The Ascent system
A structured approach to building a body that holds up over time.
Ascent does not start with a generic treatment plan. It starts with understanding how your body moves, what it can do today, what your life asks of it, and what you want it to be capable of a year and a decade from now.
Everything that follows is built from that understanding, and adjusted as your body and your circumstances change.
01 Assess
02 Prioritize
03 Build
04 Reassess
01 · Assess
Begin with the Ascent Movement and Capacity Profile
Ascent does not start with a generic treatment plan. It starts with understanding how your body moves, what it can do today, what your life asks of it, and what you want it to be capable of a year and a decade from now.
Baseline aerobic capacity (VO2max), metabolic rate and body-composition testing follow within your first month. You leave the assessment with a clear verbal summary, and a written report follows within five business days.
It covers
Your health, injury and activity history, including what has and has not worked before.
Current symptoms, recurring patterns and the barriers that get in the way.
Strength, balance, mobility and movement quality.
The demands of your work, training, travel and daily life.
What you want your body to be capable of over the next month, year, and decade.
Why we measure it
The Decline That You Can’t Feel
What VO2max predicts, how quickly it falls, and why most people have never had theirs measured.
02 · Prioritize
Rank what matters most
Most people know what they feel: pain, stiffness, fatigue, or a hill that used to be easy. Fewer know what is driving it, or which of several issues deserves attention first.
The profile shows what your body can currently do, where its capacity falls short of the demands on it, and where your reserve is thinnest. From that, we set three to five ranked priorities, each tied directly to your goals.
03 · Build
Build one coordinated plan
Your plan draws on whatever your priorities call for:
Clinical care, rehabilitation and training are managed as one plan by one clinician, rather than divided across separate providers. When medical investigation is needed, Ascent works alongside your physician and, with your consent, brings their findings into your plan.
Hands on clinical care
Strength and conditioning guidance
Objective performance and health testing
Training and load management
Rehabilitation and movement retraining
Recovery, sleep, and lifestyle planning
04 · Reassess
Reassess and adjust
Bodies change, and so do lives. Your plan is reviewed as you go and adjusted as you respond, with objective retesting on a schedule matched to your goals. Every year, the full profile is repeated and your history reviewed from the beginning.
For one member, the goal is returning to a sport after injury. For another, it is building well beyond where they started. For a third, it is holding on to strength and fitness that would otherwise slip away quietly. The plan is built around whichever describes you.
Average for your age is a description, not a limit.
We take a different approach.
Ascent is built around a limited membership. Capacity is capped deliberately, so every member has reliable access and a clinician who knows their history.
Membership
What we do
The Ascent Movement and Capacity Profile
Click above so see what we test and the report we give to all members annually.
Membership includes
The Ascent Movement and Capacity Profile at the start, repeated every year
One clinically appropriate contact each week in the format that suits the member’s needs: a 45-minute clinical session, supervised rehabilitation, performance testing, lifestyle management or a video check-in while travelling.
Aerobic capacity and body-composition testing on a schedule matched to your goals
Written reports after every assessment and test
A direct line for questions about your plan between visits plus exclusive access to research reviews written by Dr. Murray on the latest health and longevity research.
Click here to see his latest review on the effects of caffeine timing on sleep.
For a specific, short-term problem, a focused care pathway will also be available outside membership.
Ascent is not a gym, a spa or a wellness brand, and it is not a high-volume clinic. It works alongside your physician rather than replacing them. It also isn’t a programme with a finish line: there is no eight-week package, no fixed protocol, and no point at which you graduate and the file closes. What you are joining is a clinical relationship that gets more useful the longer it runs, because the person managing it has more of your history to work from. The membership is the mechanism that makes that possible.
Ascent is built for people who want to understand their body, take an active part in looking after it, and keep doing what matters to them for decades to come.
One member is a runner who wants to stop cycling through the same injury. Another runs a business and needs clear decisions about a body that has to keep up. A third wants to keep travelling on her own and stay on the floor with her grandchildren. What they share is a preference for depth and clear reasoning.
Ascent is not the right fit for someone looking only for passive treatment. It is for people who want a plan, and want to understand it.
Who this is for
Curious how this would work for you?
Ascent isn’t open yet, so there is nothing to book and nothing to apply for right now. The best way to stay close to how this develops, including when founding membership opens, is to join the mailing list.