LONGEVITY WELLNESS GYMS CAN HELP EXTEND HEALTH SPANS SO YOU LIVE LONGER IN GOOD SHAPE
'Brain-body' workouts mix physical and cognitive training to extend health spans. Other gyms use long-established therapies to slow ageing
Longevity wellness is a growing trend.
Social media influencers, medical professionals and wellness enthusiasts such as Dan Buettner, author and founder of longevity platform Blue Zones, and American biohacker Bryan Johnson are prompting more people to seek ways to optimise their well-being to add years to their life.
It is a lucrative business.
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According to non-profit organisation Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness economy reached US$6.3 trillion in 2023; it is projected to hit US$9 trillion by 2028, with longevity said to be the fastest growing subsector.
People such as Johnson are spending big money on nutrition, supplements and personalised medicine to extend their lifespans.
But many are also looking to fitness and wellness spaces for services that can help them live healthier for longer.
In Singapore, Chi Longevity with Sparkd is a partnership between Singapore's first clinic dedicated to longevity wellness and Singapore's first "brain-body gym". It aims to enhance clients' lifespans and health spans - the number of years lived in good health - by integrating physical exercise with cognitive training.
Anna Milani, a Finnish-Italian who has lived in Singapore for 12 years, founded Sparkd, the gym where the partnership is taking place, in 2021 after researching how cognitive training could increase lifespan and health span, several years after losing her grandfather to Alzheimer's disease.
"While many longevity programmes focus only on physical health, we recognise that cognitive function is just as crucial for long-term well-being," she says.
Everyone, from fitness newbies to high-performing athletes, is welcome at Chi Longevity with Sparkd.
This includes those diagnosed with early-stage age-related conditions such as pre-diabetes, hypertension, mild cognitive impairment and Parkinson's disease, as well as post-stroke patients and those with traumatic brain injuries, Milani says.
Newcomers discuss their goals before having physical and cognitive tests to assess their functional mobility, upper and lower body muscular strength, balance and cardiovascular and brain health.
Sparkd then develops a custom programme that integrates physical exercises with cognitive training.
"We regularly track your advancements through continuous assessments and feedback sessions, and collect data ... adjusting your programme as needed to ensure sustained growth and engagement," Milani says.
The brain-body workouts use a game-like approach to stimulate mental and physical function, improving neuroplasticity - the brain's capacity to change and rewire itself in response to stimulation.
"We track brain health and help reduce risks of neurodegenerative diseases, and combine these with strength, balance and endurance exercises to keep the body strong, flexible and injury-resistant," she says.
Mind-body connection key
Milani considers longevity gyms to be the future of health optimisation. Cognitive skills can be trained, yet traditional health and wellness programmes rarely measure or aim to improve cognitive function in a structured way, she says.
"While longevity discussions have traditionally focused on physical health, cognitive function is just as crucial. Subtle declines in processing speed and memory begin as early as our late twenties, often unnoticed until they start affecting daily life," she says.
"By ages 40 to 50, reaction time, working memory and multitasking slow noticeably, impacting everything from workplace performance to decision-making.
"After 60, declines in episodic memory, attention and problem solving can reduce independence and quality of life."
Ancient treatments in longevity spotlight
Other wellness spaces aim to help clients live longer, healthier lives in more passive ways.
In Hong Kong's Admiralty neighbourhood, 10x Longevity is such a space. Established by Jill Van Vugt in 2024, the centre does not offer biometric or diagnostic testing, but treatments including hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and contrast therapy - an infrared sauna session followed by immersion in a cold-water bath.
Canadian-born Van Vugt, a former litigation lawyer who has called Hong Kong home for five years, says working on personal injury and medical malpractice cases ignited her interest in wellness.
Her centre's services promote angiogenesis - the formation of new blood vessels - she says, which is key for the transport of nutrients and removal of waste products throughout the body.
"As we age, our network of blood vessels becomes less robust and this is one of the reasons our skin ages, our joints become painful and our body takes longer to recover from injury."
HBOT, in which one breathes in pure oxygen in a pressurised chamber to increase oxygen levels in the blood and tissues, can help increase both health span and lifespan, Van Vugt says.
The treatment dates back to the 1930s, when it was used for divers suffering from decompression illness - one of 13 United States Food and Drug Administration-approved uses for HBOT. Patients with traumatic brain injury have been shown to respond well to HBOT.
A landmark study from Israel published in 2020 in the journal Aging suggests HBOT may stop cells ageing and reverse the ageing process.
Over three months, 35 healthy individuals aged 64 or over underwent 60 hyperbaric sessions. At the end of the study, researchers found the telomeres at the ends of their chromosomes had grown longer by 20 per cent to 38 per cent. Longer telomeres are linked to longevity.
The percentage of senescent cells - old cells that have stopped dividing and can cause inflammation - was reduced by between 11 per cent and 37 per cent depending on cell type.
Another study published in the journal BMC Geriatrics found HBOT has the potential to significantly improve physical performance in ageing adults.
The beneficial effects of cold-water immersion date have been known since as long ago as 3500BC. Ancient Greeks used cold water for therapy, relaxation and socialising; Hippocrates documented its use for medicinal and pain-relieving purposes in the fourth century BC.
Ancient civilisations also knew the value of heat therapy: Egyptians used it to treat pain, inflammation and muscle spasms; Greeks used it to treat headaches, respiratory problems and digestive problems; Romans used it to treat arthritis, gout and skin conditions.
Recent studies show that alternating between cold water plunges and warm sauna sessions can boost cardiovascular health and immune function, and even cognitive function - all of which can slow ageing.
Van Vugt says she chose these therapies as core treatment offerings based on such evidence.
Similar services are offered at other fitness and wellness spaces in Hong Kong and elsewhere.
While longevity gyms and wellness spaces can help enhance your well-being as you age, they are not a magic bullet for a long, healthy life.
To age well, maintain a healthy diet, move your body daily, get quality sleep every night, maintain social connections, have regular health screenings and adopt a positive mindset.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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2025-03-22T00:11:10Z
