Home › Longevity guide
Longevity for businesses: a guide for gyms, companies and health professionals
Longevity does not just mean living longer – it means staying healthy for longer. And that is exactly where a gap has opened: worldwide, the difference between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy has grown to 9.6 years over two decades. For gyms, companies, physiotherapists, spas, hotels and clinics, this is a big opportunity. Research shows that the strongest levers lie in everyday life – physical activity, not smoking, body weight and diet. And aging research is decoding ever more precisely which processes in our cells shape aging. This guide shows you what research knows today, which conclusions follow from it, what the law says and how to build an offer with Novogenia: with genetic analyses and personalized supplements today, and with the longevity line from its planned launch in 2026.
Two clocks drifting apart
Picture two clocks. One counts the years a person lives. The other counts only the years in which that person is healthy. Ideally, both run almost in step. In reality, they drift apart – and the gap is getting wider.
An analysis of data from all 183 member states of the World Health Organization over two decades shows that the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy has widened worldwide, to 9.6 years (Garmany & Terzic, JAMA Network Open 2024). That is almost ten years that people, on average and by this calculation, do not spend in full health.
That is what longevity is really about. Not the promise of the longest possible life. But the question of how to keep the second clock in step with the first for as long as possible. Experts call this healthspan.
I am a molecular biologist and the founder of Novogenia. Since 2009, we have been analyzing genes in our own lab in Eugendorf near Salzburg, Austria – by now from more than 30 million people. For me, aging research is one of the most exciting fields in biology. With this guide, I want to show you what it already knows today, which conclusions you can draw from it for your offer and how to build something your customers can rely on.
What research shows – and what follows from it
The good news first: the strongest levers are surprisingly ordinary. An analysis of two large US cohorts with 78,865 women and 44,354 men looked at five lifestyle factors: never smoking, a body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9, at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day, moderate alcohol intake and a high-quality diet (Li et al., Circulation 2018).
The result is impressive: at age 50, women who met all five factors had a projected remaining life expectancy that was on average 14.0 years longer than that of women who met none of them. For men, the difference was 12.2 years. The logical conclusion: most of longevity is decided in everyday life – in training, at the dinner table, in how people manage their weight and habits. That is exactly where your offer comes in.
At the same time, aging research is looking ever deeper into our cells. It now describes twelve hallmarks of aging, including cellular senescence, disabled autophagy and chronic inflammation (López-Otín et al., Cell 2023). Think of it as a car’s maintenance list: if you know which parts wear over the years, you know where to look more closely. What these processes mean is explained in the chapter The six aging processes at a glance.
Here is how to translate the research into your offer:
| Lever | What research shows | What it means for your offer |
|---|---|---|
| Physical activity | At least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day was one of the five factors linked to longer life expectancy | Structured training with support – the heart of every longevity offer in a gym |
| Diet | A high-quality diet was one of the five factors | Nutrition counseling, genetic analyses on nutrition and weight, personalized supplements |
| Body weight | A body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9 was one of the five factors | Weight management with realistic goals and a personal strategy |
| Not smoking and moderate alcohol | Both were among the five factors | Health days, coaching and workshops |
| Processes in the cell | Twelve hallmarks of aging, from senescence to inflammation | Explain them clearly; the planned longevity line is aligned with six aging processes described in research |
And biological age? With his epigenetic clock, Steve Horvath showed that the age of tissues and cell types can be estimated from DNA methylation patterns (Horvath, Genome Biology 2013) – a milestone in aging research. Novogenia does not offer a biological-age measurement. More in Measuring biological age: what tests can and cannot do.
Why longevity matters for your business
Your members, guests, employees or patients read about longevity. They listen to podcasts, see new studies in the news and ask you: what can I do myself? If you have a well-founded answer, you become the place they trust. That is the real value for your business.
On top of that, the strongest levers often sit right in your core business.
- Gyms: physical activity is one of the most thoroughly studied lifestyle factors of all. You already offer it – longevity gives it a new frame.
- Companies: a workplace shapes physical activity, diet, sleep and stress over many years.
- Physiotherapy: mobility and recovery help decide how independent people remain as they age.
- Spas, hotels and clinics: time, calm and a professional setting are the ideal moment to rethink habits.
That a good program can shift habits is shown by a large randomized trial with 32,974 employees: after 18 months, participants in a workplace program reported more often that they exercised regularly (69.8% vs. 61.9%) and actively managed their weight (69.2% vs. 54.7%) (Song & Baicker, JAMA 2019). Clinical measures such as blood pressure or cholesterol showed no difference over this period – but on average, employees had completed only 1.3 of the eight modules. For you, this means: support and participation make the difference. That is exactly the strength of an offer that speaks to people personally.
Who this guide is written for
This guide is for businesses that want to offer longevity products and services to others:
- Gyms and personal trainers: analyses on sports and performance, nutrition and weight, plus personalized supplements, tailored to your gym. Start with Longevity in the gym.
- Companies, HR and corporate wellness: genetic analyses as part of a corporate longevity program – voluntary, and without the employer seeing the results. More in Corporate health programs with genetic analyses.
- Physiotherapists: recovery and nutrient supply as a complement to therapy (Offer for physiotherapists).
- Spas and wellness hotels: analyses during the stay, supplements for home (Spa & wellness, Wellness hotels).
- Longevity clinics and medical practices: Novogenia as the lab in the background, products under your brand (Longevity clinics).
One boundary runs through every chapter: as a business, you can offer lifestyle analyses. Medical analyses belong in a physician’s hands wherever national law requires it.
What Novogenia offers today – and what is planned
Novogenia is both a genetic laboratory and a supplement manufacturer, and sells exclusively through partners. So that you can plan properly, we draw a clear line between today and tomorrow:
| Building block | Status | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic analyses | available today | Lifestyle analyses on sports and performance, nutrition and weight, stress and skin – from a saliva sample, analyzed in 4 days in our own lab. Genes do not change: the results remain valid for life. |
| Personalized supplements | available today | An algorithm with about 50 genes, a questionnaire and – where available – blood values, which take precedence. Doses between one third and three times the reference intake, capped at the EFSA tolerable upper intake level. Daily sachets; one delivery lasts 90 days. |
| Partner models | available today | Your own partner shop, white label under your brand, or your own product |
| NOVO Academy | available today | Free training, about 5 hours of video per language, in seven languages, with a certificate for each completed topic |
| Longevity line | launch planned for 2026 | Six building blocks, aligned with six aging processes described in research and designed for different age groups; as a Novogenia line or, on request, as a private label. Formulations, quantities and availability may still change before launch. |
| Biological-age measurement | not offered | Novogenia does not offer a biological-age measurement. |
One detail that often gets mixed up: the Beauty analysis includes a chapter on telomeres. It reads the genes linked to telomeres – in other words, your predisposition. It does not measure the length of your telomeres.
You will find all details on the planned line on the Novogenia longevity page. How to get started today is covered in Launching a longevity offer: partner models and process.
All chapters at a glance
All 12 articles are also listed by chapter at the end of this page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between lifespan and healthspan?
Does Novogenia offer a biological-age test?
When will the Novogenia longevity line be available?
Can my gym offer genetic analyses?
How do I start a longevity program with Novogenia?
Related: The Novogenia longevity line · Become a partner · Nutrigenetics guide
Want to add longevity to your offer?
Tell us about your gym, company or practice – we will show you what is possible today.
Become a partner →The Novogenia longevity lineNote: This guide is general information for businesses and professionals and does not replace medical or legal advice. Novogenia longevity products are food supplements and not a substitute for a balanced, varied diet and a healthy lifestyle; statements in this guide are not promises of cure and not statements on the prevention, treatment or healing of diseases. Recommendations derived from genetic analyses are logical conclusions, not scientifically proven. Regulations can change; errors and changes excepted.