You’ve thought it. Maybe even said it out loud: I’m too old for that.
Too old for the challenging class. Too old to try something new. Too old to push hard.
Erin Eleu, a functional aging specialist and podcast host, hears it all the time — and she wants you to stop.
“There’s this belief system based around age alone, not based on any factual thing about your body or what you’re capable of,” she said on a webinar for the American Council on Exercise.
Believing you can’t do something because of a real physical limitation is one thing. Believing it simply because of your age is another. Erin calls it internalized ageism. It’s more common than most people realize.
It also has consequences. Research shows that people who hold negative views about aging live an average of 7.5 years less than those who don’t. Your mindset, it turns out, isn’t just a feeling, but a health factor.
Erin works with adults doing parkour, rock climbing and trapeze — activities most people assume belong to the young. Her message is consistent: The limits you imagine are almost never the limits you actually have.
“We need to be communicating possibility, not decline,” she says.
So, the next time you catch yourself thinking I’m too old for that, ask yourself this: What am I actually basing that on?
The answer might surprise you.
Holly Kouvo is a personal trainer, functional aging specialist, senior fitness specialist, brain health trainer, writer, and speaker.