Cassandra's Compass
Physical Fitness by Age Group
Evidence-based Australian physical activity guidelines across the lifespan — including adapted exercise for people with dementia and limited mobility.
Australian Physical Activity Guidelines. Physical activity is one of the modifiable risk factors for dementia prevention, falls prevention, and quality of life across all age groups. Always consult a physiotherapist before starting a new exercise program in aged care settings. Content is APA 7th edition cited.
Children 5–12
60 min/day moderate-vigorous
Teens 13–17
60 min/day + 3x strength/week
Adults 18–64
150–300 min/week moderate
65+
150–300 min/week + balance + strength
People with dementia
Any adapted activity — daily
Limited mobility
Chair exercises + passive ROM daily
For older adults (65+), physical activity remains one of the most important modifiable factors for maintaining independence, preventing falls, and slowing cognitive decline. The Australian guidelines recommend:
• 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week (walking, swimming, water aerobics, cycling)
• Muscle-strengthening activities on ≥2 days/week (resistance bands, weights, chair exercises)
• Balance and coordination training on ≥3 days/week (tai chi, balance boards, standing exercises)
• Break up prolonged sitting — stand, move, or do light activity every 30 minutes
Exercise and dementia prevention:
The Lancet Commission on Dementia (2024) identifies physical inactivity as one of the 14 modifiable risk factors for dementia. Regular aerobic exercise:
• Increases hippocampal volume (the brain region for new memory formation) — Erickson et al. (2011) demonstrated a 2% increase in hippocampal volume with 12 months of aerobic exercise
• Reduces vascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, obesity) linked to vascular dementia
• Improves neuroplasticity and cognitive reserve
Note: exercise's effect on amyloid-beta clearance is biologically plausible but not established in trials — a trial in cognitively normal older adults with cerebral amyloid found aerobic exercise did not reduce amyloid accumulation, so this page no longer claims it.
Falls prevention — most critical for this age group:
• Exercise reduced the rate of falls in community-dwelling older people by 21% overall, rising to 39% where programmes specifically challenged balance and involved more than 3 hours per week (Sherrington et al., 2017)
• Progressive resistance training reduces fall-related injuries
• Tai chi has strong evidence as a single activity for falls prevention: a therapeutic tai ji quan programme reduced falls by 58% compared with stretching in older adults at high fall risk, and outperformed a multimodal exercise programme (Li et al., 2018)
• Exercise programs should be assessed and supervised by a physiotherapist for high-risk individuals
• Note: the same review found no clear fall-prevention effect of exercise as a single intervention in residential care settings — for aged care residents, follow the physiotherapy care plan
APA References
Department of Health. (2021). Physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines: Older Australians. Australian Government.
Erickson, K. I., Voss, M. W., Prakash, R. S., Basak, C., Szabo, A., Chaddock, L., & Kramer, A. F. (2011). Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 3017–3022.
Sherrington, C., Michaleff, Z. A., Fairhall, N., Paul, S. S., Tiedemann, A., Whitney, J., & Lord, S. R. (2017). Exercise to prevent falls in older adults: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 51(24), 1750–1758.
Li, F., Harmer, P., Fitzgerald, K., Eckstrom, E., Stock, R., Galver, J., & Batya, S. S. (2018). Effectiveness of a therapeutic Tai Ji Quan intervention vs a multimodal exercise intervention to prevent falls among older adults at high fall risk: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Internal Medicine, 178(10), 1301–1310.
Livingston, G., Huntley, J., Liu, K. Y., Costafreda, S. G., Selbæk, G., Alladi, S., Ames, D., Banerjee, S., Burns, A., Brayne, C., Fox, N. C., Ferri, C. P., Gitlin, L. N., Howard, R., Kales, H. C., Kivimäki, M., Larson, E. B., Nakasujja, N., Rockwood, K., … Mukadam, N. (2024). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. The Lancet, 404(10452), 572–628.
You cannot pour from an empty vessel. Caring for yourself is not selfish — it is the foundation of every act of care you give.
— Cassandra's Compass
Verified against official sources on 3 October 2026