the L Ο N G G A M E

A new longevity business at Canyon Ranch, the famed wellness resort, invites stressed-out founders to spend $20,000 on life-extending treatments.

- By Tom Foster

IT WAS AFTER MY SONIC SOUL JOURNEY AND BEFORE MY INFRARED-LIGHT THERAPY SESSION IN A GIANT VIBRATING CLAMSHELL THAT MY LONGEVITY CONSULTANT TOLD ME I COULD STAND TO DROP 20 POUNDS OF FAT

I was nearing the end of a new Canyon Ranch program called Longevity8, a five-day immersion in wellness practices aimed at extending one’s healthy lifespan, and I bristled at the suggestion.

I’d come to Longevity8 resolved to tackle the second half of my adulthood with as much energy as I’d had in the first. I turned 50 last year, and I’m proud of the effort I’ve made over the past five years to get healthy. I avoid junk food, except for a minor late-night cookie habit. I work out most days, even if it’s not exactly grueling every time. I even quit drinking early in the pandemic, though I’ve recently started allowing myself an occasional Pinot.

The weight-loss observation came from Mike Siemens, the director of performance science for Canyon Ranch in Tucson. A chiseled, 34-year veteran of the wellness resort, Siemens spoke with the dramatic intonation of an ’80s action-movie trailer as he walked me through a thick sheaf of paperwork detailing the results of a battery of tests he and his colleagues had given me. Just a day earlier, I’d jogged on a treadmill set to a 15 percent incline while wearing a heart monitor and a facemask to measure my oxygen intake; I’d undergone a full-body DEXA scan; I’d jumped on force plates and squeezed hand grippers with all my might. More would come. But for now, Siemens and I sat in his corner office going over the somewhat dispiriting numbers.