Donna Marts has shown off her strength over 65 years. Literally.
In her 40’s, Marts started lifting free weights at the gym. She blossomed, progressing into heavier, heavier and heavier things. Twenty-odd years later, the 10-time world champion powerlifter has racked up her accolades, including one for a record-setting near-400 pound deadlift.
Like many exercise buffs that call Jackson Hole home, Marts is looking to what’s next. Breaking existing powerlifting records and hiking the Sleeping Indian are on her bucket list. Still, there’s one obstacle that even the most fit struggle to outrun.
”You lose strength as you age,” Marts said. “There’s no magic trick for that.”
When it comes to powerlifting, Marts is focusing on improving her squat and deadlift form to compensate for Father Time. More broadly, she’s joined other Teton County residents who have recently looked to so-called longevity care.
To some people, the word “longevity” might suggest the premise of wanting to live forever, or at least longer than what might be biologically predicated. But for Marts and others, that’s not necessarily the case. Instead, the hope is that certain lifestyle changes may lead to a quality life for longer.
In Jackson Hole, that ideal could mean keeping up until the clock runs out.
“Ideally, I would be 105, just gotten through my tram lap, and drop dead,” Marts said. “I don’t want to be sitting on the couch, watching other people enjoy things. I want to be able to do things until I drop.”
For Marts and over a dozen other residents, optimizing one’s lifespan involves care at Grand Health, a new longevity clinic in Wilson. Beyond the specific advice she gets there, her goals may help paint a picture of what sets aging in the Tetons apart.
”We live in the most gorgeous place in the universe,” Marts said. “Why would you not want to be able to hike everything possible?”
For over a decade, Tobin Dennis has treated people through some of the worst days of their lives. An emergency medicine physician at St. John’s Health, he is responsible for helping people who roll through the emergency department. Responding to accidents, strokes and heart attacks comes with the territory.
Dennis, who grew up in Jackson, initially did his residency at Virginia Tech, where he noticed that admitted patients were generally sicker than Teton County residents. More young people, for example, came in with cardiovascular crises. When he started working at St. John’s Health in 2019, he observed a difference in people’s health.
”I saw the transition from seeing populations in Virginia compared to the population in Teton County, and just the differences in outcomes that we had, which I thought was most likely due to the physical fitness levels of everybody,” Dennis said. He thought “there’s probably something significant to what we can do to change outcomes by orders of magnitude.”
The idea of longevity, which can mean different things to different people, caught his eye. For Dennis, longevity meant improving the quality — though not necessarily the length — of someone’s life for longer. Others agreed.
“You could be 90 years old, hit the slopes … so you have the physical functionality to get out and actually do activities that you want to do,” said Thomas M. Holland, a physician-scientist at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago. “The idea of longevity, or being a super-ager, is maintaining your cognitive and physical functionality for as long as possible.”
Last year, Dennis’ interest materialized into the opening of a longevity practice, dubbed Grand Health. Upon signing up for an out-of-pocket quarterly fee — ranging from $1,250 to $6,250 — clients could access providers who would keep tabs on their diet, physical fitness and progression toward personalized goals.
Grand Health’s focuses include evaluating muscle mass, body composition, trying to prevent heart attacks, and improving a biomarker called VO2 max — the maximum rate of oxygen a person can consume while exercising. Higher VO2 maxes mean that a person’s heart and lungs are more effectively bringing oxygen to muscles, which has been linked with increased longevity.
Holland backed up the science behind Grand Health’s biomarker tracking, saying certain markers could help monitor risk for heart attack, stroke or diabetes.
“Having objective data that tells you either that you’re stable, that you’re improving, or that you need a bit more work, is important,” Holland said. “Having all of these metrics, being a bit more thoughtful and having a bit more precision and approach is an ideal scenario.”
After measuring a client’s base, Grand Health then works with people over time to get them closer to their given long-term health goals. That setup was ideal to Holland, who said more oversight and accountability could help people stay on task.
“Having a hands-on, very personalized, precise intervention, it’s good,” said Holland, who runs a clinical trial evaluating the impact of lifestyle changes on cognitive decline. “Certainly, clinics that are directed toward it are going to have a bit more of a plan of action in how they’re approaching these components.“
As a powerlifter, Marts was initially drawn to Grand Health for its DEXA scan, an X-ray machine that analyzes bone health and muscle mass. She decided to give the facility’s other offerings a try.
“I thought ‘Well yeah, maybe you can turn this old powerlifter into a more healthy person,’” Marts said. “Instead of just a strong old lady.”
The clinic is intended to be preventative, Dennis said. People who have colds or other acute illness should see their primary care doctors, he said.
“I’m not a specialist in primary care,” Dennis said. “I’m quick to admit when I’m out of my element.”
Longevity is appealing for Marts as she starts to think of her life after lifting. Though she doesn’t plan to throw in the towel on exercise, she’s prepping to eventually transition from brute-strength lifting to more endurance-focused activities like hiking, biking and kayaking.
“I’m starting to realize that I would rather spend more time in the outdoors, because we live in the most gorgeous place in the universe,” Marts said. “I’ve had a good run. Couple more world records maybe, or bump the ones I have, then maybe I can hang it up.”
Challenging oneself with new things is an important part of maintaining both physical and cognitive longevity, Holland said.
“That’s such a lovely mentality to have,” Holland said of Marts’ goals. “That’s some really great forward thinking, as well — what’s the next step in my evolution?”
Goals vary from person to person. One person might want to walk the Great Wall of China, while another might want to be able to get down on the ground and play with their grandkids.
“It’s always great fun talking to people and understanding what those motivations are,” Holland said. “But it also helps guide how you’re doing things.”
Mercedes Huff, a real estate agent who moved to the valley 54 years ago, doesn’t go jumping into Corbet’s Couloir. Instead, the 76-year-old’s longevity goals involve hitting the groomers with her two grandchildren.
“It’s not just a question of adding years,” Huff, who is a Grand Health client, said. “You want to add them in a healthy way that you feel good, and you feel like doing things and participating and being part of the community.”
Those who might not have the money for a specialized clinic could still find ways to improve their longevity. Being thoughtful about physical activity — including avoiding things that would lead to injury — strengthening diet, and keeping oneself socially engaged were all good starting points, Holland said.
“It’s never too early or too late to start making positive lifestyle changes,” Holland said. “There’s always an opportunity to improve health, and especially improve health for enhancing health and lifespan, and in that vein, longevity.
“For everybody, today is day zero,” he added.
As Marts thought about her goals, she said she intends to climb Sleeping Indian this year. It won’t be easy, she said. But that didn’t seem to matter.
”We have a finite time on this earth,” she said. “You might as well maximize what you can.”
