Super Age is making longevity measurable, trainable and competitive.

“The number one longevity drug is fitness. Nothing else comes close.”

For Super Age founder David Stewart, this raised a simple question: If physical fitness can have such a significant impact on healthspan and longevity, why not identify the capacities that matter, measure them and train specifically to improve them?

Then, why not make a competition out of it?

That’s the thinking behind the inaugural Super Age Games, taking place November 7 in New York City. The event will put people through eight trials designed around physical, cognitive and social capacities associated with longevity, turning a concept that can feel decades away into a tangible goal that can be trained for right now.

And the idea is already resonating. Nearly 1,000 athletes and roughly 125 teams are expected at the Games, according to Stewart, with competitors ranging in age from 19 to 80. Participants include former Olympians, people who have never competed in an event like this before and everyone in between, and roughly 20% of those registered are medical professionals. Trainers and gym owners around the country are also building teams and preparing clients.

The event has an all-star list of founding partners including: Altra, WHOOP, Hyatt, Braun, PUR, the Buck Institute, Timeline and NeuroTracker.

Stewart says it all begins with making longevity measurable.

“We have found there is very clear science around established markers of longevity-focused fitness. To train with those goals in mind, basing the metrics on age and gender and how these metrics affect your healthspan, seems like a no-brainer.”

Making Longevity Tangible

Super Age has translated that concept into eight categories: aerobic capacity, agility, functional strength, endurance under load, grip strength, balance, working memory and relational capacity.

The company has also developed The Super Age Standard, a training and assessment program designed to establish benchmarks across those areas and give participants a roadmap for improvement.

The model gives trainers and fitness operators a structure for turning longevity goals into actual programming. Members may understand the general benefits of becoming stronger or improving cardiovascular fitness. Super Age puts those capabilities within a framework that shows people where they stand and gives them something specific to work toward.

“Something squishy like ‘living better longer,’ although true, doesn’t really mean anything,” Stewart says. “It’s the same as ‘I’m going to get fit,’ which doesn’t really mean anything.”

The Games take that measurement framework and make it considerably more fun.

One example is The Net, which Stewart says is the world’s only horizontal cargo net. Participants bear crawl across the unstable surface, forcing them to think about where they place their hands and feet while testing mobility, proprioception, functional strength and coordination.

The VO2 max challenge uses an assault bike, with competitors working for four minutes. Pacing becomes part of the challenge.

“Although I’m sure there will be those who will try to crush it for 20 seconds, the next three minutes and 40 seconds is going to seem like an eternity,” Stewart says. “Pro tip: don’t do that.”

Another event, the Over/Under, tests mobility and the ability to move efficiently through different positions. Competitors climb over obstacles, get down onto their stomachs to move underneath others and return to their feet, all while racing the clock.

A New Framework for the Gym Floor

Many of the individual components of longevity training will already be familiar to fitness professionals, while others often receive less attention in everyday training. 

“Examples of this are balance and proprioception,” Stewart says. “These are both highly trainable and highly measurable. Parallel to this is mobility, which is a little harder to find normative data on, but can and should absolutely be a focus for everyone, from a high-performance athlete to someone who just wants to live a better life.”

The industry is responding. Stewart says Super Age fields between 50 and 100 questions a week from trainers asking for details about the Games, including event rules and ways to prepare their clients.

Some are already getting creative.

The Games’ balance event involves walking across a 12-foot beam that is four inches wide and approximately five inches off the ground while carrying a 15-pound hydro tube. As the water moves inside the tube, the instability changes.

Stewart says coaches have devised their own ways to prepare, including having clients walk heel-to-toe while holding a lightweight pole at chest height with an elastic band and weight attached to create instability.

“We have seen some of the coaches and trainers come up with wonderfully novel training approaches and small tips that are exactly oriented towards each individual event,” he says. “Although this is fundamentally about each person’s healthspan and longevity, there is definitely a large cohort of people who are in this to win it.”

That competitive element may also help operators solve one of longevity training’s inherent challenges. Improving healthspan is a long-term objective, while members often respond more immediately to benchmarks, milestones and events they can put on a calendar.

The wide age range of Super Age Games participants also reflects how much the longevity audience has expanded.

“Interest in longevity 10 years ago was principally in the over-60 crowd,” Stewart says. “Those issues are now up and down the age column, with people in their early 20s just as fluent as people who are older.”

For Stewart, that broader appeal comes back to a simple point: longevity training doesn’t have to be treated as a specialty. 

“Training for longevity is just good training anyway,” he says. “It’s about becoming the best version of your whole human self. It’s about making sure that all the different markers are being hit.”

That gives operators opportunities to build assessments, coaching and programming around measurable longevity goals while helping members understand why the training matters beyond their next workout.

“The reason you’re doing this is to feel better now, to look better now, but really, you’re investing in your future self,” Stewart says. “Doing this kind of training is the same as putting money in your 401(k). It’s an insurance policy.”

Register for the inaugural Super Age Games by October 14 to unlock access to The Standard longevity training platform and get your custom Super Age bib. This isn’t a fitness competition. It’s a community celebration of what you’re capable of now, and a whole new way to train for a long, vibrant life. Click here to register.

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