The Ceo Of Life Time Says He Takes 45-50 Supplements A Day For Healthy Aging. Here's How He Decides What To Include.

Life Time; Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI

• The CEO of Life Time Fitness says he takes about 45-50 supplements every morning.
• But he doesn't want you copying his strategy.
• He gets bloodwork done regularly, a technique longevity doctors endorse.

Bahram Akradi says that he's so fit, he can challenge people half his age at the gym.

"At 63, I'm competing with 33-year-olds," the CEO of Life Time Fitness told Business Insider.

He says folks who observe his daily routines and rituals often want to know his secrets for staying strong and healthy.

"They say, 'tell me what you're taking,' and I'm like, 'well, what I'm taking is customized to me. You don't need to be taking what I'm taking.'"

He subscribes to the same supplement-taking strategy that's become increasingly popular in longevity circles and at specialty clinics around the world: "Precision medicine." Test, then treat, according to your own results.

15 years in the making

Bahram Akradi founded Life Time Fitness in 1992. "My vision was to create a place where you wanted to go," he said.

Life Time Fitness

For Akradi, the technique is nothing new. He says he's been taking "about 45 to 50" pills every morning for many years. Not every capsule is unique; he estimates there are about 35 to 40 different compounds in the mix.

"I have been doing what I'm doing for the last 15 years," he said. Every four months, he goes in for testing to reassess his regimen. "I do my blood work, and I adjust my supplements."

Most doctors would tell you this is probably overkill. Comprehensive bloodwork like this can cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

Besides, getting bloodwork done once a year at an annual exam (ideally, one that's covered by insurance) is likely good enough to gauge what major supplement changes may be in order. But Akradi thinks of this as his own form of high-end seasonal housekeeping.

"My routine is: do my blood work every 120 days and then, 'oh, I don't have enough zinc in my deal,' add a little zinc. Or I have too much iron, take a little iron out," he said. "My strong recommendation to people, if they can afford it, is: don't take supplements generically."

A rocky road bringing his technique to the masses

In 2010, Life Time Fitness successfully set a new world record for the world's largest cycling class: 1,052 people attended.

Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images

In 2024, Akradi took a stab at his dream: adding a longevity clinic to a Life Time gym near the company's headquarters in Minneapolis.

The clinic, called Miora, sits in the posh, underground branch of Life Time below the arena where the Minnesota Timberwolves play. Doctors on staff can prescribe supplements and medications, including GLP-1 drugs for weight loss. "You come in, we take your blood, we go through your assessment," Akradi said.

Miora doesn't take insurance, sidestepping the US healthcare system and getting customers to pay out of pocket. Within six months, Akradi said, the clinic was profitable.

This is Life Time's second foray into clinical care. Akradi tried once, over a decade ago, to pivot into doctor's office care for gym-goers when he established the first "LT Proactive Care" clinic in 2013. The model relied on insurance and didn't work so well. Those clinics all eventually closed.

With one solid proof of concept, Akradi is planning to open at least two more Miora clinics before the end of Q1 2025, one in Florida and the other in Illinois. He views it as a natural evolution for the fitness company he founded in 1992, trying to show that Life Time is a complement — not an alternative — to alluring quick fixes, like diets and weight-loss pills.

"The goal was to build a fully integrated, healthy living and healthy aging company," he said.

Sometimes, less is more (when it comes to supplements)

Comprehensive blood work can help you determine whether it makes sense to use supplements. But it isn't a cheap strategy.

Westend61/Getty Images

Miora isn't the only place doing tailored supplement prescriptions.

There are longevity clinics sprouting up around the world taking a similar approach to supplementation — deciding a regimen based on bloodwork.

Andrea Maier, one of the leading academic supplement researchers in aging and longevity, says less is usually more when it comes to supplements for longevity.

"In our clinic, we are de-prescribing," Maier recently told Business Insider. "We first have to diagnose what's wrong, what somebody needs, and that might differ."