Can You Really Reverse Ageing? What UAE Doctors Say Extends Your Healthspan

The specialists Gulf News spoke to started by redefining the goal. Dr. Birjis Shaikh, a specialist in internal medicine at Aster Cedars Hospital, put it simply: longevity is not just about living longer, but about living longer in good health. Dr. Ksenia Butova, founder of the longevity clinic Longevium, framed it the same way — the years you stay physically active, mentally sharp and free of major chronic disease. That idea has a name: healthspan, and it is the number worth chasing.

What UAE doctors say actually works

Ask what genuinely moves the needle and the list is unglamorous. According to Dr. Shaikh, the habits with real evidence behind them are regular exercise, good nutrition and a healthy body composition, adequate sleep, not smoking, keeping blood pressure and cholesterol in check, building muscle strength, and staying on top of preventive screening. Notice how many of those are simply a consequence of training consistently. You do not need a clinic subscription to start — you need a plan you will actually repeat, and building that habit is exactly what a coach is for. It is why so many members begin with a few sessions alongside a personal trainer.

The hype the doctors want you to ignore

On the other side of the ledger sits the expensive stuff. The doctors were clear that biological-age tests — DNA-methylation clocks, telomere testing — are, at best, an extra tool for tracking risk, not proof your body has been made younger. Dr. Joseph Youssef of Medcare Royal Speciality Hospital warned against reading a better test score as literally turning back your age; improving your fitness and disease-risk profile matters far more than the number. As for supplements, IV drips, NAD products and drugs such as metformin and rapamycin, the doctors said the long-term human evidence simply is not there yet. In other words, the cheapest interventions are still the best-proven ones.

Strength training for longevity: the weekly sweet spot

If one habit has hardened from “good idea” into measured science, it is lifting. A large analysis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, drawing on roughly 30 years of data from more than 147,000 people, found a clear sweet spot: about 90 to 120 minutes of strength training a week was linked to a 13% lower risk of dying from any cause, with bigger reductions for heart-related (19%) and neurological (27%) deaths, as reported by Healthline. Beyond 120 minutes a week, the extra benefit flattened out — good news if you are time-poor. It is observational data, so it shows a strong link rather than proof, but the direction is consistent.

Aerobic work stacks on top of it. Harvard Health, citing a 2022 study, reported that people who did at least two strength sessions a week plus about 2.5 hours of moderate-to-vigorous cardio were roughly 30% less likely to die over an eight-year window. That is the case for mixing a HIIT session or two into a week that already includes a barbell strength class.

How to extend your healthspan this week

You do not need to overhaul your life. Pick a realistic weekly floor and build from there:

1. Two full-body strength sessions, working toward that 90-to-120-minute band over time.
2. Around 2.5 hours of moderate cardio, split however suits your schedule.
3. Seven to nine hours of sleep — the recovery window where most repair happens.
4. One preventive check a year, so you are tracking the numbers that matter.

Does sleep really count as training?

It does. Sleep is when much of the body’s repair work happens, and consistently getting seven to nine hours supports recovery, metabolism and mood. There is a neat feedback loop, too: the research summarised alongside the strength findings notes that people who added resistance training tended to fall asleep sooner and spend less time lying awake. Train hard, sleep better, recover, repeat.

Start your own longevity habit at GymNation

Reversing the clock may be a fantasy, but adding good years to your life is not — and it starts with one session you actually enjoy. Come and try it for yourself: grab a free day pass and put the evidence to work.

Sources:
gulfnews.com
healthline.com
health.harvard.edu

The opinions shared in the GymNation blog articles are solely those of the respective authors and may not represent the perspectives of GymNation or any member of the GymNation team.