At STONE, we talk a lot about longevity and training for the future, not just today. You might ask, but what does longevity even mean? The Google definition (clearly the most reliable source for any question you might need to ask) for longevity is quite simply ‘long life’ or ‘long existence’. At face value, I think most of us want to live a long life, achieve what we want to in our career, explore every corner of the Earth, see the grandchildren grow up. But how can we make the most of that life and do everything we ever want to do? What’s the point in living longer if we can’t make the most of it?

Making the most of it can mean whatever you want it to. For me, I want to make sure I am physically, mentally and emotionally strong to do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it. Right now, I love playing rugby. I train hard to ensure I can play well on the pitch today and always be ready to perform at my best. I want to play until I decide it’s time to hang up my boots, not when my body cannot keep up anymore. And that’s how I want it be for everything I do.

To make sure it’s my choice, I need to put in the effort to understand and support my body so that it doesn’t give up on me before I’m ready. Is dieting until I get a six-pack going to help me when I’m 70 and I want to show my kids and grandkids how it’s done on the ski slopes? (See below – my super fit family looking happy after chasing each other around the slopes! Long may it continue). Eating well is an important part of longevity to me. I love eating out with friends and I love baking and would love to eat pasta and cake all day but I have to keep it in balance. Sometimes I’ll sacrifice my Sunday afternoon to prep my meals in advance. I want to save my time during the week for things I’d rather be doing – training, socialising and relaxing. A big food shop on a Sunday to stock my fridge with protein packed, veg filled meals so I just have to pull one out of the fridge and reheat it when I get home soaking wet from rugby on a Tuesday evening.

But, that’s what it means to me. The beauty of such a simple definition of longevity means you can interpret it anyway you choose. It’s always good to take a minute and reflect on your journey. Why do you train? What inspires you to get out of bed in the mornings? What does longevity mean to you?

If you need some inspiration of things you can think about, head to our Instagram page to see what longevity means to some of our coaches.

Written by Livvy, one of our Coaches and Research and Product Manager. A keen rugby player, awesome cook, self-proclaimed data nerd and super slalom skier.