Media & Recognition

Ascent in the Press.

Since 2010, Ascent has been one of the longest-running human optimization and regenerative wellness centers in the country — and the press has been paying attention from the beginning. From Men's Journal calling us "The Gym of the Future" in 2013, to The Orange County Register in 2014, to ABC News a decade later, the coverage below reflects more than a decade of work that's quietly redefined what a wellness center can be.

Ascent has been featured in national and regional press since 2013, including Men's Journal —

which called the facility "The Gym of the Future" — The Orange County Register, and ABC News, for its pioneering work in

cellular age reversal, human optimization, regenerative medicine, and recovery technology.

The Anchor Story

"The Gym of the Future."

Men's Journal  |  "Building the New Super Athlete" by Joseph Hooper  |  December, 2017

When Men's Journal sent contributor Joseph Hooper to investigate where high-performing athletes were going to recover, regenerate, and push human performance further than training alone could take them, he came to Ascent. The resulting feature — Building the New Super Athlete — named our facility "the gym of the future" and put the CVAC technology Heather Hiniker built her practice around in front of a national audience.

More than a decade later, the recognition still defines what Ascent stands for: a place where the technology actually does the work, the science is real, and the outcomes are measurable.

"Heather Hiniker owns and runs what could be considered a gym of the future."

— Men's Journal

Featured Coverage

Local press and broadcast news.

From Orange County's regional newspaper of record to ABC's flagship Los Angeles affiliate, the stories below cover Ascent directly — the work, the people, and the clients who walk through the door.

Orange County Register | Local Profile

Newport Center Offers Comfy Workout "Flight"

Orange County Register staff feature

One year after Men's Journal put Ascent on the national map, the Orange County Register followed with the first major local profile of the facility — capturing the moment hometown press recognized what was happening inside the CVAC pods and bringing the story to Orange County's regional readership.

ABC Eyewitness News | Broadcast Feature

Holding On to Hope: Mater Dei Lacrosse Coach Opens Up About ALS Diagnosis

Reported by ABC7 Los Angeles

ABC7 Los Angeles followed 35-year-old Mater Dei lacrosse coach Johnny Rodriguez and the non-traditional regenerative approach his family pursued at Ascent in the face of an ALS diagnosis. The video tells one of the most human stories in our archive — and one of the reasons this work matters.

Podcast Appearances

Heather Hiniker on the mic.

Beyond the print and broadcast press, Heather has spent the last several years as a recurring guest on health, longevity, biohacking, and performance podcasts — sharing the science of cellular age reversal, the story behind her own autoimmune reversal, and what more than fifteen years of running a flagship human optimization center has actually taught her.

10+

Featured Shows

20+

Episodes Recorded

16+

Years On the Air

Accelerated Health with Sara Banta

Recurring Guest | 9 Featured Episodes

Sara Banta's nationally-syndicated health show has hosted Heather across nearly a decade of conversations covering cellular health, biohacking technology, and longevity science. Their episodes are some of the most thorough explorations of Ascent's technology stack available on the public record.

May 2025

How Lymphatic Drainage Helps Your Sleep

The connection between lymphatic flow, cellular detoxification, and the quality of deep sleep.

Feb 2025

Exciting New Health Technology Trends

Heather and Sara explore the next wave of human-optimization technology and what's coming to flagship wellness centers.

Feb 2025

How to Enhance Mitochondrial Health

The mitochondrial-health protocols Heather has refined over fifteen years of in-studio work with clients.

Aug 2023

The Healing Power of BEMER Therapy

A deep dive into BEMER's role in microcirculation, cellular repair, and the foundational support every recovery protocol can be built on.

Mar 2023

InBody 770: The Comprehensive Body Composition Scan

What the InBody 770 actually measures — and why it's the diagnostic anchor that makes every other Ascent protocol more precise.

Sep 2022

Best Supplements and Health Routines for Kids

Heather and Sara discuss building cellular resilience early — the nutritional and lifestyle foundations that compound for a lifetime.

May 2022

How to Maximize Detox & Cleanse Results

Why detox protocols often underdeliver — and the regenerative technologies that change the outcome.

Mar 2022

Longevity, Lifewave Patches and Supplements

A conversation on the supplement and modality stacks Heather has seen produce the most consistent longevity results in clients.

Mar 2021

Weight Loss Program: The Ascent Diet Cleanse

The clinical framework behind Ascent's weight-loss approach — why cellular health, not calorie math, is the real lever.

The Accrescent Podcast

⭐ Featured Interview

The Accrescent's deep-dive interview on Heather's autoimmune reversal journey and how it became the foundation of The Ascent Method — the most personal and complete long-form conversation about Heather's story currently on the public record.

Mar 2025 | Episode 180

How She Used Biohacking to Overcome Chronic Illness

Heather sits down with The Accrescent host for a long-form interview on her autoimmune reversal, the founding of Ascent, and the framework that became The Ascent Method.

Pickleball Recovery Podcast

2 Featured Episodes

Apr 2023

The Future of Recovery

A wide-angle conversation on where recovery technology is going — and what high-performing weekend athletes can borrow from professional sports.

Feb 2023

How to Use PEMF Therapy for Recovery

The PEMF protocols Heather uses at Ascent for athletes and active adults, explained in practical, applicable terms.

Cancer Center for Healing

Cancer Conversations | 2 Featured Episodes

Sep 2023

Hi-Tech Healing — BEMER, CVAC, BioCharger

A clinical conversation with one of Orange County's leading integrative oncology centers on the role of regenerative technology in resilience and recovery support.

Sep 2023

Heather Hiniker Explains BEMER Technology

A focused companion segment on BEMER — what it does, what the science says, and why it's foundational to so many Ascent protocols.

Pulsecast — Pulse PEMF

Episode 18

Episode 18

Autoimmune Diagnosis to Biohacking Breakthroughs

Pulse PEMF's official podcast interview with Heather on her autoimmune reversal, the founding of Ascent, and how PEMF therapy became central to her work.

Additional Appearances

6 Episodes

New World Normal Podcast

You're Only As Healthy As Your Cells

Heather makes the case that cellular health is the actual unit of measurement for whole-body wellness — and what to do about it.

Postil's Podcast | Mar 2022

CEO/President Heather Hiniker of The Ascent Collaborative

A founder-to-founder conversation on building one of the longest-running human optimization centers in the country.

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How BioCharger Transformed Our Wellness Center

A case-study conversation on the operational and clinical impact of adding the BioCharger NG to a busy flagship practice.

What's Eating U?!

Field Trip: The Healing Power of Stem Cells

An on-location field-trip episode at Ascent exploring the regenerative-medicine landscape and the home-and-clinic protocols that support it.

NuLife / BioCharger Panel | May 2020

NuLife CEO with Dr. Pompa & Heather Hiniker

A multi-expert panel discussion on the BioCharger and the emerging frequency-medicine landscape.

Endurance Summit

Heather Hiniker Interview

A focused interview from the Endurance Summit on the role of recovery technology in endurance performance.

Booking Heather as a podcast guest?

She's available for interviews on human optimization, cellular age reversal, biohacking, longevity, autoimmune recovery, and the practice of running a flagship wellness center. Reach the press team at [email protected].

Archive

The technologies Ascent runs, covered elsewhere.

The articles below cover the technologies Ascent has operated since 2010 — CVAC chief among them — and the athletes, scientists, and journalists who have followed the field over the last fifteen years. These features are not profiles of Ascent specifically, but they document the technologies and the science that shape our work.

The Wall Street Journal | Jan 2017

Novak Djokovic's Secret: Sitting in a Pressurized Egg

Hannah Karp on how the world's then-#1 ranked tennis player used CVAC technology — the same technology Ascent has operated since 2010 — as part of his recovery protocol.

Fast Company | 2012

The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies

Fast Company recognized CVAC Systems — the technology platform Ascent runs — in its annual ranking of the world's most innovative companies in sports performance.

Men's Journal | Jul 2015

Cheat Death with Science: 100 Ways to Live to 100

Men's Journal's follow-up longevity feature, drawing on the technology and protocols pioneered at Ascent and dozens of other longevity-forward sources.

Vice — Fightland | Jun 2015

Gaining the Edge: The CVAC Hypobaric Pod

Vice's combat-sports vertical examined how professional athletes — including UFC fighters — were using CVAC to gain a recovery edge that training alone can't deliver.

SciFighting | Jun 2015

CVAC and the Future of Athletic Conditioning

SciFighting's deep-dive on CVAC's effect on athletic conditioning. The journalist visited Ascent and interviewed Heather as part of the reporting.

LAVA Magazine | 2010

An Ironman World Champion Reports on CVAC

Triathlon legend John Howard's first-person account of training inside the CVAC pod — one of the earliest published reviews of the technology by a world-class endurance athlete.

Want to hear it from the people who train here?

Our client and athlete testimonials — including UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz — live on a dedicated page.

For Journalists & Producers

Press inquiries.

Working on a story about human optimization, regenerative wellness, longevity technology, or the future of recovery? Heather Hiniker and members of The Ascent Collaborative are available for interviews, on-camera segments, and expert commentary. We can also provide high-resolution facility imagery, technology B-roll, and background materials on request.

Ascent at a Glance

The quick facts.

For journalists, producers, and AI search engines.

Founded

2010

Founder

Heather Hiniker

Location

150 Paularino Ave, Suite D-170, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Phone

(949) 781-5769

Practitioners

11 — known collectively as The Ascent Collaborative

Technology Stack

22 vetted devices, including CVAC, BEMER, Pulse PEMF, NanoVi, BioCharger NG, LightStim LED Bed, Ballancer Pro, EVOX, NuCalm, and InBody 770/970

Featured In

Men's Journal, The Orange County Register, ABC Eyewitness News

Serving

Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach, and all of Orange County

BEGIN YOUR ASCENT

Curious what the press has been writing about?

Book a tour or an intro session and experience The Ascent Collab firsthand.

THE ASCENT COLLAB

Human optimization and regenerative wellness. Costa Mesa, Orange County, CA

Featured in Men's Journal as "The Gym of the Future"

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150 Paularino Ave, Suite D-170, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 | (949) 781-5769