LIVV Cardiff Is San Diego’s First Private Health Club Built Around Longevity Medicine

San Diego has no shortage of gyms, spas, and wellness studios. What it didn’t have — until now — was a members-only private health club where the therapies are clinically grounded, the protocols are built around biomarker data, and the goal is measurable longevity rather than a relaxing afternoon.

That’s what LIVV Cardiff is. Founded by Dr. Jason Phan, naturopathic physician and founder of LIVV Natural, the Cardiff location is a different category of health club — one that sits at the intersection of naturopathic medicine in San Diego and performance medicine. Members get access to cold plunge, infrared sauna, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, NAD+ IV infusions, peptide therapy, hormone optimization, and a full medical aesthetics suite — all under one roof, all supervised by a medical team.

This post covers what LIVV Cardiff offers, the science behind its core therapies, how the membership model works, and what makes this different from the other wellness options in San Diego.

Three Pillars: Performance Wellness, Anti-Aging Medicine, and Medical Aesthetics

LIVV Cardiff is organized around three distinct pillars, each covering a different dimension of what it means to age well and perform at a high level.

Performance Wellness covers the therapies that support recovery, physical capacity, and day-to-day physiological function: cold plunge, infrared sauna, therapeutic massage, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. These are not spa treatments — each one has a clinical literature behind it and a specific mechanism of action that determines when and how it should be used.

Anti-Aging Medicine addresses the cellular and hormonal foundations of how the body ages: NAD+ IV infusions, peptide therapy, stem cell therapy, and hormone optimization. The therapies in this pillar target processes like mitochondrial decline, hormonal imbalance, and cellular senescence — the biological events that determine how fast the body loses function over time.

Medical Aesthetics rounds out the offering with minimally invasive cosmetic treatments — HydraFacials, Botox and wrinkle relaxers, Morpheus8, Forma, IPL, and laser therapies. These are administered by the same medical team managing the clinical protocols, which means aesthetic treatments are approached with the same attention to skin health and tissue biology as the internal medicine side.

What ties all three together is the starting point: comprehensive biomarker testing. Every member at LIVV Cardiff receives a personalized treatment plan built from their labs — not a generic protocol. The therapies are chosen based on where someone’s numbers actually are, not on what sounds appealing.

Cold Plunge at LIVV Cardiff: What the Recovery Data Shows

Cold water immersion has been used in athletic recovery for decades. The research on why it works — and how well it works compared to other recovery methods — has gotten considerably more precise in recent years.

A 2023 meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine analyzed 28 studies comparing cold water immersion against active recovery, contrast water therapy, and warm water immersion following strenuous exercise. Cold plunge outperformed all other modalities for reducing muscle soreness and produced superior perceptual recovery outcomes across multiple timepoints after exercise.

The mechanisms behind this involve vasoconstriction and the subsequent vasodilation that occurs during rewarming — the alternating blood flow flushes metabolic waste products from muscle tissue and reduces inflammatory signaling at the local level. Cold exposure also triggers a norepinephrine release that has documented effects on mood, alertness, and pain threshold.

For members using LIVV Cardiff as a performance recovery tool, cold plunge sessions pair naturally with infrared sauna — a combination known as contrast therapy. The science behind contrast therapy involves alternating thermal stress that drives cardiovascular adaptation, accelerates tissue repair, and produces a recovery response faster than either modality alone.

Infrared Sauna and Longevity: The Cardiovascular Evidence

Infrared sauna differs from traditional Finnish sauna in that it heats the body directly rather than heating the surrounding air. This allows for a lower ambient temperature while producing a comparable core temperature increase — making sessions more tolerable for longer durations and for people who find conventional high-heat saunas uncomfortable.

The mortality data on regular sauna use are some of the more compelling long-term data in preventive medicine. A 20-year Finnish cohort study of 2,315 men found that men who used sauna 4 to 7 times per week had a 63% lower risk of sudden cardiac death and a 40% lower all-cause mortality risk compared to men who used sauna once per week. The relationship was dose-dependent across all cardiovascular outcomes measured — more frequent sauna use produced progressively better results.

The proposed mechanisms include improvements in arterial compliance and endothelial function, reduced systemic inflammation, and cardiovascular adaptations similar to moderate aerobic exercise. Regular sauna exposure has also been associated with lower levels of C-reactive protein and improved heat shock protein expression — both markers of cellular stress resilience.

For LIVV Cardiff members, an infrared sauna is available as a standalone session or as part of a structured contrast therapy protocol with a cold plunge. The medical team can advise on frequency based on individual goals and cardiovascular history.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at LIVV Cardiff: Cognition, Recovery, and Aging

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) delivers 100% pure oxygen at atmospheric pressures above normal — typically 1.5 to 3 atmospheres. At that pressure, oxygen dissolves directly into blood plasma, saturating tissues at concentrations they can’t reach through normal breathing. The downstream effects span multiple systems: tissue repair, mitochondrial function, angiogenesis, stem cell mobilization, and neurological recovery.

Healthy adults aged 64 and older, through 60 HBOT sessions, found significant improvement in global cognitive function, with attention and information processing speed showing the most pronounced gains. MRI perfusion imaging confirmed increased cerebral blood flow in frontal regions, providing an objective neuroimaging basis for the cognitive outcomes reported.

On the physical performance and anti-aging side, the same protocols that produced cognitive gains also produced measurable improvements in VO2Max and cardiovascular function in sedentary older adults. LIVV’s existing blog on hyperbaric oxygen therapy covers the athletic recovery applications in more detail — the short version is that HBOT reduces recovery time after soft tissue injury, decreases inflammation, and accelerates return-to-performance timelines.

At LIVV Cardiff, HBOT is available as part of the Performance Wellness and Anti-Aging Medicine pillars. Session protocols are individualized — the number of sessions, pressure settings, and timing relative to other therapies are determined through a clinical consultation rather than a fixed menu.

NAD+ Infusions: Why Cellular Energy Declines With Age and What IV Delivery Does About It

NAD+ — nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide — is a coenzyme found in every cell in the body. It’s the molecule that mitochondria use to convert nutrients into ATP, and it’s a direct substrate for sirtuins, the proteins that regulate DNA repair, gene expression, and the cellular stress response. Without adequate NAD+, mitochondria produce less energy and accumulate more damage over time.

The problem is that NAD+ levels decline with age across nearly every tissue type. Research cited in a 2024 bioRxiv preprint on NMN supplementation found that NAD+ can fall by up to 50% in some tissues during aging. The same research found that restoring NAD+ precursor availability increased physical activity, maintained youthful gene expression patterns, and reduced frailty in mice, with effects associated with changes in gut microbiome composition linked to lower systemic inflammation. As of early 2024, at least 21 human clinical trials on NAD+ supplementation had been registered globally.

The distinction between oral NAD+ precursors and IV delivery matters practically. Oral NMN and NR supplements raise NAD+ levels, but absorption is variable, and the dose reaching target tissues depends on GI function, first-pass liver metabolism, and individual differences in conversion enzymes. NAD+ IV therapy bypasses all of that — the NAD+ enters the bloodstream directly and is immediately available to cells. For members pursuing anti-aging protocols, the IV route produces faster and more predictable tissue saturation than oral supplementation.

At LIVV Cardiff, NAD+ infusions are offered as part of the Anti-Aging Medicine pillar. They’re frequently combined with other IV nutrient therapies and timed relative to peptide and hormone protocols based on individual lab data and treatment goals.

Peptide Therapy and Hormone Optimization: The Clinical Core of Anti-Aging Medicine

Peptide therapy and hormone optimization sit at the center of what separates a longevity-focused medical clinic from a conventional wellness facility. Most spas don’t run hormone panels. Most gyms don’t prescribe growth hormone secretagogues. LIVV Cardiff does both, through the same medical team that manages the rest of the clinical protocols. The peptide therapy program at LIVV covers a wide range of applications — from growth hormone optimization and body composition to cognitive function, recovery, and sexual health.

Peptides work because they mimic or stimulate naturally occurring signaling molecules in the body. Growth hormone secretagogues like CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin, for example, signal the pituitary to release more growth hormone — without suppressing the feedback loop that regulates natural production. This is a different mechanism than exogenous hormone administration, and it’s one reason peptide protocols are increasingly used in longevity and anti-aging medicine as an alternative or complement to traditional HRT.

Hormone optimization at LIVV Cardiff covers men’s and women’s hormones — testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, thyroid, and cortisol. The men’s hormone optimization program and the women’s hormone optimization program both start from comprehensive lab panels rather than symptom-based assumptions. Treatment plans are adjusted based on follow-up testing, not on how someone feels on a given day.

Medical Aesthetics at LIVV Cardiff: Skin Health as Part of the Longevity Protocol

Medical aesthetics at LIVV Cardiff isn’t a separate department. It operates as the third pillar of the same longevity framework, which means aesthetic treatments are selected and administered with the same attention to tissue biology and long-term skin health that guides the clinical protocols.

The aesthetics menu includes HydraFacials, Botox and wrinkle relaxers, Morpheus8 microneedling with radiofrequency, Forma laser skin tightening, IPL photofacials, and laser hair removal. These are all minimally invasive treatments administered by trained practitioners in a clinical setting — not a spa where aesthetics and medicine are treated as unrelated.

The connection between aesthetics and the broader longevity focus is more direct than it might seem. Skin aging is a reliable external marker of internal biological aging — collagen loss, oxidative damage, and reduced cellular turnover in skin tissue mirror the same processes happening in other organs. Treating skin health as part of an anti-aging protocol, rather than as a separate cosmetic concern, is consistent with how the clinic approaches aging generally.

How the LIVV Cardiff Membership Model Works

LIVV Cardiff operates on a tiered membership structure with three levels — Emerald, Diamond, and Platinum. Each tier builds on the previous one, with expanded access to therapies, treatments, and exclusive member benefits. All tiers include access to social events, wellness classes, and health products curated for the LIVV Cardiff member base.

The membership application process includes a referral requirement — applicants typically need to be introduced by an existing member. This structure is intentional: it keeps the environment at a specific density, ensures members share a general orientation toward their health, and maintains the kind of atmosphere that makes LIVV Cardiff function as a private club rather than a commercial facility. During the founding member period, this referral requirement is waived, giving early applicants the chance to join without a referral and participate in shaping the membership base from the start.

The space itself was designed by Julien Albertini of Asthetique Group. The aesthetic runs toward curved walls, considered lighting, and artisanal pieces imported from Bali — a setting that reads as a private club, not a clinical office or a hotel spa.

LIVV to Give: Access Beyond the Members-Only Model

Each LIVV Cardiff membership funds a free membership at LIVV’s public clinic for a member of the local community facing financial barriers. The initiative is called LIVV to Give, and it runs as a direct one-to-one contribution — every paying Cardiff member enables access for someone who wouldn’t otherwise have it.

This connects Cardiff to LIVV Little Italy, the public-facing LIVV location in San Diego, where the same quality of naturopathic care and IV therapy is available without membership requirements. The two locations operate on different models but share the same medical team and clinical standards.

The LIVV to Give structure reflects a position Dr. Phan has held since founding LIVV in 2016: that access to this level of preventive and restorative medicine shouldn’t be limited to people who can afford the full private membership. The mechanism makes it possible to maintain the Cardiff model while extending its reach.

FAQ

What is LIVV Cardiff?

LIVV Cardiff is a private, members-only longevity club in San Diego built around biomarker testing, personalized medical protocols, and advanced therapies designed to support long-term health, performance, recovery, and healthy aging.

Is LIVV Cardiff open to the public?

No. LIVV Cardiff is a private, members-only health club. Access is limited and available through an application process designed to maintain a personalized, concierge-level experience for members.

What does a LIVV Cardiff membership include?

LIVV Cardiff membership includes advanced biomarker testing, physician consultations, ongoing medical guidance, a personalized longevity protocol, access to contrast therapy and recovery amenities, and concierge-level support from the LIVV medical team. Additional therapies and services may also be available based on membership tier.

How do you apply for LIVV Cardiff membership?

The process begins with an online application. If there is mutual alignment, applicants may be invited to an informational call, followed by a private tour and discovery consultation with LIVV’s medical team before a membership invitation is extended.

What makes LIVV Cardiff different from a regular wellness club or spa?

LIVV Cardiff combines longevity medicine, performance wellness, and medical aesthetics under one roof, with protocols guided by lab work and physician oversight rather than one-size-fits-all treatments. Instead of focusing on occasional wellness services, the club is built around ongoing health optimization, prevention, recovery, and long-term vitality.

Applying for LIVV Cardiff Membership

LIVV Cardiff is San Diego’s first private health club built specifically around longevity medicine — cold plunge, infrared sauna, HBOT, NAD+ infusions, peptide therapy, hormone optimization, and medical aesthetics, all coordinated through a single medical team working from your lab data. If you want to see what the facility looks like and understand which membership tier fits your goals, the starting point is the LIVV Cardiff membership page.

Founding member applications are currently open with the referral requirement waived. If you have questions about which therapies apply to your situation or want to talk through your labs before applying, a consultation with the LIVV medical team is the right first step. The clinic uses comprehensive biomarker testing to build treatment plans from the ground up — the membership works best when it starts from a clear picture of where your health actually stands.