There are two meanings I have intended for this term, ‘Longevity Athlete’ and I would like it to include more people under both of these.

First, it could be an athlete who highly values longevity – their long-term well-being – and chooses sports activities and trains in such a way to promote that outcome and avoids activities and behaviors that could threaten it.

Second, it could be a person who highly values longevity and pursues that outcome with the vision and focus that athletes demonstrate, though this person does not necessarily do sports or athletics.

Longevity is a statistical game. There are many, many factors involved in how long and how well a person lives, way too complex for our ability to calculate and predict for any individual. But each person can choose to add beneficial behaviors and remove harmful ones in order to stack the deck in favor of this outcome. Doing sports and being ‘athletic’ could be helpful to the goal of longevity, but it is not necessary. One could be sufficiently active with their body in many other ways.

Some people are athletes, or athletic, and then use that aspect of their life to give them goals, structure and habits that promote longevity.

Some people are not athletes yet they work on their health with the deliberate, focused attention of an athlete.

Both of these are the kind of people I am referring to with that title ‘Longevity Athlete’.

***

© 2019, Mediterra International, LLC. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mediterra International, LLC and thelongevityathlete.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.