowing down enough to notice how the body feels. A few deep breaths, a brief reset between tasks, or a simple grounding ritual can help people move through the day with more ease. He reminds his students that even short practices can shift mood and focus. “You can get in a really good space in just a few minutes,” he says. That shift can make movement feel accessible rather than overwhelming.
Dr. Weissman approaches the same misconception from the nutritional side. She sees people talk themselves out of movement because they assume it must take a long time to matter. Yet her guidance is clear. “Even 15 minutes of exercise is better than nothing,” she advises. “There’s really no minimum.”
When people release the pressure to exercise perfectly, they’re more likely to fit movement into spare pockets of the day.
What Functional Fitness Looks Like in Daily Life
Functional fitness isn’t what most people picture when they think about getting in shape. Instead of performance metrics or training for a specific event, functional fitness focuses on helping people move through daily life with confidence and comfort.
Dr. Weissman defines it as “fitness that translates into functions of everyday lives.” In practice, that means feeling steady when stepping off a curb, lifting a laundry basket without straining your back, carrying groceries without losing your balance, or turning quickly without feeling unsteady. These are the motions people rely on throughout the day—small tasks that become harder when strength, mobility, or balance begin to decline.
Dr. Santo frames functional fitness through aging. The goal, he says, is “applying holistic principles to aging so that we can age gracefully without risk of injury.” Strength matters, but so do agility, endurance, and balance. These qualities help adults stay active in the routines that give their lives meaning—such as shopping, traveling, caregiving, and home projects—without fear that their bodies will hold them back.
For many people, understanding functional fitness this way brings relief. They don’t need perfect form or a personal trainer. Instead, they need movement that reinforces the real-life motions they depend on.
How to Build a Functional Fitness Routine You Can Sustain
When exercise starts to feel like pressure instead of something enjoyable, people stop showing up. Dr. Weissman has seen clients force themselves into routines that no longer feel good or helpful. “If you're lifting weights every single day and it starts to feel like this treacherous chore,” she says, “that’s not the right exercise for you to do every day.”
To help people stay consistent, she encourages them to choose activities they genuinely like, such as walking, swimming, stretching, dancing, short strength routines, or yoga. She also reminds clients that there are plenty of accessible options, including free yoga and mat Pilates videos on YouTube. Movement doesn’t need to be formal to be effective, she adds. What matters is choosing something approachable enough you can return to regularly.
Functional fitness takes hold once movement feels like a natural part of the day, rather than something people have to schedule or dread.
How Stress and Breath Affect Physical Strength and Resilience
Stress affects the body long before any workout begins. Tension, disrupted sleep, inconsistent appetite, and emotional fatigue all influence how willing the body feels to move. “When your body feels bad, your brain feels bad,” says Dr. Weismann. “When your brain feels bad, your body feels bad.”
Understanding that relationship helps adults interpret their own signals more accurately.
In his work, Dr. Santo teaches diaphragmatic breathing as one of the most practical tools for resetting the body’s internal environment. “Place your hands over your navel point and then feel the breath go into the belly as you inhale and exhale back into the spine,” he instructs. This activates the vagus nerve and shifts the body away from stress and toward regulation.
Dr. Santo often tells people they don’t need a quiet room or a long meditation to calm their system. “You can do three breathing cycles at a stoplight,” he says, “and you’re a different person.”
When the nervous system settles, movement becomes noticeably easier. Even a short walk or a few stretches can feel doable, which reinforces the idea that simple choices matter.
How Nutrition Supports Functional Fitness and Daily Energy
Functional fitness depends on more than movement. Nutrition shapes energy, sleep, and emotional steadiness—the foundations that allow the body to move comfortably throughout the day.
Dr. Weissman describes intuitive eating as listening to your body. “Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re not hungry,” she advises. She notes that many adults eat during meetings or rush through their meals, which disrupts digestion and makes energy levels harder to manage.
“When you learn about the digestive system … the first step is in your mouth,” she explains. Chewing thoroughly helps the body break down food more efficiently, which can reduce bloating and discomfort.
She offers guidance that is simple, but rarely practiced: drink enough water, eat five servings of fruits and vegetables, and pay attention to the foods that leave you feeling energized versus sluggish. Planning matters too, even if it’s minor. Having ingredients on hand, scheduling grocery trips, or packing snacks can make healthy choices feel more manageable.
Following these practical tips makes it easier for the body to stay energized and ready to move.
How Much Exercise You Need to Support Strength and Wellness
One of the questions Dr. Weissman hears most often is whether someone is exercising “enough.” She’s found that the worry usually comes from guilt rather than an understanding of what the body actually needs.
When she talks with clients, she starts with the basics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends about 150 minutes of moderate activity per week—roughly “45 minutes, three times a week.”
But she always adds the same reassurance. “There’s really no minimum,” she says. Even short bursts of activity can support heart health, energy, and mood.
Dr. Santo notices a similar pattern in his own work. The routines people keep over time are the ones that feel realistic. His 10-minute morning practice has lasted for decades because it fits into his day without forcing everything else to shift.
Both perspectives reinforce the idea that consistency matters far more than perfection.
How Mind-Body Medicine and Nutrition Support Whole-Person Wellness
Saybrook University’s programs in Mind-Body Medicine and Integrative and Functional Nutrition approach wellness from complementary angles, but they share a commitment to whole-person care.
In the Mind-Body Medicine program, students learn how stress affects physiology through coursework like Psychophysiology of the Stress Response. Dr. Santo recalls two hospital chaplains who later used techniques from the course almost daily while supporting families in crisis. Tools like breathwork and grounding proved practical in moments when clarity and calm mattered most.
In the Integrative and Functional Nutrition program, Dr. Weissman trains students to design personalized nutrition plans rooted in cultural understanding, evidence-based research, and realistic daily routines.
“People are not their illnesses,” she says. Students practice applying that belief through case studies, consultations, and research translation.
The programs teach practitioners to care for the whole person, from how they move and eat to how they manage stress and build habits that stick.
How Daily Habits Build Lasting Strength and Resilience
Functional fitness takes shape in choices that help people feel grounded and capable in their daily lives.
Dr. Santo’s short morning practice is a reminder that small moments can shift an entire day. They help build the steadiness and confidence that make long-term wellness possible.
“Anyone who says that you can’t experience a settling of the mind and body within 10 minutes … they just haven’t experienced it.”
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