The Smart Fit method, a fitness concept that offers personal training for longevity and health with studios in Park City and Millcreek, has been chosen by researchers at Arizona State University, in collaboration with specialists from the University of South Florida, for a study aimed at reversing human biological age.
The research initiative, led by ASU Team Healthspan, will be a qualifying effort for the XPRIZE Healthspan competition, which challenges global teams to reverse biological aging by 10 to 20 years in one year.
As part of the collaboration, The Smart Fit Method contributes its proprietary, AI-driven tools and protocols to support the study, which will evaluate whether a structured intervention can measurably improve key markers of aging.
“This exciting partnership allows us to validate, at the highest level of scientific rigor, what we have observed for years with the ability of our training protocol to reverse people’s biological age,” said Rob Darnbrough, who founded The Smart Fit Method with his son, Connor Darnbrough. “It is a privilege for this world-class research team to compete for one of the most prestigious prizes in health innovation testing our protocols, tools and approaches exactly as designed because the data has shown their effectiveness.”
ASU Team Healthspan evaluated several fitness methodologies before selecting The Smart Fit Method for its ability to meet the demands of clinical research and personalized interventions.
“I like the fact that Smart Fit has the means to track everything from reps to length of time, and weight, while adjusting the regimen to each individual’s physiology,” said Clinton Hughes, owner of Youth Renewal Sciences and leader of ASU’s Team Healthspan. “Our goal is to deliver the benefits of strength, cardio and functional fitness in the shortest amount of time, and Smart Fit checks all those boxes.”
The team says the Fit Smart Method stands for several key capabilities:
- Comprehensive data tracking of repetitions, duration and resistance. Personal calibration is adjusted to the physiology of each participant
- Dual-action, push-pull resistance technology to maximize efficiency
- Streamlined implementation for consistent research protocols
“If we can prove, with data, that it’s possible to reverse the damage that accumulates over time and extend healthy years by decades, that will be a major contributor to how health is viewed,” Hughes said.
The initial phase of the XPRIZE Healthspan study was run by a 60-day pilot with 20 participants over the age of 55. The protocol combines:
- Smart Fit Method Training
- Nutritional goals
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Participants will be evaluated using clinically relevant markers of biological age, including:
- Grip strength
- Walking speed
- VO2 max
- Immune function
- cognitive performance
If selected among the top 10 teams, ASU Team Healthspan will advance to a year-long trial in 2027 involving 200 participants.
The XPRIZE Healthspan competition is supported by a scientific advisory board and a judging panel consisting of leading experts in aging and longevity research, including: Dr. Steven Austad, endowed chair in healthy aging at the University of Alabama; Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, scientific director at the National Institute on Aging; and Dr. Morgan Levine, principal investigator who works on the measurement of biological age.
The Smart Fit method is designed for people over the age of 55, focusing on improving strength, cardiovascular health and functional capacity through low-impact, high-efficiency training.
“Our system creates a personalized protocol that adapts to each individual’s physiology while tracking every aspect of performance,” says Connor Darnbrough. “It’s not just about fitness. I’m about basically reversing biological aging.”
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