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October 28, 2026 \u2014 7:00pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n When some women first walk into the gym at The Bone Clinic, their bones are thinning, their bodies are stooped, and they\u2019re often leaning on a walking stick.<\/p>\n \u201cThey see people lifting heavy weights and say, \u2018I could never do that\u2019. But they do, and it\u2019s not long before they\u2019re standing straighter and carrying their own groceries,\u201d says Professor Belinda Beck from the School of Allied Health, Sport Sciences and Social Work at Griffith University, and director of the Brisbane-based clinic which runs an exercise program to strengthen muscle and bone.<\/p>\n \u201cFrailty isn\u2019t inevitable with age, and it can be reversed. Our bread and butter is seeing people become functional again.\u201d<\/p>\n Frailty might seem a long way off in your 40s, but research from Flinders University <\/a> has found that almost half of 40- to 49-year-olds have what\u2019s known as \u201cpre-frailty\u201d, meaning they already have signs of poor muscle strength and poor balance. But why?<\/p>\n You could blame convenience technology, like the computers, remote controls and robot lawn mowers that have stolen so much movement over the last few decades, but it\u2019s more complex than that.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our study, pre-frailty was associated with more loneliness, more negative attitudes towards ageing, and having a sense of feeling older than your chronological age,\u201d says researcher Dr Tom Brennan of Flinders University, one of the authors of a 2024 review of interventions to prevent or reverse pre-frailty and frailty.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cIf we want to prevent frailty, we should ask more about what\u2019s happening in someone\u2019s life. How confident are they about being active? Do they see changes in their health as something they can work on improving, or something they have to accept as they get older?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cBut part of the challenge is that people in middle age may think \u2018frailty\u2019 has nothing to do with them \u2013 talking about maintaining strength, confidence and the ability to keep doing things they enjoy may make prevention feel more relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n Another reason to head off frailty sooner rather than later is new research linking frailty in older adults to a 74 per cent higher dementia risk. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMuscle is important for so many reasons as you get older. If you\u2019re frail, you\u2019re less able to engage in things that help prevent dementia, like physical activity and social interaction. If it\u2019s becoming harder to go out, you might not be seeing friends, and we know that social connection is linked to dementia risk,\u201d says Dr Katya Numbers from the UNSW Sydney\u2019s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) who did the research into frailty and dementia.<\/p>\n The effect of muscle loss on the brain may also be playing a part. When muscles exercise, they produce myokines (substances that help protect the brain), which may be part of why a University of Sydney study found that lifting weights slowed or stopped degeneration in parts of the brain vulnerable to Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n But preventing frailty \u2013 now affecting more than 20 per cent of over 65s \u2013 isn\u2019t always as simple as urging older people to pick up weights, Numbers says, adding that the CHeBA study also found living alone seemed to compound dementia risk in people who were frail.<\/p>\n \u201cFrail older adults living alone had almost double the risk of dementia compared with robust adults living alone. We need to look at the whole person. You\u2019re not going to sign up for strength training if you\u2019re feeling lonely and miserable. \u201d<\/p>\n We should also let older people do things for themselves when they can, says Beck.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cSometimes chivalrous husbands don\u2019t let their wives lift heavy things \u2018so they don\u2019t hurt themselves\u2019, but unfortunately this just makes it more likely their wives will become frail and less likely to be able to do things for themselves,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you lose that chivalrous husband or become his carer, suddenly you\u2019ll be the one who has to do the heavy lifting.\u201d<\/p>\n Her research<\/a> at Griffith University into building bone strength is the basis of The Bone Clinic\u2019s program. Called ONERO, it combines high-intensity resistance training and impact exercises with balance training. It\u2019s supervised by exercise physiologists and available around Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to get the program available on the Medicare Benefits Schedule, so that cost isn\u2019t a barrier. If more people could access strength training programs, the effect would be huge \u2013 we would have fewer hip fractures, and keep more people out of aged care. Ultimately, it\u2019s about quality of life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe message that frailty isn\u2019t a normal part of ageing and can be prevented needs to target people at all life stages \u2013 not just once you\u2019ve crossed the threshold into frailty,\u201d says Dr Coralie Wales who heads Strong Australia<\/a>, a charity that promotes the importance of maintaining strength.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you lose physical strength, you lose the foundation of a healthy old age and your enjoyment of life.\u201d<\/p>\n Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox<\/a> every Monday.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Avoiding](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/803af70b2ac175250ccfdc7d1edbf1ec94d4be62.jpeg\")
Avoiding frailty is more than just lifting weights. Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Elettra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793189893_641_1a4b32efd3c6700bf767395ce6f0b0e9335df710.jpeg\")
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Maintaining independence, including being allowed to do household tasks, is more important than many people realise. Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"If](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/7f69f715dacdbe84da20721744aad17a90649fb2.jpeg\")
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