Arizona State University researchers, including doctors and specialists from ASU and the University of South Florida, have chosen The Smart Fit Method as its exclusive fitness method for one of the most ambitious aging reversal studies to ever be conducted.
Their goal: Prove a way to reverse age.
Their method: A partnership with The Smart Fit Method.
We donate the equipment — they use it to prove that we can make people younger physiologically.
This partnership not only puts The Smart Fit Method at the very front of preventative medicine innovation, but also brings the potential to validate what we’ve known all along: Our protocols can verifiably reverse your biological age.
Why ASU chose The Smart Fit Method
The ASU Team Healthspan evaluated numerous fitness approaches before selecting The Smart Fit Method — a partnership the team believes will help it compete in the XPRIZE HealthSpan competition.
Their decision came down to this: Our unique combination of capabilities aligns perfectly with rigorous scientific research requirements.
“I do like the fact that Smart Fit has a means to track everything from reps to the length of time, the weight, and cater it to the person’s own physiology,” said Clinton Hughes, owner of Youth Renewal Sciences and the lead of ASU Team Healthspan. “Everybody’s different. You can’t get everyone to do the same thing. That’d be beneficial to somebody else, but not everyone. So everyone’s unique.”
"We've been demonstrating age reversal results with our protocols for years now," said Rob Darnbrough, co-founder of The Smart Fit Method. "What's exciting is that ASU is using our exact protocols, unchanged, because the data already shows they work. This partnership gives us the opportunity to validate what we've been seeing at the highest level of scientific rigor."
Ultimately, this is what sets The Smart Fit Method apart:
Our comprehensive data tracking: Our equipment monitors every repetition, duration and weight setting, providing the precise metrics essential for scientific validation.
Our personalized calibration: Each participant’s workout is tailored to their individual physiology, ensuring optimal results for diverse body types and fitness levels.
Our dual-action efficiency: Our resistive push-pull technology effectively doubles workout benefit, a crucial factor when working with participants over 55.
Our simplified implementation: Unlike traditional gym equipment with barbells and complex setups, our streamlined approach makes it easier for researchers to maintain protocol consistency.
“We want to be able to basically give people a workout, build up their muscle strength, cardio and other benefits of exercise in the shortest amount of time,” Hughes said. “That’s kind of where all the boxes are being checked for why we came across Smart Fit.”
The XPRIZE HealthSpan Challenge: What is means and what’s at stake
The XPRIZE Foundation is responsible for innovations from commercial space flight to humanoid robotics.
And it has set an audacious goal: Reverse human biological age by 10-20 years within one year of intervention.
The competition represents a fundamental shift from treating disease after it’s too far progressed to maximizing healthy years through prevention and reversal.
But first, a preliminary 60-day trial to see if you can move the needle. It involves 20 participants undergoing a comprehensive protocol combining three different things:
The Smart Fit Method training
Targeted nutrition
If the ASU team makes it in the top 10, they’d advance to a year-long competition in 2027 with 200 participants.
And we're donating our equipment to prove help the team prove there's a way to reverse biological age.
Backed by world-class expertise
The XPRIZE HealthSpan competition brings together some of the most distinguished minds in aging research, medicine and longevity science.
The competition's Scientific Advisory Board and Judging Panel includes leaders from the world's top institutions who are setting the standards for measuring and reversing biological age.
These people include:
Dr. Steven Austad, Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging at the University of Alabama
Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, Scientific Director at the National Institute on Aging
Dr. Morgan Levine, a principal investigator renowned for her work on biological age measurement
"The Smart Fit Method was designed specifically with people over 55 in mind," said Connor Darnbrough. "Our equipment tracks every rep, duration, and weight setting, creating personalized protocols that adapt to each person's unique physiology. What the ASU team recognized is that our approach doesn't just move the needle on fitness — it fundamentally reverses biological aging."
This isn't just a research study. It's a collaboration between The Smart Fit Method and some of the most credible, well-funded efforts to prove that aging can be reversed.
The Smart Fit Method is already demonstrating age reversal
What particularly impressed the ASU was that the Smart Fit Method already had data showing age reversal results.
“I talked to Connor and Rob [Darnbrough], and they were saying, you know, we have a protocol that’s been showing that age reversal,” Hughes said. “There's no sense of reinventing the wheel. I mean, a rep is a rep. We're not changing anything from the exercise side."
The researchers will use The Smart Fit Method's existing protocols exactly as designed — a powerful endorsement of the approach we've developed and refined.
Connor Darnbrough will train ASU's interns to operate the equipment, ensuring protocol fidelity when the research team isn't on-site.
What success looks like: The metrics that actually matter
Participants will be evaluated on tangible physiological improvements that directly correlate with biological age. The study focuses on:
VO2 max (cardiovascular capacity)
Immune function
Cognitive performance
These aren't abstract numbers — they're the markers determining whether someone's body functions like it’s decades younger.
The Smart Fit Method impacts each of these critical metrics, particularly through increased oxygen delivery to tissues and the brain.
"You're giving your brain more oxygen than somebody who's normally not physically active," Hughes said. "So you would expect the cognition to improve. It's all about providing oxygen to the body — oxygen will heal when done properly."
The Smart Fit Method is a perfect fit for people over 55
The study's focus on participants over 55 aligns perfectly with Smart Fit Method's core strengths.
Our approach was specifically designed for this demographic, addressing the unique challenges of maintaining and building strength, cardiovascular health, and functional capacity in older adults.
The equipment's low-impact, controlled resistance makes it accessible for people who might struggle with traditional gym equipment, while still delivering the intensity needed to reverse muscle loss and frailty — both bonus research tracks in the competition.
What this means for the Smart Fit Method
Being selected as the exclusive fitness method for this study validates what we've built. Our equipment, our protocols, and our approach are being tested at the highest level of scientific rigor, by a world-class research team competing for one of the most prestigious prizes in health innovation.
The potential implications extend far beyond competition recognition.
With this connection to ASU, if The Smart Fit Method protocols prove effective in reversing biological age, they could become foundational to how future physicians think about preventative medicine.
"If we can demonstrate an actual modality that is proven through data that you're able to reverse the damage that you've done to yourself over the years and extend your healthy years by 20 or 30," Hughes said. “Then that would be definitely something that I would want to do to myself every year to maintain my healthy units."
We're not just participating in groundbreaking research — we're helping to redefine what's possible in human health span.
This February, when those first 20 participants begin their 60-day journey, they'll be using The Smart Fit Method to prove that aging isn't an inevitable decline, but a reversible process.
The capacity to change millions and millions of lives isn't just the research team's mission — it's ours too.
